For special occasions Brussels sprouts are often on the menu despite how many people dislike them. Here’s the thing though, as long as you make them flavorful all your guests and your family will enjoy them. But, they do tend to be rather plain when just steamed with some butter and salt and pepper. For this reason I find that a bit of pizazz really elevates them to become the best supporting actor at special dinners as opposed to the antagonist!

These white wine and mushroom Brussels sprouts have all that yummy flavor you’d expect from a fine restaurant experience except you can easily make this dish at home.

To begin this recipe you’ll need some wild mushrooms or the mushrooms of your choice. Especially in the fall you can sometimes find wild mushrooms at the farmers market or even at the grocery. These will give the dish a novel flavor that’s both deep and unexpected. But, if you use cremini or white mushrooms the flavor will still be delightful I assure you.

You’ll want to bake the Brussels sprouts with olive oil to soften them and give them some color before moving on to the stovetop portion of the preparation.

Then cook the mushrooms until tender before adding the wine. If you don’t want to use wine you can substitute stock with a splash of lemon juice instead.

Then add in the Brussels sprouts and some heavy cream to give this side dish a silky smooth texture that coats every piece of mushroom and sprout.

Add some chives just before serving and you’ve got a top notch veggie side dish for the table that not only redeems a tragically unpopular vegetable, but also tastes like you spent a lot more time on it than you did!