Broccoli Salad

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This classic broccoli salad will delight you time and again! Just toss broccoli, bacon, red onion, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and goat cheese with a creamy mayonnaise yogurt dressing for the best year-round salad.

A close up of broccoli salad in a bowl

If ever there was a salad recipe that consistently knocked my socks off, it’s this one – a broccoli salad. It’s super easy to make, but don’t let easy fool you, because this salad 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. But if you’re looking for a little salad shakeup and want something that’s perfect for potlucks, picnics, and barbecues (because yes, this salad is durable), give broccoli salad a whirl.

Ingredients for broccoli salad in a bowl

Broccoli Salad Ingredients

The great thing about this salad is how easy it is to customize. So feel free to tweak the ingredients your personal preference. Here’s what’s in mine:

  • Broccoli: raw broccoli florets form the bulk of the salad. Make sure to chop them into bite-sized pieces.
  • Red Onion: I love diced red onion, but you could also use sliced green onion.
  • Bacon: crispy bacon adds protein to the salad and that unmistakable savory flavor. Want another broccoli salad with protein? Try my broccoli tuna salad.
  • Dried Cranberries: I use unsweetened dried cranberries, but you could also use raisins or dried cherries.
  • Sunflower Seeds: for a little crunch, I love sunflower seeds. But feel free to use slivered almonds or your favorite seeds or nuts.
  • Goat Cheese: just a sprinkle adds amazing creaminess. But crumbled feta or grated cheddar cheese works too.

Helpful tip: You can easily make this salad dairy-free! Just omit the goat cheese or use dairy-free cheese and swap in dairy-free yogurt in the dressing. It’ll still be delicious!

Broccoli Salad Dressing

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!

Find the printable recipe with measurements below

A large bowl of broccoli salad

How to Make Broccoli Salad

The only thing that requires cooking in this salad is the bacon. The rest comes together easy! Here’s how you make it:

  • 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 the bacon 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.
Broccoli salad in a bowl with salad servers

Storage Tips

This is one of those super durable salads that’s perfect for meal prep! It will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container. And if you’re making this for a holiday party, you can easily prep this the day before (with or without the dressing).

Broccoli Salad Recipe Video

While this is an easy recipe to make, it always helps to watch a quick tutorial video. Give it a watch below!

More Healthy Salad Recipes You’ll Love

Want more easy, healthy salad recipes? Check out some of these classics – they’re favorites for a reason!

This is the ideal salad for weeknights and dinner parties. Trust me, it’ll get devoured quickly! Once you make it, let me know your thoughts on it in the comment box below.

A large serving bowl of broccoli salad

Classic Broccoli Salad

4.98 from 123 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

This classic broccoli salad will delight you time and again! It's a durable salad that's perfect for meal prep or any holiday party. Watch the video above to see how quickly it comes together!

Video

Ingredients 
 

Broccoli Salad

  • 8 slices bacon
  • 5 cups broccoli florets (from 1 large head of broccoli)
  • cup diced red onion
  • ½ cup dried unsweetened cranberries
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese

Broccoli Salad Dressing

Instructions 

  • Cook the bacon. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Add the bacon slices to a parchment-lined baking tray and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, or until crispy. Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate to dry and cool.
    Baking bacon for broccoli salad
  • Add everything to a bowl. Add the broccoli, red onion, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and goat cheese to a large mixing bowl. When the bacon is cool to the touch, crumble it on top.
    Broccoli salad ingredients in a large bowl
  • To make the dressing, add the mayonnaise and yogurt to a small bowl and stir together.
    Making broccoli salad dressing in a bowl
  • Pour the dressing on top of the broccoli salad and toss to combine.
    A white bowl of broccoli salad

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 in my Spiralizer Beginner’s Guide video, you can still get a little inspiration from the video.

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 379mg | Potassium: 410mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 609IU | Vitamin C: 69mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: broccoli salad
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

Recipe originally posted June 2018, but updated to include new information. 

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

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Recipe Rating




290 Comments

  1. I love this salad! I get compliments every time I make it. I was just wondering – how long does this keep in the fridge? If I make it a day prior, will it still be fresh? Or maybe even better because the flavors have time to meld? Thanks!!

