Healthy BROCCOLI SALAD

Broccoli salad is a combination of broccoli, bacon, red onion, cranberries, sunflower seeds and goat cheese. And it’s topped with a creamy mayonnaise yogurt dressing. So easy and delicious!

Serve this salad with my Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs, Herbed Honey Mustard Chicken or Grilled Chicken Souvlaki.

BROCCOLI SALAD

If ever there was a salad recipe that unexpectedly knocked my socks off, it’s this one – an easy, unassuming, broccoli salad. But don’t let easy fool you, because this salad recipe is loaded with flavor. It’s simultaneously crispy, creamy, sweet and savory. And did I mention bacon is involved?

When it comes to salad recipes most of us gravitate towards leafy greens. And I’ll be the first to admit that spinach is my salad green of choice. So when you’re looking for a little salad shakeup and want something that’s perfect for potlucks, picnics and barbecues (because it’s durable), give this broccoli salad a whirl.

WHAT GOES INTO A BROCCOLI SALAD?

The great thing about a broccoli salad recipe is how easy it is to customize. Raw broccoli forms the bulk of this salad and bacon, dried fruit, cheese and seeds are usually involved. But you can tweak each of those to your personal dietary preference. Here’s what is included in my broccoli salad:

• Broccoli
• Bacon
• Red Onion
• Dried Cranberries
• Sunflower Seeds
• Goat Cheese

So if you’d like to use raisins instead of dried cranberries or slivered almonds instead of sunflower seeds, go for it. I’ve included goat cheese instead of cheddar cheese as I prefer it in salads and I think it adds amazing creaminess. But you could also make this salad dairy-free.

WHAT KIND OF DRESSING GOES ON A BROCCOLI SALAD?

The typical dressing for a broccoli salad is a creamy, mayonnaise-based dressing. I don’t add any extra sugar to my dressing, but I do up the creaminess by adding a little homemade yogurt to the dressing. It adds just the right sweetness and tang. And of course, I use my homemade mayonnaiseas the starting point.

CAN YOU MAKE THIS BROCCOLI SALAD DAIRY-FREE?

Absolutely. You can omit the goat cheese or use a dairy-free cheese and swap in dairy-free yogurtin the dressing. It’ll still be delicious!

HOW TO MAKE THIS BROCCOLI SALAD

The only thing that requires cooking in this salad is the bacon. So cook the bacon in the oven (it’s way easier) and when that’s done, blot it dry with a paper towel.

While the bacon is cooking, slice the florets off a large head of broccoli and add them to a mixing bowl. Dice up some red onion and add that to the bowl along with the sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and goat cheese. Once the bacon is cooked and cooled, crumble that in the bowl and mix it all together.

In a separate small bowl make the dressing by stirring together the mayonnaise and yogurt. Then add that to the salad and stir everything together for the most delicious, flavorful, highly addictive, healthy broccoli salad recipe.

WATCH THIS QUICK VIDEO OF MY BROCCOLI SALAD RECIPE

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FOR MORE HEALTHY SALAD RECIPES

• Cucumber Salad
• Cobb Salad
• Lentil Salad with Cucumber
• BLT Salad with Avocado and Sprouts
• Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh

5 from 27 votes

BROCCOLI SALAD

PREP TIME: 5 mins

COOK TIME: 15 mins

TOTAL TIME: 20 mins

SERVINGS: 6 servings

AUTHOR: Lisa Bryan

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Broccoli salad is incredibly easy to make. It's healthy, loaded with flavor and topped with a creamy mayonnaise yogurt dressing. Watch the video above to see how quickly it comes together!

INGREDIENTS

US Customary - Metric

Broccoli Salad

• 1 broccoli head, approx 5 cups of florets
• 8 slices bacon
• 1/3 cup red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Broccoli Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Add the bacon slices to a parchment lined baking tray and cook for 15 minutes or until crispy. Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer to a paper towel to dry and cool.
• While the bacon is cooking, slice off all the broccoli florets and make sure they're in bite-sized pieces. Add them to a large mixing bowl along with the red onion, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and goat cheese.
• To make the dressing, add the mayonnaise and yogurt to a small bowl and stir together. Add the dressing to the mixing bowl and stir until everything is well combined.

LISA'S TIPS

• Make sure you've sliced the broccoli florets into small, bite-sized pieces. It makes it far easier to eat that way.
• If you're wondering what to do with the broccoli stem, spiralize it! Yes, you can totally spiralize a broccoli stem, just as you would a zucchini. It's delicious! And while I don't show you how to spiralize a broccoli stem on my Spiralizer Beginner's Guide video, you can still get a little inspiration from the video.
• If you've never cooked bacon in the oven before, make sure to read my recipe post and watch my video. Whenever I'm cooking a whole package of bacon it's definitely my favorite method.
• I also have recipes for homemade mayonnaise and homemade yogurt, but of course, you can buy these from the store as well.

NUTRITION

CALORIES: 376.7kcal, CARBOHYDRATES: 22.2g, PROTEIN: 12.4g, FAT: 28.7g, SATURATED FAT: 6.8g, CHOLESTEROL: 30.8mg, SODIUM: 328.6mg, FIBER: 4.5g, SUGAR: 12g

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