Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. 2018 has gone by SO fast for me.

But, as they say, the holidays wait for no food blogger. (Does anybody say that?)

For the last many years we have put off our Thanksgiving hosting duties mainly because we’ve always had young kids and it didn’t particularly seem fun, but this year I am reclaiming my hosting duties! Yay! I’ll be making the bird, some pies, some sides, and definitely this salad.

Normally I like my brussels sprouts roasted into submission, until they are crispy and almost burned, and then tossed with a bright red wine vinegar dressing. But serving them raw, like in this Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad, is something different entirely. You have to be really careful to balance the flavors, but if you nail it, YOU NAIL IT. I’m already predicting it to be a top three side dish on my Thanksgiving table this year.

The trick? Make a quick warm vinaigrette and pour it over the sprouts RIGHT before serving. Other than that step, you can make this salad entirely in advance. BONUS.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

Just a moment please...

Yield

Serves 4-6.

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

45 mins

The perfect salad for your holiday table is this Shaved Brussels Sprouts salad with bacon, goat cheese, and apples. Plus, I toss it with a quick warm bacon vinaigrette right before serving. Guaranteed good!

Ingredients

1 pound (approx.) brussels sprouts, shaved

6 strips bacon, crispy

1 apple, chopped

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup pecans, toasted

Bacon Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons bacon grease

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of hot sauce

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

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Directions

1. Place bacon strips on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until the bacon is very crispy. Let crispy bacon drain on a few paper towels and reserve bacon grease for vinaigrette.
2. Wash brussels sprouts and slice them in half through the stem. Then shave thin with a sharp knife. Add shaved sprouts to a bowl.
3. In a small skillet over low heat, toast pecans until fragrant and lightly browned. Be careful not to burn!
4. Right before serving salad, heat bacon grease and other vinaigrette ingredients in a small skillet and swirl together. Don’t simmer the ingredients but heat them and stir until they are combined.
5. When ready to serve, drizzle warm vinaigrette over shaved brussels sprouts and then toss with toasted pecans, goat cheese, chopped bacon, and apples. Serve immediately!

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

There isn’t actually much cooking you need to do for this salad. I would recommend baking the bacon though so it gets very crispy and you get really clean bacon grease which you can use in the salad dressing!

Bacon baby.

I also like to lightly toast my pecans (or you could use almost any nut really). Just until they are fragrant over low heat. Watch them closely as they can burn quickly.

Toasted nuts!

For the vinaigrette, I like to mix everything together, but if it’s cold the bacon grease will just congeal. So, it’s best to warm it up gently right before serving.

Warm dressing.

Look at these beauties!

The star.

To shave them, cut them in half through the stems and the slice them as thin as possible.

Slivered

When you’re ready for dinner, toss the sprouts lightly with the warm vinaigrette and then top with all the toppings.

It’s a fantastic salad that has all the flavors I love: sweet, tangy, crispy, savory, creamy. This shaved brussels sprouts salad would go great on any holiday table so just go ahead and bookmark it for next week!