Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad (Raw, No Cooking)

Shaved Brussels sprouts salad with dried cranberries and almonds on a white plate, lemon wedges on the side
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Introduction

This is a crisp raw slaw built on shredded Brussels sprouts, and no part of it is cooked.

The sprouts are the part people need convincing about, and the cut is what does the convincing. Left in halves a raw sprout is tough and the bitterness is the first thing you meet. Sliced thin it behaves like raw cabbage instead — and the dressing reaches all of it rather than sitting on the outside of a wedge.

How Fine Is Fine Enough

Thinner than feels necessary. If the shreds still read as pieces of sprout, keep going.

That is the one thing worth getting right here, and it is worth reaching for a mandoline or the food processor rather than doing it by eye with a knife. Pre-shredded bagged sprouts are a legitimate shortcut and nobody will know.

One Ingredient Worth a Second Look

The dried cranberries are here for a good reason — the bitter sprouts and the salty Parmesan want something sweet against them, and nothing else in the bowl provides it.

They are also, by a wide margin, the highest-carb thing in the recipe, and the recipe card’s note sets out what a quarter cup actually costs you. Read that first, because it is a real trade-off rather than a rounding error: halve them and you keep the sweet note, leave them out and you have a different and perfectly good salad.

Brussels Sprout Salad

Prep Time
20 minutes
Total Time
20 minutes
Yield
6 servings
Course
Side Dish
Cuisine
American

Ingredients

All Ingredients

Nutrition Facts

6 servings per recipe
Trans Fat 0g 0% 0g 0%
Sugar Alcohols 0g 0% 0g 0%
Allulose 0g 0% 0g 0%

About these numbers: We are home cooks, not certified nutritionists. Nutrition is shared as a courtesy. We pick a representative product for each ingredient, and our recipe system works out the totals from the amounts in this recipe, so please treat them as a helpful estimate rather than a guarantee. The brands you buy, any swaps you make, and how generously you portion the recipe will all move these numbers.

Directions

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Trim the Brussels sprouts and have the Parmesan, almonds, cranberries, olive oil, and lemon juice ready. See the Ingredient Notes below for more on each one.

  2. Shred the trimmed Brussels sprouts, and place them in a large serving bowl.

    Shred them fine - see the Ingredient Notes below. Then, add these to a large mixing bowl where the other ingredients will follow.

  3. Sprinkle the Parmesan, almonds, and cranberries onto the Brussels sprouts, and toss to combine.

    Pour the parmesan cheese, almonds, and dried cranberries into the large mixing bowl with the shredded Brussels sprouts and toss until well combined.

  5. In a bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

    To make the salad dressing, combine the olive oil and lemon juice. If you wish to use salt and pepper, add that too. Mix this well and taste the dressing before pouring it into the bowl.

  6. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and toss to coat well before serving.

    Drizzle your homemade keto salad dressing over the shaved Brussels sprouts salad before serving.

Notes

Ingredient Notes

The ingredient list above gives the exact quantities. These notes explain what each one contributes and what to look for.

  • Brussels sprouts: Raw, trimmed, and shredded as finely as you can manage. Shredding is what makes this work — a raw sprout left in halves is tough and bitter, and the same sprout shaved thin is crisp and mild. A knife is fine; a mandoline or the slicing disc on a food processor is faster.
  • Parmesan: Grated, and it is doing the salt in this dish as much as the cheese. Taste before you add any more salt to the dressing.
  • Slivered almonds: The crunch. Toasting them first is optional and worth the five minutes if you have them.
  • Dried cranberries: The sweet note against the bitter sprouts and the salty Parmesan — and the one high-carb ingredient in the bowl. See the note below before you decide how many to use.
  • Olive oil and fresh lemon juice: Two tablespoons each, and that is the whole dressing. Use the lemon you squeezed rather than bottled juice; there is nowhere for a dull flavor to hide in a three-ingredient dressing.

About the Cranberries

Dried cranberries are concentrated fruit sugar, and most supermarket brands add more on top. A quarter cup carries roughly 33g of carbohydrate and 29g of sugar — spread across six servings, but still comfortably the largest carb contribution on the plate.

That is worth knowing rather than working around. If your carb budget is tight, use half the amount, or leave them out and let the Parmesan and almonds carry it. If you want the sweetness without the sugar, chopped unsweetened dried cranberries exist but are genuinely tart, and are not the same ingredient as the sweetened ones the recipe was written with.

Preparation

Shred the sprouts with a knife or a mandoline, and do it over the bowl you plan to serve from — there is no cooking in this recipe, so there is no reason to dirty a second one.

Dress it close to serving. Shredded sprouts hold up under a dressing far better than a leaf salad does, but the almonds soften once the lemon juice reaches them.

Taste the dressing on its own before it goes over the salad. Lemons vary enough that two tablespoons can land anywhere from bright to sharp.

Swaps That Stay Low-Carb

Bacon, toasted pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, green onion, or a different hard cheese — goat, blue or feta — all work here without changing the carb picture.

Vinegar in place of some of the lemon juice also works: sherry, red wine or apple cider. A teaspoon of Dijon whisked into the dressing will hold it together rather than letting the oil and lemon separate on the plate.

Storage

Refrigerated in an airtight container, the dressed salad keeps for up to 4 days, which is unusual for a salad and is down to the sprouts being shredded rather than torn.

It does soften over those days, and the almonds stop being crunchy after the first one. If you are making it ahead deliberately, keep the almonds out and add them per serving.

Do not freeze it.

Serving

It is a side dish at this quantity — six servings alongside something else. Adding shredded chicken, leftover pork or bacon turns the same bowl into a lunch rather than a side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use shaved Brussels sprouts instead?

Yes - shaved and shredded are the same thing here, and the bagged pre-shaved sprouts in the produce section are a fine shortcut. Check how fine they are cut; some bags are closer to sliced than shredded, and this salad wants the thinner end of that. Roasted or grilled sprouts are a different dish and will not work in this one, because the whole thing is built on raw crunch.

What other dressing can I use for the shredded Brussels sprouts recipe?

If you do not wish to use the fresh lemon juice and olive oil salad dressing suggestion, consider using balsamic vinegar, honey mustard dressing, or a keto cheese sauce. You can also enjoy it plain.
Use a food processor to blend salad dressing ingredients for a smooth and divine taste.

Can I use extra virgin olive oil?

Yes, it is recommended to use extra virgin olive oil for salads.

Wrap Up

Taste it in the bowl before it goes to the table. The two things worth adjusting are the lemon and the cranberries — a little more juice if it reads flat, fewer cranberries if it is sweeter than you wanted. Everything else is already in proportion.

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Updated — September 22, 2026: The case for shredding raw sprouts finely is now made properly, and the cut, the dressing and the cranberries are spelled out on the recipe card where you need them.

Correction — September 11, 2026: The dried cranberries were described as naturally low in sugar. They are in fact the highest-carb ingredient in this salad.