Broccoli Salad  Recipe – quick and easy summer salad that makes a great potluck dish or a side to your grilled meat. Made with fresh broccoli, bacon bits, onions, grapes, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds tossed in a creamy, slightly sweet and tangy  dressing. Everyone will surely rave about this!

My 10-year old son  loves  raw broccoli! I mean really, really love it! When given a choice between broccoli and burger, he’d no doubt go with broccoli. As for me, nah.. not that much. I eat broccoli because I have too. 😄 I remember when he was less than two years old, my husband would  make  him eat his own leftover broccoli. And our lovable son, would gladly ate everything! Well, so much for our parenting skills.

Lately, I have been making this broccoli salad at home – a salad I know everyone would enjoy (even though  broccoli is the star ingredient). Once you start noshing on this, you would look forward to making it soon. For those on a diet, this should be on recipe box as it’s easy to make and full of wholesome healthy ingredients. Oh hello, summer bod!

How To Make Broccoli Salad

It’s sooo easy to prepare this dish which is why it has been one of our go-to summer salad. No blanching, steaming needed or whatesoever! 

1. Simply chop and prepare the ingredients. Toss them all together (except for the sunflower seeds) in one large bowl. Around 2 heads of broccoli would yield around 5-6 cups of florets.

2. Then in another separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, honey, sugar, lemon juice or vinegar and finally salt and pepper to taste. 

Tip: For a healthier route, I went with replacing half a cup of the mayo with plain Greek yogurt and it also adds creaminess that complements well with the flavor in this salad.

3. Finally, add the salad dressing to the chopped broccoli mixture. Throw in the sunflower seeds and mix well to combine. Voila! You’re now ready to serve it. 

Tip: I prefer to reserve some of the dressing to drizzle it over the salad just before serving. This works perfectly to me!

Other Ingredients To Add To Broccoli Salad

I’ve made a couple of variation to this dish and what’s even more great about this is that you can add anything to this to make it YOUR kind-of-salad.

You can add in some mixed nuts for added crunch, shredded carrots and sliced apples. Or throw in some cheese cubes or swap the sunflower seeds with raisins. There’s just so many options for this dish!

My Other Favorite Salad Recipes

• Strawberry Spinach Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Creamy Cole Slaw Dressing
• Easy Pasta Salad
• 7 Layer Salad
• Cajun Chicken Avocado Salad
• Waldorf Salad

This  crunchy salad , is  relatively simple salad  to to put together. You can make the dressing ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to  2-3 days. When ready to serve, just mix the broccoli mixture and the dressing, throw in the seeds (or nuts, if preferred) and you are good to go.

Enjoy!

Tips and Notes:

1. When ever am making a salad, I try to cut down on the mayonnaise replacing it with Greek yogurt  to minimize my calorie intake while still maintaining optimal flavor.
2. Reserve some of the dressing to drizzle it over the salad just before serving.
3. You can make the dressing ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to  2-3 days. Mix the dressing onto the salad right before serving.

This post was first published on August 2013 and has been updated with new photos, blog write up and recipe.

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Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad  Recipe - quick and easy summer salad that makes a great potluck dish or a side to your grilled meat. Made with fresh broccoli, bacon bits, onions, grapes, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds tossed in a creamy, slightly sweet and tangy  dressing. Everyone will surely rave about this!

5 from 2 votes

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Total: 15 minutes mins

American

Servings 5 - 6 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 cups (284 g) chopped broccoli florets
• ▢ 5-6 bacon , cooked and crumbled
• ▢ 2 cups (302 g) grapes , sliced
• ▢ ⅓ cup (53 g) dried cranberries
• ▢ ½ medium onion , diced
• ▢ ½ cup (64 g) sunflower seeds

Salad Dressing

• ▢ ½ cup (116 g) mayonnaise
• ▢ ½ cup (122 g) Greek yogurt
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (36 g) honey
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
• ▢ 1-2 tablespoons (15- 30 ml) lemon juice or vinegar
• ▢ Salt and Pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optiona)

Instructions

• In a large bowl mix broccoli, bacon, grapes, dried cranberries and onions.
• In another bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, honey, sugar, lemon juice or vinegar,salt and pepper and mustard , if using any. Then add to the broccoli mixture. Thrown in the sunflower seeds .
• Mix well to combine and adjust for seasoning. Serve immediately or refrigerate before serving. Toss again before serving and drizzle with the remaining dressing, if needed.

Tips & Notes:

1. When ever am making a salad, I try to cut down on the mayonnaise replacing it with Greek yogurt  to minimize my calorie intake while still maintaining optimal flavor.
2. Reserve some of the dressing to drizzle it over the salad just before serving.
3. You can make the dressing ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to  2-3 days. Mix the dressing onto the salad right before serving.

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 97kcal (5%)| Carbohydrates: 1g| Protein: 3g (6%)| Fat: 9g (14%)| Saturated Fat: 3g (19%)| Cholesterol: 15mg (5%)| Sodium: 157mg (7%)| Potassium: 60mg (2%)| Fiber: 1g (4%)| Sugar: 1g (1%)| Vitamin C: 0.8mg (1%)| Calcium: 3mg| Iron: 0.1mg (1%)

Author: Imma

Course: Salad, Side

Cuisine: American

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How To Make Broccoli Salad 

In a large bowl mix broccoli, bacon, grapes, dried cranberries and onions. In another bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, honey, sugar, lemon juice or vinegar,  salt , pepper and mustard , if using any,

Then add to the broccoli mixture. Thrown in the sunflower seeds. Mix well to combine and adjust for seasoning. Serve immediately or refrigerate before serving. Toss again before serving and drizzle with the remaining dressing, if needed.