This healthy, crunchy Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad with Parmesan and Pecans is tossed with a Dijon Maple Vinaigrette – so good!
Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad
This Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad is simple yet delicious. It doesn’t take long to make and would be great for the holidays since you can do much of the prep ahead of time. The recipe serves eight people, but you could always double it if you needed to feed more people. This Fall Brussels Sprout Salad with Apples, Pecans, and Blue Cheese and Harvest Kale Salad with Roasted Winter Squash are some more crowd pleasers.
Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad Ingredients
- Brussels Sprouts: You can typically buy pre-shredded brussels sprouts at the supermarket, but I like to slice mine myself, so they’re fresher.
- Baby Kale is the younger version of regular kale with smaller, more tender leaves, so there’s no need to massage it.
- Vinaigrette: Olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Parmesan: Finely grate fresh parmesan.
- Nuts: Lightly toast chopped pecans or walnuts.
How to Make Kale and Brussel Sprout Salad
- Shred Brussels Sprouts: Trim the ends off the brussels sprouts, cut them in half, and thinly slice them vertically with a knife. You can also prep them with a mandoline or in a food processor with the shredding disc.
- Make the Salad Dressing: Put all the vinaigrette ingredients into a jar with a fitted lid and shake until emulsified.
- Mix the Salad: Pour the dressing over the sprouts and kale and toss. Next, add the cheese and nuts.
How to Make Ahead Kale Salad
This kale and brussels sprout salad is an easy recipe to prep ahead for the holidays. Shred the sprouts, toast the nuts, grate the cheese, and make the vinaigrette a day or two early. Then toss with the dressing just before serving.
Leftover salad will keep for two days.
Variations:
- Kale: If you can’t find baby kale, swap it with lacinato kale, and massage the kale separately with a little vinaigrette before combining it with the other ingredients. Baby spinach would also work.
- Cheese: Sub gorgonzola or blue cheese for parmesan.
- Vinegar: Substitute apple cider vinegar for red wine vinegar.
- Sweetener: Use honey if you don’t have syrup.
- Fruit: Add fresh apple or dried cranberries for a sweet touch.
More Fall Salad Recipes You’ll Love:
- Kale and Butternut Squash Salad with Pears and Almonds
- Leftover Turkey Harvest Cobb Salad
- Autumn Salad with Pears and Gorgonzola
- Spinach and Butternut Squash Salad with Gorgonzola
- Kale Salad with Quinoa and Cranberries
Your comments are helpful! If you’ve tried this healthy Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad recipe or any other on Skinnytaste, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. And if you took a photo of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can reshare it on my Stories!
Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed (4 cups shredded)
- 4.5 ounces baby kale leaves, (about 4 cups)
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, lightly toasted
Instructions
- Using a food processor, mandoline or with a knife, shred the Brussels sprouts into thin ribbons. You should have about 4 cups total.
- Place in a mixing bowl with the kale.
- In a jar with a fitted lid, combine the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt and pepper. Shake vigorously until emulsified.
- Pour the dressing over the top of the Brussels sprouts and kale and mix until thoroughly coated.
- Add the Parmesan and the nuts and toss to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl or plate individually.
We were very impressed with this salad! Definitely will become a regular. We had it with blackened flounder and it was perfect.
This salad is amazing. Definitely changes up the everyday salad. I doubled the dressing and doubled the Brussels so I could have more the next day. Crunchy and so satisfying.
This looks delicious! Is there a substitute you can recommend for mustard? My son is allergic to it. Thanks!
leave it out!
Delicious salad. I added celery and dried cranberries. Only had feta cheese in the fridge, which was very tasty. We had this with the Butternut Squash Galette. Yum!
Is it bad that I can almost eat this as a single serving??? Seriously, this is absolutely delicious, and I have more than once eaten a second serving instead of moving on to my main course!
A+ just added some craisins
I’ve made this a lot lately! It’s got great flavor and holds really well for a few days. I’ve added apples and dried cranberries and the sweetness was a nice addition. The dressing is a keeper for all types of salad.
Perfect accompaniment to our Christmas dinner tonight! I added dried cranberries for a festive pop, and the flavor was *chefs kiss*.
This looks and sounds delish! Love that it’s low calorie. I live in Minnesnowta and need warm foods… I bet this would be fabulous as a warm salad, in a skillet, par-cooked to tender crisp!
I liked this recipe. My husband said it made two things that taste bad (kale and brussel sprouts) taste good! It was easy – I just bought a bag of shaved brussels to cut down on time.
I like this recipe okay, but the amount of labor doesn’t quite add up for me. I didn’t feel that the brussel sprouts or grated parmesan added all that much flavor. I am slow, but it took me way more than 20 minutes to pull this together. Also, the parma adds a lot of calories, but I couldn’t taste it at all. If I made it again, I’d skip the brussel sprouts and parma, and sub out for easier to prepare, and in the case of parmesan – lower calorie – alternatives. That said, it does taste good.
Absolutely delicious!! We love your recipes!! I added dried cranberries. Perfect for Thanksgiving!!