  2. Made this for the first time 2 weeks ago and absolutely LOVED it. So easy to prepare. A lot lighter than I expected with the goats cheese and mayo. I didn’t use yoghurt as I didn’t have any on hand but I didn’t feel it took away from the taste. I also didn’t use bacon (to cater for vegetarians) and yet the whole thing was still absolutely delicious. Will make it again as part of our Christmas lunch spread.5 stars

  3. I’m looking forward to trying this. I suffer from diverticulitis, so I will blanch the broccoli to help my sensitive tum. Thanks as always for tasty, colorful & easy-pull-together recipes.5 stars

  4. Yes it is the best. I make it over and over and over again. I make it as is and it’s just amazing. Sometimes I divide the sunflower seeds in half using 1/4 c, and then do the other half with 1/4 C. sliced almonds. This is also amazing. I use the “50% less sugar” Ocean Spray dried cranberries (still 1/2 C). I prefer it as they are a little more tart and add an even better bite of brightness. Goat feta is best, but if not on sale when i make it, I use danish feta, or any feta for superb results, and is still hard not to eat it all in one sitting. If you make this and it does not taste nice it will be the mayo that you have used. Good quality mayo is essential. A cheap mayo can ruin the entire flavour of this salad. I once bought “Macro Brand” organic mayo (New Zealand/Australia) and it was a disgusting flavour. Now I just stick with Best foods.5 stars

  5. I’ve made this salad several times but in place of cranberries, I used apples because the recipe I used called for raisins and I don’t like them. I also did the cheddar cheese. I like how you used cranberry’s because I do like them, and changing it up with goat cheese sounds like a good choice as well. Think I will try your version. It sounds delicious.5 stars

  6. My family is full of picky eaters & goat cheese will not fly with them haha any recommendations on others kinds of cheese to use?

  7. This is yummy. I could easily eat the whole bowl. I did blanch the broccoli and put it an ice bath to cool. The mayo and yogurt is delicious together. And everything is better with bacon! This will be a summer staple. Thank you!5 stars

  8. 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and 3/4 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar makes a much more favorable taste.

  9. This is so new and refreshing idea! And thank you Lisa for this and all the other healthy recepies.
    This salad is so great for healthy  lunch on work! 5 stars

  10. Another top notch recipe! I admit I was skeptical about it since I’m not a big fan of broccoli, but I had it at hand, together with goat feta and grapes (with which I replaced the cranberries) and some prosciutto (with which I replaced the bacon). And they all needed to be eaten ASAP so I gave this recipe a try. It was sooo good. I replaced the mayo with yogurt combined with mustur, apple vinegar and some linseed oil.
    Your recipes are so versatile and so tasty, yet very healthy. I’m so glad I found your YouTube channel and your blog.5 stars

    1. The flavor of the broccoli really transforms in this recipe to something sweet and savory! Happy to hear you enjoyed this one and continue to enjoy my videos + recipes :)

  11. For the carbs. Is it the cranberries that make it so high? I feel like everything else should be pretty meto friendly and I could just eliminate the cranberries?

    1. Hi Veronica – yes, those definitely add a good chunk to the carb levels. Feel free to tweak the recipe to suit you!

  12. So delicious and so easy to put together, especially if I prep the bacon beforehand. Definitely adding this to the rotation.5 stars

  13. This is by far my favourite Salad to make and eat. It is just so perfectly crunchy, and the dressing is just right not overpowering.  It is so easy to put together. 5 stars

  14. re: BEST BROCCOLI SALAD RECIPE

    With regard to the nutritional values & specifically the carbs, is the value given at the end of the recipe the total carbs per serving, if so what would the serving size be?, otherwise is the amount for the whole dish?

    Many thanks

    1. Hi Howie- The nutritional facts will always be for one serving. And for this recipe, each serving is about 1 cup :)

  15. This has become one of our favorites!
    Quick and delicious. It turns out great each time.
    I do microwave the broccoli for about 1 minute so it’s a bit tender.5 stars

  16. It’s have bought the wrong kind of goat cheese. It was very smooth and wouldn’t crumble.  Can you share the brand of goat cheese? 

  17. Yummy! I only had golden raisins and pumpkin seeds, and used about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to thin out the dressing (because Greek yogurt is all I had). And I left goat cheese as optional to each person because my husband is a non-cheese eater. This will be a weekly addition to our menu, thanks!5 stars

  18. This was DELICIOUS. I’m not a fan of mayonnaise, so I just dolloped on some yoghurt and drizzled it with your Dijon vinaigrette. 10/105 stars

  19. Super tasty and quick to make! I used raisins as I did not have cranberries, but it did not matter: Excellent anyways. 5 stars

  20. I love this salad, I even enjoyed it for breakfast!  I added one thing to make me love it even more:  sprinkled it with seasoned rice vinegar before eating.  Perfect!5 stars

  21. Finally made this beauty! The crunchy broccoli and salty bacon – so great!

    I really had no idea what to expect, but once again the voice in my head said “In Downshiftology we trust!”
    – Thanks for all you do Lisa. Big love from Melbourne5 stars

