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This shredded brussels sprout bacon salad has quickly become one of my favorites. It’s quick, festive, and so delicious. Shredded brussels sprouts, nutty manchego cheese, toasted hazelnuts, and juicy pomegranates, all tossed with a warm cider vinaigrette that’s sweet and tangy. Every bite of this salad is bursting with flavor. Great as a light lunch, served alongside your favorite dinner, or at your next holiday gathering!

side angle photo of Shredded Brussels Sprout Bacon Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Happiest Thursday! Hope you’re all having a great week. It’s been a busy, cold and snowy week here. With all the snow we’ve been getting, the resorts actually opened ahead of schedule yesterday.

I’ve been madly working away on recipe testing, fun holiday content, and staying warm in the kitchen with lots of baking. All good things! And today I’m SO excited to share this salad, from my Thanksgiving menu, with you all.

No matter what the occasion, no dinner party is complete without a colorful salad, especially Thanksgiving. With all the turkey, gravy, potatoes, and rolls, something light and colorful is a must on every Thanksgiving dinner table.

One of the questions I’m often asked is what to serve for dinner parties. For me, what I serve always depends on the season. But there’s one thing that’s always on my dinner party menu.

Yes, salad.

My go-to salad is normally something full of leafy greens, a mix of vegetables, pomegranates, maybe persimmons, and a simple balsamic dressing. This year however, I knew I wanted to create a shredded brussels sprouts salad to throw everyone a curve ball. It’s something I’ve never done, but always wanted to do. I wasn’t sure how much I’d be into it, because roasted brussels sprouts will forever be my favorite…but you guys? Trust me when I say that this salad is beyond good. It’s so simple, so beautiful, full of texture, and incredibly delicious.

raw brussels sprouts

When I set out to make this, I knew I needed to keep it simple, but flavorful. There’s so much going on with the Thanksgiving meal that I wanted the salad to be able to compliment everything.

Enter this shredded brussels sprout salad.

It all starts with a heck of a lot of brussels sprouts. Like a lot. If you’re cutting your brussels sprouts by hand, like me, this will be the hardest part of making this salad. If you’re smart, and live near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, then you might want to pick up a bag of pre-shredded brussels sprouts, and save yourself a good 15 minutes or so of chopping time.

Tip? Be that smart person and buy the pre-shredded brussels sprouts. I know it might be fresher to cut the sprouts yourself, but thinly slicing all those brussels spouts takes time. And well, no one has that kind of time, especially on Thanksgiving.

Ok. Moving along.

overhead photo of Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Once you have your brussels sprouts shredded and in a bowl, add the manchego cheese, toasted hazelnuts, and a good amount of juicy pomegranate arils. Then crisp up some bacon and you’ll have your salad.

Next make the warm cider vinaigrette and pour it over the salad.

The warm vinaigrette takes the bitterness out of the raw brussels sprouts by beginning to cook them just ever so slightly. It adds a sweet, tanginess that compliments the brussels sprouts very nicely.

The pomegranates add a freshness of color, and a burst of juicy flavor with every bite. Plus, they’re my favorite fruit to put in salads. I love them…as if you couldn’t tell from my many, many pomegranate filled recipes.

And the bacon? Well, it adds a saltiness that keeps everyone coming back for seconds.

overhead close up photo of Shredded Brussels Sprout Bacon Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

One of the best parts to this recipe?

You can prep this salad a few hours ahead of time to make things easier. Personally, I love serving the salad just after it has been tossed with the hot vinaigrette so that the salad is a little warm. But that’s just me, I love warm food. Serve the salad up whichever way you’ll enjoy it most.

I’m already looking forward to enjoying this salad again in just a couple of weeks on Thanksgiving Day. Are you guys getting excited? Don’t forget to check out my 2018 menu!! I’ll be sharing a new dessert tomorrow that’s my favorite of the month. Very excited.

overhead photo of Shredded Brussels Sprout Bacon Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

If you make this salad please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

watch the how to video:

Shredded Brussels Sprout Bacon Salad and Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Author: Tieghan Gerard
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 715 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Ingredients

Instructions

  • 1. In a large salad bowl, combine the shredded brussels sprouts, cheese, hazelnuts, and pomegranate arils.
    2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain onto a paper towel. Wipe the skillet clean.
    3. To make the vinaigrette. Heat the olive oil in the same skillet used to cook the bacon over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the shallots, cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool slightly. Add the apple cider vinegar, apple butter, thyme, and orange zest. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
    4. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad, tossing to combine. Top the salad with bacon. Serve warm or at room temperature. 
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horizontal overhead photo of Shredded Brussels Sprout Bacon Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
This post was originally published on November 8, 2018
4.27 from 550 votes (503 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Made this for an early Thanksgiving with family today. Beautiful colors. Threw all together but bacon and nuts yesterday to save time and it kept well in the fridge–not quite as crisp–but the flavors blended so well and few more arils, nuts and bacon added today, were just perfect.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  4. LOVE this! Can you cook the Bacon/Olive Oil in the bacon pan the night before, and reheat the oil to make the vinegrete the next day? Does that throw off any flavors? Trying to make as much in advance as possible!

    Reply

    1. Hey Anna! Yes, you can cook the night before and then warm. That works really welL! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan

      Reply

  7. 5 stars
    I went to a Pierogi Party last night, and they asked that I bring a veggie side that didn’t need cooked. This was absolutely perfect and a hit!! I didn’t change a thing except double the recipe. 🙂 I will definitely make this again and again. Thanks, Teighan!

    Reply

    1. HI! I find the bacon fat to be a little over powering in dressings and prefer to use olive oil. Feel free to use the bacon fat if you enjoy it! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan

      Reply

  9. This salad is absolutely gorgeous, Teighan!! I love the taste of pomegranate arils, but find that I need to spit out the “seed” part of it, so I am always hesitant to put the arils in any recipe or to top any salad or other recipe with arils so others don’t feel like they need to spit something out after they have taken a bite. Am I the only one spitting this out? Are they safe to chew/swallow?

    Reply

    1. Hey Leah! I don’t spit out any seeds when eating pomegranates. The entire seed is edible and meant to be eaten in whole. If you don’t like pomegranates in dishes, you can leave them out of the salad! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan

      Reply

  11. Is there anything I could substitute for apple butter? Or is it available in stores? I don’t know if I want to make a full crock pot of it just for this recipe!

    Reply

    1. Hi Gabriella! You can use an equal amount of fig preserves, pure maple syrup, or honey. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan

      Reply

  13. 5 stars
    LOVE shaved brussels salads for fall/winter! Can’t wait to try this dressing, sounds amazing! Helpful/cost-effective tip: buy whole brussels sprouts and use your food processor to shave/shred them. SUPER easy and quick!

    Reply

  14. This sounds really good, and I’m not a huge Brussels sprouts fan. Is there anything we can substitute the Apple butter with, so as not to make so much just for this recipe? 🙂 thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hey Stephanie! You can use an equal amount of fig preserves, pure maple syrup, or honey. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan

      Reply