There’s a warm brussels sprouts saute kit at Trader Joe’s that I fell in love with a couple of years back. Have you tried it? It’s honestly the PERFECT side dish for just about any meal, so I wanted to do my best to recreate something similar for you!
This particular warm brussels sprouts salad with made with slightly shredded or shaved brussels sprouts, parmesan cheese, a lovely lemony dressing, bacon, dried cranberries (or dried cherries), and toasted hazelnuts. It only takes about 30 minutes to make, and is perfect if you want to prep all ingredients ahead of time and then throw it together at night or right before you serve dinner for Thanksgiving! I hope you love it.
FREE Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide (+ printable checklist!)
Whether you’re hosting or just attending, this Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide email series is for everyone. Enter your email below to get all of my best recipes, tips, and a FREE printable checklist for all of your Thanksgiving needs.
Warm brussels sprouts salad ingredients
This easy, warm brussels sprouts salad with bacon is made with simple ingredients and packed with delicious flavors. The parmesan cheese gets slightly melted and amazing when you add it to the brussels and you’ll love the savory, nutty and tangy elements in every bite. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- For the dressing: you’ll need olive oil, lemon juice, pure maple syrup, dijon mustard, garlic, salt & pepper.
- Bacon: chopped crispy bacon adds a delicious savory flavor to the brussels sprouts salad.
- Hazelnuts: I love the toasty, nutty flavor that hazelnuts add to this salad. You can also use pecans or marcona almonds.
- Brussels sprouts: the star of this festive salad!
- Parmesan cheese: add a little extra salty, savory kick with shaved parmesan. Manchego would also be delicious in here.
- Optional: I love adding dried fruit like cranberries, cherries or dried blueberries for a little sweetness to balance out the savory flavors. Apple slices would also be fabulous!
How to make warm brussels sprouts salad with bacon
- Make the dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients, then set the dressing aside.
- Toast the hazelnuts. Place a large skillet over medium low heat. Add in hazelnuts and toast for 2-3 minutes until nice and golden and fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cook the bacon. Add bacon to a large skillet or pan and place over medium heat, cook bacon on both sides until crispy and golden brown. Once the bacon is done, blot it with a paper towel to absorb excess grease, then it chop into bite sized pieces.
- Cook the brussels sprouts. Add olive oil to the same large skillet and turn up the heat to medium high. Stir in brussels sprouts and saute for a few minutes until they start to become slightly golden brown and crispy.
- Assemble the salad. Turn heat to low and add in the dressing, parmesan cheese and bacon; saute for a few more minutes so the cheese melts then serve immediately. Garnish with extra bacon, hazelnuts and shaved parmesan and serve!
Tips for making this warm brussels salad
- Taste & adjust your dressing. I suggest starting with just 1 teaspoon of maple syrup to balance the tanginess of the dressing but feel free to add a bit more if you like.
- Use your food processor for ease. Shred your brussels sprouts easily right in your food processor! Just pulse them a bit to get small & medium pieces.
- Don’t overcook your brussels sprouts. Once you add them to the pan cook them until they turn slightly golden brown. This will ensure that they don’t get too mushy.
- Toast your nuts carefully. Whether you’re using hazelnuts, pecans, or marcona almonds, toast them just until they start to become fragrant so that you don’t burn them. It’s best to do this over medium low heat.
Customize this warm brussels salad
- Make it a full meal by adding extra protein from chickpeas or chicken breast.
- Make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon, or make it vegan by omitting the bacon and parmesan cheese.
- Serve it cold by simply skipping step 4 and adding the dressing, parmesan cheese, cooked bacon and hazelnuts straight to your raw brussels sprouts! It would still be delicious.
How to store warm brussels sprouts salad
Store this warm brussels salad in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Feel free to enjoy the salad cold or reheat it in a skillet or in the microwave for a bit.
Make it ahead of time
While you can completely make and store this warm brussels sprouts salad ahead of time using the storing instructions above, I recommend simply making the dressing and chopping up your brussels sprouts & nuts to cook the day of. You could also precook and dice up your bacon if you’d like, and warm it up with the brussels sprouts the next day!
