We prove the existence of a subset of the torus with large sumsets and avoiding all linear patterns. This extends a result of Körner, who had shown that for any integer $q \geq 1$, there exists a subset $K$ of $\mathbb R/\mathbb Z$ satisfying no non-trivial linear relations of order $2q-1$ and such that $q.K$ has positive Lebesgue measure. Our method is based on transfinite induction, which also allows us to produce large sets in different senses (cardinality, outer Lebesgue measure or Hausdorff dimension) avoiding families of algebraic patterns, for example Sidon sets in infinite abelian groups with small $2$ and $3$-torsion or sets with no repeated distances in $\mathbb R^n$. We also discuss questions of measurability of such sets and the role of the axiom of choice in our constructions.