Here’s an easy broccoli salad recipe that is not just tastes delicious, but good for you! This is not your average boring and bland salad. It’s loaded with cheddar cheese, bacon, nuts and loads of other healthy and delicious stuffs!

healthy broccoli salad in wooden bowl with napkin on side

Why This Broccoli Salad Recipe Works?

I got two words for you – CHEESE and BACON! That’s all you need right to elevate the taste of ANY dish. Cheese broccoli bacon salad won’t let you down.
This is not your average boring salad. It’s loaded up with amazing ingredients that adds so much flavor, texture and taste to the salad.
The magical ingredient to pair with broccoli is Cheddar cheese! Put broccoli and cheddar cheese together, you get the BEST TASTING dish. We wanted to elevate the salad, so we decided why add all little cheese to the salad. And just like that you got this magical easy broccoli salad recipe.
This salad is a huge crowd pleaser! Even my fussy eaters at home eat a bowl full of salad. I guess the mayonnaise dressing and cheese did the trick here. Made it thrice in last month, we never had leftovers!
Very simple recipe, very easy to customize it according to your preference.
You’ll need basic ingredients to put this salad together.
It’s really easy to make.
More importantly it’s easy to make ahead!
It’s refreshing, full of fresh ingredients and packed with salty, sweet and creamy flavors.
To keep it healthy, substitute mayonnaise with Greek yogurt or reduce the amount of mayonnaise used in the broccoli salad dressing.

Ingredients Needed

Below pic shows all you need to make easy broccoli salad recipe. Note you can substitute ingredients with your choice of preference to suit you. Check below for substitutions and variation options.

ingredients for healthy salad using broccoli on white board

Fresh Broccoli – use the freshest broccoli. Fresh ones are crisp and tastes so much better. If you can’t get your hands on fresh broccoli use frozen broccoli. Thaw it in fridge. If the frozen ones are blanched prior to freezing use it directly. If frozen raw, blanch broccoli in boiling water for 1 minute, drain completely and use to make salad.

Jo’s Tip: Drain and dry broccoli very well after blanching so it does not thin down the dressing.

Salad Mix-In’s – I have used a cheddar cheese cut into small cubes, crispy bacon crumbled, dried cranberries, toasted almonds chopped and red onions. You can use other salad mix-in’s as well. Think of grapes, raisins, other nuts and seeds. You can even mix in extra veggies that you may have, like carrots, zucchini, blanched cauliflower, celery, peppers.

Broccoli Salad Dressing –

It’s mayonnaise based salad dressing. I know, it’s doesn’t completely fall under the “healthy salad” dressing category. You can skimp on the quantity of mayonnaise you use to keep it healthy. Or substitute Greek yogurt with mayonnaise.

I have used ½ cup mayonnaise, go ahead and add just 2 tablespoons.

Mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sugar, salt and pepper all mixed together will give you this lusciously cream and delicious dressing.

healthy broccoli salad in wooden bowl with napkin

How To Make Easy Broccoli Salad (With Step-By-Step Pictorial)?

Prep Work: Dice cheddar cheese block into small cubes. You can grate it as well.

Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Though many recipes suggest you to use raw broccoli, I always prefer to blanch it for 1 minute in heavily salted water before mixing it with my salad ingredients. Feel free to use raw broccoli if you like the taste of raw broccoli.

Jo’s Tip: DO NOT OVER COOK broccoli florets. Cook briefly so it’s still crisp and green but not raw. Overcooking broccoli will turn it into mushy, soft florets that don’t work great for this salad.

How To Cook Broccoli?

Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt the water heavily like you would do while cooking pasta. Add broccoli florets into boiling water and cook it for 60 seconds. Immediately drain broccoli from boiling water and rinse it well under tap water or quickly transfer to ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Drain water completely and let it dry on kitchen towel to ensure it’s dried well.

Blanched and dried broccoli will have this beautiful crisp and crunchy to it and bright green in color.

Toast nuts for 5 minutes in oven at 350 Fahrenheit. Don’t brown it.

I toasted whole almonds and then once cooled, chopped them up.

You can add in seeds like sunflower seeds, melon seeds along with nuts of your choice.

To Make Salad Dressing: In a bowl or jar add mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk it until well combined. Keep aside until use.

Note: if broccoli salad dressing is too thick, thin it down with 1 or 2 teaspoon water. It should be in pouring consistency, but not too thin.

step by step pictorial instructions for broccoli salad recipe

Toss The Salad: Add very well dried broccoli florets (raw or blanched), cheddar cheese cubes, crumbled bacon bits, dried cranberries, diced red onions and toasted and chopped almonds.

Pour salad dressing on top.

Gently toss the salad using wooden spoons. Be gentle and don’t over mix or break the ingredients.

Serve: Chill it for few hours before serving. Chilled broccoli salad tastes great as the salad sits in the fridge it soaks up all the dressing, resulting in more flavorful salad.

Tips For The Best Broccoli Salad Recipe

Use fresh ingredients and premium quality ingredients for the salad.
Briefly blanch broccoli florets for only 60 seconds in heavily salted boiling water. This will cut down the harshness of raw broccoli. If you love the taste of raw broccoli, skip blanching.
Drain and dry broccoli very well after blanching so it does not thin down the dressing.
You can add in seeds like sunflower seeds, melon seeds along with nuts of your choice.
Toast nuts for 5 minutes in oven at 350 Fahrenheit before tossing it in the salad. Don’t brown the nuts.
Feel free to add use other salad mix-in’s as well. Think of grapes, raisins, other nuts and seeds. You can even mix in extra veggies that you may have, like carrots, zucchini, blanched cauliflower, celery, peppers.
If you use raw red onions too harsh in taste, you can slice the onions, soak it in vinegar or ice bath for 10 minutes. Drain it and then use it. It’ll cut down the harshness.
Always chill the salad for few hours before serving. Chilled broccoli salad tastes great as the salad sits in the fridge it soaks up all the dressing, resulting in more flavorful salad.

Substitutions And Variations For Easy Broccoli Salad

If you don’t mind the harsh taste of raw broccoli, use it raw to make this salad. If you are like me who can’t handle the raw taste, blanch broccoli florets for 60 seconds in salted water, drain, rinse and dry completely before using it in salad.
You can add other vegetables to the salad along with broccoli. Veggies like cauliflower, zucchini, diced carrots.
Instead of dried cranberries, you can use raisins, fresh grapes, diced apple or pomegranate seeds.
Feel free to use any nut of your choice. Don’t skip roasting nuts for 5 minutes in oven before tossing with the salad. It get crunchier and tastes better when toasted.
Nuts like walnuts, pecan and pine nuts can be used.
Include seeds along with nuts. Sunflower seeds, melon seeds, flax seeds are great choices.
Want to make it healthy? Substitute mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.

MORE BROCCOLI RECIPES WE LOVE-

Roasted Broccoli With Parmesan

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

15 Minutes Chicken And Broccoli Stir Fry

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