What to pair with this warm brussels sprouts salad
Check out all of my Thanksgiving recipes here, plus a few suggestions on what to pair with this warm brussels sprouts salad:
- Parmesan Bacon Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing
- Dad’s Creamy & Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes
- Herb Butter Maple Roasted Turkey
- The Best Creamy Garlic Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Cheddar Broccoli Cauliflower Gratin
- The Best Homemade Healthy Green Bean Casserole
And remember, learn exactly how to host Thanksgiving here!
I hope you love this delicious warm brussels sprouts salad! If you make it be sure to leave a comment & a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad
Ingredients
- For the dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the brussels sprouts salad:
- 8 slices bacon
- 1/2 cup raw hazelnuts, chopped (raw pecans or marcona almonds would also be great options)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound brussels, washed, stems removed, and roughly chopped/shredded
- ½ cup shaved parmesan cheese
- Optional: ⅓ cup dried cranberries or dried cherries or dried blueberries (my fav!)
Instructions
- First make the dressing: in a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, dijon, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium low heat. Add in hazelnuts and toast for 2-3 minutes until nice and golden and fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cook the bacon: add bacon to a large skillet or pan and place over medium heat, cook bacon on both sides until crispy and golden brown. If the pan starts to smoke at any point, simply lower the heat. I always cook my bacon on medium low heat. Once bacon is done, blot with a paper towel to absorb excess grease, then chop into bite sized pieces.
- Add olive oil to the same large skillet and turn up the heat to medium high. Stir in brussels sprouts and saute for a few minutes until they start to become slightly golden brown. Turn heat to low and add in the dressing, parmesan cheese and bacon; saute for a few more minutes so the cheese melts then serve immediately. Serves 4-6. Garnish with extra bacon, hazelnuts and shaved parmesan.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 12th 2020, and republished on November 3rd, 2022.
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
62 comments
Just made this and it was so yummy! Love all the textures and flavors.
So happy to hear that!
Did not use all the ingredients and was good I added spinach
Glad you enjoyed!
Oh my goodness. This was incredible!! I am a huge fan of salads and eating balanced, healthy meals daily. I LOVE food. I decided to try this recipe as a change up from my normal – oh my gosh. You nailed it!!
Amazing! So happy you loved this one!
Excellent! We used unsweetened dried cherries and regular almonds as a garnish. Wouldn’t change a thing!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
I love brussel sprouts and this recipe looks wonderful. Plus bacon can only make flavours even better. Question – do you leave the bacon fat in the pan when you add the olive oil and then the brussel sprouts? Thx.
Such a great combo! I blot the pan with paper towels first so that there isn’t too much left 🙂
This recipe was absolutely amazing!!! I made it for Thanksgiving and my family liked it even more than some of the heavy & carby dishes on the table ahaha which is no easy feat. Pretty sure I will be making this again and again !!
Amazing! I’m so glad 🙂
We made these yesterday for Thanksgiving and they were a hit!! They are so good!! And super easy to make. Even people who said they didn’t really like Brussels sprouts loved this dish!
Love it! such a great side 🙂
Made this for Thanksgiving – I subbed turkey bacon for regular bacon, just personal taste. It came out great! The dressing feels like gilding the lily 🙂 the dish was already so good straight out of the pan that I almost forgot to add it! I think a few squeezes of lemon juice in place of the dressing next time would be just fine.
Perfect! And yes a little lemon juice would be great, too.
I made this for thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! Very tasty!!
So happy to hear that!
I am not a sprouts fan, I will suffer through one every Christmas to make my mother-in-law happy but for some insane reason decide to make this for Thanksgiving and thank goodness I did because it is utterly AMAZING! Crunchy and warn with the parma cheese ever so slightly melted in. I loved it so much that I’ve put it on the weekly menu for my lunch with chicken next week! (Made this with pecans instead of hazelnuts.)
Haha I’m so glad you found this recipe instead! Perfect way to eat sprouts 🙂
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit!! It was so good we made it again two days later! This will definitely be a regular in my house!
Love that! So happy it was a hit 🙂
I have an obsession with brussel sprouts, so I obviously had to make this salad. Now, it is undoubtedly one of my favorite salads ever! It was quick and easy to make, and it rounded off our small thanksgiving meal perfectly!!
