For this recipe, frozen Brussels sprouts work better. Let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight. They won’t be completely defrosted, but pretty close. When you slice them, they’ll hold their shape a lot better than fresh Brussels sprouts. And they’ll hold up to the amount of cooking you’re doing.

If all you have is fresh Brussels sprouts though, you can still make this. Your Brussels may just be a little mushier.

Blanching Brussels sprouts involves steaming them, then shocking them in cold water to stop the cooking process, keep the nice green color, soften them, and remove some of the vegetable’s bitter flavor.

But, in this case, because you’re pan frying them in bacon fat and topping them with cheese and bacon, you don’t need to blanch them. You still have the green color, they’re soft from all the cooking, and this is a delicious side dish.

Colby Jack cheese is a blend of two types of cheese: Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses. You should be able to buy it as an 8 oz. or 16 oz. block in your local grocery store.

Colby Jack is a really mild cheese and it melts really well, which is part of why it’s so good in this recipe. If you can’t find it, you could either just go with Colby cheese, just go with Monterey Jack cheese, or you could just buy a block of each and make your own blend.

A more flavorful cheese, like a sharp cheddar cheese or a mozzarella cheese, would overwhelm this dish, so I don’t recommend using those.

I love the convenience of shredded cheese, but it doesn’t melt as well. There are additives in shredded cheese to keep it from clumping together in the bag. When you try to melt shredded cheese, those additives stop the cheese from melting (mostly), so you don’t get a really great melt.

When you buy a block of cheese, it doesn’t have those additives. So I really suggest you invest in a nice cheese grater, then grate your own cheese for recipes where you’re looking for a nice melty cheese. You could also just cut the block of cheese with a knife if you don’t have a cheese grater.

Heavy cream adds so much depth of flavor to this recipe. The heavy cream adds a really nice richness to the Creamy Cheesy Brussels Sprouts With Bacon recipe without making it really heavy.

If you don’t have heavy cream handy, you can use half and half as a substitute. It will come out lighter than the original recipe since half and half doesn’t have the extra fat heavy cream does, but it will still taste good.

Wait until the Brussels sprouts have cooled to room temperature. Then, store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. They’ll last up to five days that way.

The easiest way to reheat leftovers is in the microwave. If you needed to, you could heat them in a large pan, with a cover, on the stovetop, but that’s not as easy.