Cacio e Pepe Brussels Sprouts
Cacio e Pepe Brussels Sprouts swaps out pasta for shredded Brussels sprouts in this low-carb take on the Italian classic.
Cacio e Pepe Brussels Sprouts
Cacio e pepe translates from Italian to “cheese and pepper” and traditionally is served as a pasta dish. In this lighter version, the pasta is swapped with shredded sprouts and tossed with a generous amount of grated cheese, black pepper, lemon, and even some toasted nuts for a nice little crunch.
This recipe is slightly adapted from Tieghan’s new cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Super Simple (affil link). Her cookbook is filled with the most gorgeous photos and mouthwatering recipes! This recipe called out to me because I love using shredded Brussels sprouts as a pasta swap with meat sauce, so I knew this would be good! Tieghan says this dish is also for the cheese lover who wants to love Brussels sprouts, but doesn’t . . . yet!
To save time, buying pre-shredded Brussels sprouts makes this dish come together in minutes. It’s a great side, or you can serve it as a main, alongside a fried egg. Mmmm!
How To Make
More Brussels Sprouts Recipes You Will Love:
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash
- Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots with Balsamic Glaze
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower Soup
- Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Parsnip Spiralized Pasta
Cacio e Pepe Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground pepper
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- 14 ounces shredded Brussels sprouts, see Note
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the olive oil, pepper, and red pepper flakes together until toasted, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add the Brussels sprouts and cook, without stirring, until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Season with the salt, and cook until the Brussels sprouts just begin to char, about 2 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and add the Parmesan, lemon zest, and hazelnuts.
- Serve warm, topped with more fresh Parmesan, if desired.
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Whipped this up tonight but put a little Mexican fusion spin on it since we are having grilled pork loin in pipian sauce. Swapped out the red pepper flakes for ~ 1 tsp of chipotle I always have on hand in the fridge. No lemon so went with lime zest. Did add the parm. omg. I don’t see how this could serve 6 since I am not sure the pan will even make it to the table with how many nibbles I’m taking out of it. YUM!! Didn’t add any nuts because of the seeds in my sauce. But did taste it with some slivered almonds and wow! I will make this again as intended and also with my twist. So happy to have a delicious new way to enjoy B. sprouts! Thanks, Gina!
I used cashews because it’s all I had on hand, and this came out delicious! My new favorite way to make Brussels sprouts.
Made this and they came out salty. Half the amount of salt, pepper and Parmesan would have been enough. I did like the texture of the brussel sprouts, so I’ll make it again.
The sprouts were really delicious. They taste much nicer than boiled. Even my kids ate them.
I just made these with my daughter and they were awesome. I added too much hot pepper but my fault. She loved it and said already, lets make again.
Enjoyable! Easy and so flavorful! The lemon zest was quite refreshing. The parmigiana cheese made it creamy and filling. Thank you! ♥️
These were easy and flavorful!
These are delicious! I couldn’t stop eating them!
This is my new favorite way to eat brussel sprouts! I use my food processor and do a large shred, so they do break down a bit more than the photos but are still delicious. We usually have it with roasted chicken and crusty bread, but I could just eat a giant bowl of these sprouts and be happy.
So easy to make, and very tasty. Had a double serving as dinner, but definitely gonna use it as a side too.
This has quickly become a favorite! Nice to make ahead of time and serve it straight from the frig during this hot summer. Also agree 1/2 c of Parm is plenty.
I made this today for lunch. It was super quick, easy and delicious. I used pre-shaved brussels sprouts from the store, chopped up the pecans and only 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. The recipe says 1 1/4 cups but that seemed like a lot to me. 1/2 cup was perfect.
Just made this, turned out great was really fast and easy! Changes I made were I only had raw almonds on had and toasted them before using as topping, sliced brussel sprots so had to increase cooking time but looked for slight char as described in recipe. I also used my cast iron skillet which helped. Might be tasty to top with squeeze of lemon before serving as well, will do that next time. Ate this as a meal will double next time to have leftovers.
Yum! The brussel sprouts had a sweetness to them than the usual bitterness they have.
This will be a repeat dish!
Yummy late afternoon snack, had time and Brussels on hand and wanted to have a snack before dinner. My husband cleared almost the whole batch of these. Flavorful and easy, although mine seemed to steam more than crisp up but still a reliable snack or side dish without the calories.
This was much better than I anticipated! Being a carbs lover but wanting to get more veggies in, I am so happy that I selected this as a side with my dinner. Followed the recipe exactly and will make again. I would follow Gina’s suggestion to buy shredded brussels because shredding them with my mandolin was awful and painstaking, haha.
This was delicious. I backed off on the pepper to 1/2 teaspoon, as I am recovering from gum surgery and sensitive to spice right now. Really great. I also shaved the sprouts using the slicing disc in my food processor.
These were perfect alongside the porkchops with mustard/ mushroom gravy. My whole family loved them. I really enjoyed the parmesan in this dish. I also liked the texture of the sliced brussels sprouts in comparison to halved. We will make these again.
Awesome tip!
Really interesting combination of flavors, which I enjoyed immensely. The tartness of the lemon was balanced out nicely by the cheese and nuts,
This is delicious! We really enjoyed this super quick recipe with amazing flavors!
I made this for Christmas dinner. The taste was delicious and everyone loved it. However, I shredded the brussels in the food processor as another reviewer suggested, and maybe they got too small because the dish did not look like this photo at all. When I added the cheese and mixed it all together, the look of my dish more resembled creamed spinach -the look wasn’t really appetizing. Maybe I will try to shred with a mandolin next time…?
Delicious!!!
I made this with dinner last night. Very tasty! I squeezed some lemon juice on it and it really brightened the flavors. Will make again!
Made this for lunch today. Very good albeit a bit spicy since i didn’t know how much red pepper the recipe called for and that combined with the pepper put this in overdrive. Very good though with lemon zest and cheese.
I agree, good but a bit too much pepper for me. Will tone it down a bit next time.
A food full of nutrition. Thanks for sharing this light but nutritious recipe with us. I will try to and let you know how it tastes 🙂
Yumm! I love b.sprouts, always looking for new ways to cook them!
This looks great. I often use cabbage shredded like fettuccini and cooked al dente and it makes a great noodle subsitute. Eaten with sweedish meatballs and gravy or whatever topping sauce you want.
Gina, would the pre-shredded Brussels sprouts be located in the produce department? Would love to try this recipe, but am leery of the mandoline(after needing 2 stitches in my thumb!).
I shred Brussels sprouts in my food processor…works great, super quick
What main would you pair this with?
Any roast like chicken, beef or pork