Brussels sprouts are one of my favourite vegetables. Whether they’re roasted with spices until caramelized, simply sautéed and finished with a splash of apple cider vinegar, or enjoyed raw and shredded like we do in this flavourful brussels sprout salad.

I had holiday gatherings in mind when I came up with this salad! Is it too soon to be talking about that stuff? If you’re thinking about the gatherings and celebrations ahead, I have all of my Best Vegan Holiday Recipes rounded up in one spot for you. I’ll still be sharing some good weeknight dinner inspiration as we close out 2021 though. Can’t be feasting all the time, right? ;)

With this salad, we shave the Brussels sprouts nice and thin, along with red onion and apple. All of that gets coated in a creamy sunflower seed-based citrus/garlic/Dijon dressing. It kind of gives a caesar vibe, but with an extra nice and mellow citrus twist. The salad is topped with the most amazing crunchy, spiced maple walnuts. They’re caramelized in a pan with maple syrup, Tamari, smoked paprika, and garlic and onion powder. Once cool, we chop them up fine and scatter them across every single square inch of the salad. This part is key! You want that perfect bite every time.

How to shave Brussels sprouts:

• Use a sharp knife and cut each sprout by hand. I like to cut each Brussels sprout in half first so that I can lay the flat side down on the cutting board for maximum safety.
• Use a mandoline. I have an old Benriner mandoline that is still so sharp. I love using mine for finely cut salads like this. Just be careful when you get down to that tiny end piece of the sprout. This is my preferred method personally.
• Find the shredding disk of your food processor if you have one and put it to use! This makes the process so easy and fast. One thing to note about this method: the shreds can be on the thicker side. If that doesn’t faze you, go for it.
• Buy them pre-shredded/shaved. Some grocery stores have this option and it is seriously such a luxury! You’ll need about 5 cups total of shredded Brussels sprouts here.

You can make components of this salad ahead of time too. The dressing will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. The chopped smoky maple walnuts will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for at least a week. You can pre-shred the brussels sprouts up to 3 days in advance too! Just save the red onion and apple slicing for right before tossing and serving.

Fans of this salad will no doubt also love my Apple Kale Salad with Miso Mustard Dressing and my Loaded Brussels Sprout Salad with Creamy Maple Mustard Dressing.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing & Spiced Maple Walnuts

This vegan shaved Brussels sprout salad is covered in a delicious creamy garlic dressing and topped with finely chopped, spiced maple walnuts. So much flavour and texture in every bite. Crunchy, creamy, fresh, sweet, and savoury.

4.82 from 11 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

Spiced Maple Walnuts

• 1 cup walnut halves
• 2 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon gluten free Tamari soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Creamy Garlic Dressing

• ½ cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained (see notes)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• ½ cup water

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and shaved thin (about 5 cups shaved brussels sprouts total)
• 1 small red onion, shaved thin
• 1 medium apple, cored and shaved thin (Honeycrisp is my favorite for salads)
• handful fresh parsley or dill, chopped (optional)

Equipment

• Blender

Notes

• Make sure that your sunflower seeds are fresh! Old and rancid sunflower seeds can lead to extremely bitter tasting dressing/sauces.
• Soaked raw cashews can be substituted for the sunflower seeds in the dressing. 
• You could use pecans instead of walnuts if you like.  
• I like to set a few of the sliced apples and red onions aside to top the finished salad because it looks pretty.

Instructions

• Make the spiced maple walnuts. Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Once adequately heated, add the following to the skillet all at once: walnut halves, maple syrup, Tamari, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the maple syrup is caramelized and the nuts are lightly toasted, about 4-5 minutes.
• Immediately remove the walnuts from the heat and transfer them to a dinner plate to cool completely. Once completely cool, roughly chop the walnuts. Set aside.
• Make the dressing. In an upright blender, combine the sunflower seeds, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, orange juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, water, and some salt and pepper. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth and creamy. Give the dressing a taste and adjust if necessary–more salt, more lemon etc! Set aside.
• Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, combine the shaved Brussels sprouts, shaved red onion, and shaved apple. Season this mixture liberally with salt and pepper and then pour on ¾ of the dressing. Toss the salad to combine and evenly coat everything in the dressing. At this point, I like to transfer the dressed salad to a serving platter, but that's an optional extra step.
• Finally, top the shaved Brussels sprout salad with drizzles of the remaining dressing, extra cracked black pepper, the chopped spiced maple walnuts, and the chopped herbs. Enjoy immediately!

Author: Laura Wright

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: apples, blender, brussels sprouts, dijon mustard, fall, garlic powder, holiday entertaining, holidays, lemon juice, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, olive oil, onion powder, orange juice, quick, red onion, smoked paprika, sunflower seeds, walnuts, winter