That title is a mouthful, right? This easy recipe makes a unique side dish using some ingredients you don’t normally find together, but magically, it works. My Blistered Tomato and Rhubarb-Glazed Brussels Sprouts was filling, nutritious, and a great way to change up your typical Brussels sprouts.

First, thanks to Melissa’s Produce for the fun box of vegetables and fruits! All the season’s finest, in one place.

various vegetables and fruits from Melissa's Produce

As a participant in their foodie creator program, I get to use their incredible produce in many ways, which inspires me to try new things to feed the family nourishing meals without hours in the kitchen. I think this side dish checked all the boxes!

If you’ve never tried rhubarb, it’s a pretty versatile fruit, but it does need to be cooked. One of my most vivid childhood memories is when I was about 6 and I saw rhubarb growing on our farm. It reminded me of celery, so I grabbed it and took a big bite. BIG mistake. HUGE. Oddly enough though, it didn’t make me dislike it! I was more intrigued, and my mom would turn it into a sauce of sorts, and we’d eat it with vanilla ice cream. So good!

recipe ingredients, like Melissa's Produce rhubarb, fresh ginger and Brussels Sprouts and tomatoes

Raw, rhubarb is incredibly bitter. It needs to be cooked, softened, and usually sweetened, but how will depend on what you use it in. Every time it’s in season, I buy a big bunch and put it in as many things as I can. This year, I wanted to try a riff off of a recipe I saw on social media, where someone had glazed edamame with rhubarb and served it on crispy rice. My son doesn’t like crispy rice, so I knew I couldn’t make it, but then my mind went to Brussels sprouts, a favorite item with all of us.

This recipe was a bit of a learning experience for me. I took a few steps away from the stove to answer my son and my rhubarb had reduced too quickly, but I hate to waste food, so I used it anyway. The taste was still there, but it was less ‘glaze’ and more ‘sauce,’ but it still technically glazed the sprouts. Next time, I’ll turn the heat down lower and avoid distractions.

rhubarb sauce ingredients laid out on a cutting board

Sometimes I get a little overzealous and buy too much produce when I’m shopping, so I end up more than I can fit in, so I like to combine items — no waste, more unusual combinations. It’s a win-win. This side dish is one of those, where I paired blistered heirloom tomatoes with the seared Brussels sprouts. A mix of textures and flavor profiles!

Melissa's Produce rhubarb getting sliced on a cutting board

Start by prepping the rhubarb sauce. You can choose to cut them bigger, but I went with 1/2″ slices. Place the rhubarb in the pan and add the remaining ingredients. The fresh ginger smells absolutely amazing!

grating ginger into a pan with chopped rhubarb

Some people prefer maple syrup as a natural sweetener, but we choose to use agave syrup when possible. Just our preference, and this Melissa’s Produce agave never lets us down.

Melissa's Produce agave syrup being poured into a pan of rhubarb

Full disclosure, I am not a great chopper! I know, women cook every day with way longer nails than mine, but chopping is not my best skill, so I will defer to someone with much more experience and speed than me any day. Good thing we were no hurry that day, because I did the chopping and it took twice as long as almost anyone else would have taken. Gordon Ramsay will yell me out of the kitchen.

When cooking the sprouts, be sure to put them cut side down to start. That’s the part that will take longer to cook. I forgot to get a picture of the dish once the tomatoes were on the stove, but trust me, they were there!

Brussels sprouts cut in half and searing, cut side down.

Isn’t it a beautiful dish? The colors are so bright, the rhubarb adds a perfect tang and sweet, and the crust on the sprouts is so different from our typical way of cooking sprouts. (We like to cut them in tiny, thin slices, roast with olive oil, salt, pepper and then a splash of Balsamic vinegar. Throw in some feta toward the end of the bake, along with some dried cranberries if you like a pop of flavor. So easy and good!)

I could have eaten these alone with a fork….but I had two hungry people standing and waiting and telling me to hurry up the photograph portion of the evening, so I had to share. (I am a pescatarian, so they had a meat entree but I had made shrimp.) I served the mix on top of Jasmine rice; the sauce blended well with the rice, and it beefed up the meal.

blistered tomatoes and rhubarb-glazed Brussels sprouts on top of rice

See that crust?

blistered tomato and rhubarb-glazed brussels sprouts recipe

Blistered Tomato & Rhubarb-Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1-2 tbsp olive oil, or coconut
1 pound Brussels sprouts, cut in half lengthwise
3-4 stalks fresh rhubarb (approx 1 cup) cut into 1/2" pieces
2 tbsp maple syrup or agave (I used agave)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated fine
1/4-1/3 cup water
1 pint fresh small tomatoes, kept whole
1 tbsp butter (room temp)

Instructions

Prep the glaze. Place the rhubarb, syrup or agave, vinegar, ginger, and water in a small pan.
Heat on the stove until it simmers, then turn down the heat. Let sauce reduce, while stirring and letting the rhubarb break down.
If the water reduces too much, add a little more — but it won't take long to make the rhubarb soft enough to enjoy.
If you prefer, strain the liquid and leave out the rhubarb fibers. (We chose to leave them in, they tasted fantastic.)
Add butter to sauce and gently stir in after it melts.
Set sauce aside off the heat, while sprouts and tomatoes are cooking.
Preheat large heavy pan. Cast iron works well; we used our Hexclad.
Add 1-2 tbsp of olive (or preferred oil) to pan. Coconut would be great!
Lay Brussels sprouts in pan, cut side down. Sprinkle tomatoes around pan. Sear sprouts for 3-4 minutes, until they have a deep, dark crust. The tomatoes will start to blister and pop; this is what you're looking for, because the extra liquid will help the sauce adhere.
Flip the sprouts. Pour the glaze on top of the sprouts and tomatoes while the heat is still on. Gently stir and cook another 2-3 minutes, until the sprouts are thoroughly cooked through to your liking.
Serve warm.

Add rhubarb and Brussels sprouts to your next grocery list to make this as a side dish for a meal out on the patio or let it be another option to take to a pot luck or summer barbecue. (I’m always assigned sides or desserts when our friend group gets together, so I really have had to step up my game.) The rest of the ingredients are usually things we have on hand, and if you don’t have fresh ginger, you can use dried ginger from a spice container in a pinch!

Check out Melissa’s Produce for their seasonal produce, fun gift baskets, cookbooks, recipes, and spices. So many of their pantry stocking ingredients are permanent fixtures in our house.

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

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