    1. Haha, thanks so much Nic! I’m thrilled you loved this recipe. It’s one of my personal favorites as well. :) x

  22. I had some left-over broccoli and remembered this recipe. Such a delicious and easy way to use it up. And now I have lunch for the next couple of days ;-). To be honest, I did not make the mayonnaise myself yet. That is still on the to-do list. But thanks Lisa for again a recipe that will be on repeat. 5 stars

    1. So glad you enjoyed this broccoli salad! And you’ll have to try the mayonnaise at some point :)

  23. I made this salad last night with leftover steamed broccoli and it came out amazing! I don’t like mayo so I just used a poppy seed dressing I had and it worked great. I love the sweet and salty combo and the goat cheese took it to another level.5 stars

  24. Loved this dish! I did blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 1-2 minutes (then placed in an ice bath) so they weren’t so raw. I also subbed candied walnuts for the sunflower seeds. Love how versatile this dish can be.5 stars

    1. Hi Erica – This is definitely a versatile dish when it comes to the smaller ingredients in this. But, I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe!

  25. One of my all-time favourite salads and an absolute crowd-pleaser. It never fails to produce requests for the recipe when I make for friends. It also holds up well if you need to make it ahead of time so perfect for larger parties. Could eat the salad at every meal!5 stars

  26. Hi Lisa,

    Our family are huge fans of your simple recipes!

    Is there a substitute for bacon in this recipe?

    1. Thanks so much! I’m happy to hear that. You could use turkey bacon, if you’re staying away from pork. For meat-free, sauteed mushrooms add a great flavor.

  27. I highly recommend this recipe, it is amazing!! I no longer have to pay almost $7.00 a pound for this salad at my local deli. This salad is by far the best I have had. Thank you Lisa.5 stars

    1. Hi Darline – Making it right at home is so easy, and I think much more fresh than store-bought :)

  28. I’ve been looking for the perfect broccoli salad for a LONG time and this is definitely it! I’m not a big fan of raw broccoli so I blanched it first (set it into boiling water for about 2 min- it will take longer if you have larger pieces I cut mine quite small- tested it and once I felt it was just the right texture I immediately put it into an ice bath until the broccoli was completely cooled, then I laid the broccoli out on a sheet pan to dry as I didn’t want my salad to get soggy) After that I prepared the homemade mayo which is the recipe from this site it was super easy to make and tasted delicious! I pretty much followed the rest of the recipe as shown except that I used dried cherries and toasted almonds instead of the cranberries and sunflower seeds. Also, while I added bacon to it I did not put the full eight strips of bacon as I felt that was just a bit much since I only had four cups of broccoli so I just crumbled it and added it until I felt it was enough, about 4 strips.
    Such a great salad, you’ll love it! I can’t wait to share it at the BBQs is summer5 stars

    1. Hi Lori – I’m so happy to hear you’ve finally found a winning broccoli salad recipe! As for the bacon, I never end up putting all the strips in there either, so you can always reduce the amount of strips you cook :)

  29. Love this salad ! It is quick , easy & great taste!
      Healthy & great with soup or sandwich ! 
    Replaces starchy potatoes  or fries!!5 stars

    1. Hi Flora – I’m so glad you loved this salad! It’s great to eat on it’s own or as a side dish :)

  30. This salad is such a crowd pleaser! I’ve brought it to family functions, and always get requests for the recipe. It’s one of the only salads I actually crave on a weekly basis. Thanks Lisa!5 stars

    1. Hi Kayleigh- This is also one of my favorite salads to whip up and store in my fridge on the weekdays :) But, I’m glad everyone you’ve served this to has enjoyed it!

  31. My husband and I loved this broccoli salad recipe. My husband is asking for this dish almost every week. It’s so easy to make. Thank you for this delicious broccoli salad.5 stars

    1. Hi Genesis- Looks like you found a winning recipe for your husband! Good thing this salad also keeps well in the fridge for awhile :)

  32. Loved this! It is truly addicting, and we’re talking about broccoli here people! I did add just a little bit of honey to the dressing, but it would have been awesome without it.5 stars

    1. Hi Aimee- So glad you loved this recipe! It really is such a great salad, especially to store in the fridge for a few days.

  33. Hi Lisa! I just finished the last of this amazing salad today for lunch. Oh my goodness! Seriously delicious. I made it over the weekend and wish there was more. This was my first time successfully baking bacon in the oven!!! I couldn’t cook the whole package (teeny tiny oven problems lol), so I made as much as I could. I made the Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs to go with it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you!!!5 stars

    1. Hi Sasha – Congrats on cooking bacon in the oven for the first time! And I’m so happy you enjoyed this salad as much as I do. I love how long this salad lasts in the fridge and pairs great with any entree – especially my baked chicken thighs!