Crispy Shredded Brussel Sprouts {That Your Kids Will LOVE!}

Think you have sprout haters? You've not tried these. Crispy Shredded Brussel Sprouts you just can't say no to. Forget cooking sprouts the old fashioned way and boiling them to death, once you've made these pan fried, seasoned and crispy little leaves you'll have the kids going back for seconds. They're that good!

Also see: Butter fried brussel sprouts

Crispy Shredded Brussel Sprouts

Crispy Shredded Brussel Sprouts. Sometimes you have to think outside the box when you're trying to find ways to cook veggies that you're kids might have already decided they hate before they've really tried them. These crispy sprouts are the way to change their minds, all but the most hardened sprout hater will go for these.

The difference with this crispy Brussel sprout recipe that sets it apart from most of the others is that the sprouts are cooked 'shredded' rather than as a whole vegetable. It is more time consuming, I won't pretend it's not but the extra time spent shredding them is well worth it.

The regular sprout taste that some kids (and some adults!) find so offensive comes from the fact that these veggies are dense. There's a lot of veg packed into that little green ball and so the flavor is amplified.

These crispy Brussel sprouts are way less offensive to little uns'. They're cooked in a little oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. They're so thin and light they become moorish, like a packet of potato chips, you can't stop at one. Only unlike a packet of potato chips you don't need to stop at one, you can just keep going, if you wanted to :)

Sprout Haters?

They're not really like regular Brussel sprouts. If like me, you remember those over boiled soggy bitter tasting sprouts of the 1970s you'd be forgiven for never touching them again and going so far as to keep them at arms length for, well, for ever. In which case you may not have given them to your kids and so they then don't like them and so on and so on.

This was me, right up until I discovered that I actually love the little green delights, and you know what? So do the kids (if they're cooked the right way!).

There's loads of ways here to help get your child used to veggies as well.

Cleaning Sprouts

As if this recipe needed another bonus, since you spent time shredding the leaves of these, they reward you with super easy peasy washing. Once you've done the hard work you can pop them all into a colander and they wash in seconds. Swirl them around with your hands and wash away any dirt left over and then pat them dry on a clean tea towel or kitchen paper. They need to be dry before you toss them in oil, as excess moisture will keep them soggy and that's not the aim of these beauties!

Shredding Sprouts

Shredding sprouts is easy, it's just a bit different from the sprouts of most of out own childhoods. There's a couple of extra things you have to do:

Cut The Bottoms

Cut across the bottom of the sprout in the usual way you would, except you will have to cut slightly higher to get more of the sprout stalk off. It's the stalk that's holding all those little leaves together and so cutting a touch higher means the sprouts will shred easier.

Once you have done to to all your sprouts, take off the loose outside leaves and discard them. Then cut your sprouts on half and then in to quarters.

Loosen the Leaves

Once you've got a pile of quartered sprouts, use your hands to loosen the leaves. Some of them might still be a little resistant to leave their stalks in which case you can use a knife to chop them smaller.

The thinner the leaves and shreds of sprout, the crispier the end result will be!

Cooking The Shredded Sprout

Inevitably there will be some quartered sprouts that slip through the shredding net. If you see them once you've got them in the pan just shred them at this stage. It's not an exact science, more of a 'the best you can'!

Make Ahead

These crispy shredded Brussel sprouts need to be cooked and served straight away or else they'll lose their crispiness and you won't get the full crispiness effect.

That said, you can do all the shredding before hand (up to 3 days) and keep them in the fridge, in fact if you're making these over the Holiday period when there's about a million other things to do, then I'd recommend you do.

It depends on how many people you're going to be cooking for as to how long the shredding is going to take but for 6 people, it takes a good 20 minutes or so. No, it's not too long but it's enough time to want to save it if you're going to be busy!

Leftovers

You can store any left overs of these in the fridge for 2 days after they're cooked, but be aware, they won't get their crispiness back when you reheat them! To reheat them you can pop them back in a pan and heat them until they're hot all the way through.

However, there's something much better to do with leftover sprouts: Bubble and Squeak. Bubble and squeak is a recipe that's traditionally made from leftovers but it's So good, we do sometimes make the veggies it uses especially for it. If you've not tried it, you're in for a treat!

Failing that, simply cover your leftover sprouts in Cranberry sauce and devour!

More Clean Eating Vegetable Recipes

• Cheese and tomato bake
• Healthy cauliflower cheese
• The best broccoli cauliflower casserole
• Whole roasted BBQ cauliflower
• No flour cauliflower fritters
• Spinach breakfast muffins

How To Make Crispy Shredded Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients

• Brussel sprouts Shredded. See post for instructions
• 2-4 tbsp Olive oil 2 tablespoon for up to 6 people, 4 for double batches
• Salt and pepper For seasoning
• 1 tbsp Dried cranberries For garnishing

Instructions

• In a large bowl toss the Brussel sprout leaves in the olive oil making sure to cover all the leaves
• Heat a large pan on the stove top on a medium - high heat. Don't add any oil but watch the pan to make sure it doesn't start smoking!
• Once the pan is very hot, pop the shredded sprouts into it and using a wooden spoon, move them round the pan regularly to stop them burning. Do this for 3-4 minutes and then turn the heat down to medium
• Continue cooking the sprouts for another 3-4 minutes so they're cooked through and then add the seasoning and combine well
• A minute before the end of cooking, add the cranberries if you're using them and give them a minute in the pan to rehydrate
• Serve immediately

Crispy Shredded Brussel Sprouts Recipe