Inspired by Cracker Barrel’s Brussels sprouts and kale salad, this Brussels sprouts and kale slaw recipe features fresh veggies, dried cranberries, toasty nuts, and a sweet and tangy maple vinaigrette.
While I was recently visiting my in-laws out of state to help them get ready to move, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and I decided to eat out at Cracker Barrel. While there, I selected a side dish of Brussels sprouts and kale salad that sounded yummy. When it was delivered to me at our table, I was correct–it was VERY yummy. But it obviously had sweetened dried cranberries and an extremely sweet maple vinaigrette.
So I determined to revamp this recipe for my Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. And, as usual, it was pretty easy. Just a bit of swap this for that, add a few more tasty things to make it my own, and voila–a low carb Brussels sprouts and kale slaw is born!
A Few Notes
- If you don’t want to purchase or use the sugar free dried cranberries online, substitute them with chopped strawberries instead.
- The dried cranberries I linked to might be a little firm at first. Once they have absorbed some of the moisture from the vinaigrette though, they should plump up a bit. So let the salad sit for a bit before serving if you’d like this to happen.
- If you’d like to, you can omit the sweetener and the maple flavoring and add about 1/4 cup ChocZero maple syrup or homemade maple syrup. Keep in mind this will make the vinaigrette a little more runny.
Low Carb Brussels Sprouts and Kale Slaw with Maple Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For Nuts
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds
For Vinaigrette
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons
Lakanto Classic or equivalent sweetener, more or less to taste - 2 teaspoons sugar free dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon maple flavoring (I recommend the
THM brand or theOlive Nation brand ) - ½ teaspoon mineral salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
For Slaw
- ¼ pound fresh Brussels sprouts, finely julienned
- 4 leaves kale, finely julienned
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- ½ ounce (1/2 bag)
Honestly Cranberry unsweetened dried cranberries OR 5 strawberries, hulled and chopped
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coarsely chopped nuts and toast, stirring often, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool (you can pop them in the fridge or freezer to speed this up).
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together all of the vinaigrette ingredients.
- Add the slaw ingredients and the nuts; toss to coat with the vinaigrette.
I have tried quite a few of your recipes and they all ROCK! …but I had to comment on this one. I made the whole batch for myself one night for dinner to have with some salmon. It was fabulous! The dressing definitely makes it—I used half the dressing and it was more than enough for me. But….my dear husband (who won’t even try anything that is THMified) ate more than half of it! He “hates” kale; he “hates” brussels sprouts, he “hates” balsamic vinegar….however, he LOVES anything Cracker Barrel..especially the sugary, carby and breaded “stuff” (e.g., their entire menu 🙂 ). Soooo….I didn’t even tell him about the monkfruit sweetener and this is now a weekly dinner item for us! He actually asks me to make “that” salad if I haven’t made it in a while. Thank you so much! It is wonderful!
That is great! Thank you so much for letting me know, Patty. 😀
Tasted amazing as always, TJ! 😘