Absolutely! So glad you loved it Sabriah! 🙂
I made this as a side dish but as soon as I tasted it, I decided it was a main attraction! Even my Brussels hating husband loved it! My two year old tried it, and if that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is. This ones a keeper! I threw in almonds and craisins since that’s what I had on hand and it was great.
So happy to hear that! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
I have been waiting to make this recipe and finally made it for our Christmas dinner! And it was a HUGE hit!! So easy to make and going to be sharing it with any and everyone. Thank you so much 🙂
So happy to hear that! Perfect for the holidays 🙂
This was delicious. I used a bag of preshredded sprouts and made half the dressing.
Omg…this is out of this world. I couldn’t find hazelnuts so used cashews instead, and it was delicious. This will be added to my recipe rotation for sure!
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
Wow I planned on having this as a side dish but I ended up eating it as my entire lunch! So good!! Will definitely be making again and again.
It’s the best! Glad you love it 🙂
Made this without the cheese and bacon. I chopped the brussels with the food processor which made it easy. This dish Was a hit at our Thanksgiving dinner! Definitely want to make it again.
I made this for Thanksgiving, it was amazing! Absolutely delicious…a great way to spruce up Brussels sprouts! I actually subbed pistachios for the hazelnuts. Highly recommend, I’ll be eating this year round now! Thank you.
I brought this to my family’s Thanksgiving. It is AMAZING!! I even got a compliment from my dad who is not a brussels sprouts fan. Definitely add the dried cranberries – the sweetness is perfect!! Thank you for the recipe!
So easy and delicious!
Yay! Happy you loved it!
Any tips on making this the day of Thanksgiving? I would like to make this the morning of, but then transport to a relatives house. Should I make right before I need to leave and transport warm and reheat in their oven? Or reheat on stove top? Thanks!!
You can absolutely prep all the ingredients ahead of time and then throw it together the night or right before you serve dinner at Thanksgiving! Hope you love it!
Delicious! This was so good and full of flavour. Definitely a keeper!
The BEST! So glad you are enjoying this recipe ❤️
I don’t think I’ll ever eat Brussels sprouts any other way than this. Simple (especially if you make ahead the bacon and dressing), and delicious. Great recipe!
The BEST! Glad you are enjoying this recipe
This was delicious! I made this for lunches for myself so I added chickpeas and did only two slices of bacon to cut back on the calories. The sauce really makes this. Think I might add it to our Thanksgiving menu this year!
Love that idea, Meredith. SO glad you enjoyed this recipe 😊
Do you cook the Brussel sprouts in the bacon grease?
I cook them in the same pan, but you can remove the bacon grease and use olive oil.
Wow! This dish is a treat! I made it as a Thanksgiving side dish and everyone loved it. It felt very fancy with the hazelnuts and I used dried wild blueberries. Easy way to enjoy brussels. I will be making this again for sure!
Yay! Happy to hear it came out great, easy and delicious ❤️
As usual with most of your recipes, this is excellent! Not going to lie, it’s quite a bit of prep work, but sooo worth it! I can envision trying it with other cheeses as well such as goat cheese or Gorgonzola 😋. Thank you for another wonderful recipe! 🥰
Amazing! So glad this salad is a hit, those cheeses would work great as well! Enjoy 🙂
This was SO delicious! Flavor was awesome. Used dried cherries and it added a little sweetness to the tang.
YUM! Glad you gave this recipe a try and it turned out amazing for you 🙂
Love this recipe. A staple in my house!
So happy to hear that!
Followed this exactly except I doubled the recipe- turned out great! Sautéed the sprouts a little more and left some bigger chunks. Great for meal prep, very filling and delicious!! I am planning on bringing for the next holiday get together. Thank you 🙂
Amazing! Glad you enjoyed!
My family is obsessed with this salad! We first made it as a Thanksgiving side in 2021, but now my husband and I eat it as our dinner 1-2 times a week! We used dried cherries and whatever nuts we have on hand (walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds have all made an appearance at some point). We don’t add the chicken or chickpeas to make it a complete meal, though I’m sure the chickpeas would be a great addition.
Thanks for a lovely recipe! Such wonderful flavors.
Amazing! This one’s perfect for customizing. Glad it’s a favorite!
Made twice. Super yummy. Highly recommended.
So happy you loved it!