I’ve never really been a big fan of traditional broccoli salad. I have this weird thing where I don’t like cheddar cheese in pre-dressed salads, especially ones with mayonnaise-based dressings. I also am not super keen on the mayonnaise-and-sugar dressing; many recipes I’ve seen call for nearly equal parts mayo and sugar. And then I have this thing about raisins and how I feel like they never, ever belong with vegetables. Even ants on a log is a little iffy (cute and fun, but I’m cool with just the peanut butter and celery–the raisins are welcome to join up with some oatmeal in some cookies, but only then with fair warning that those are raisins and not chocolate chips.)
I realize this could be seen as heresy–people tend to take their traditional recipes very seriously. But I never grew up eating broccoli salad; I grew up with the ’80s-chic layered salad with iceberg lettuce, bacon, peas, Miracle Whip mixed with sugar (yeah, that was me gasping), and Swiss cheese. So I don’t have any particular loyalty to traditional broccoli salad recipes. If you have a recipe you love, that’s awesome. But if you’ve always been a little iffy on broccoli salad, today is your day.
For the salad, you’ll need 12 ounces of broccoli florets (fresh, just in case there was any question) and 12 ounces of broccoli slaw. You’ll also need a cup of salted sunflower seeds, a cup of Craisins, 6 ounces of cooked, bacon, and a small red onion.
For the dressing, you’ll need mayonnaise, quite a bit less sugar than traditional recipes call for, red wine vinegar, mild coarse grain mustard (I used Creole mustard), salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a couple tablespoons of grated red onion (I just grated some of the red onion I chopped up for the salad.)
Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl…
and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
Break the broccoli florets into small pieces and toss with the broccoli slaw. Add the bacon, Craisins, chopped onion, and sunflower seeds
I love the sight of bacon mixed with my vegetables.
Toss until combined. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and combine thoroughly.
If possible, chill for at least an hour before serving.
Serves 10-12.
Broccoli Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 side dish servings
Description
This Broccoli Salad is an updated version of the summertime party potluck favorite!
Ingredients
SALAD
12 ounces fresh broccoli florets or broccoli broken into small pieces
12 ounces broccoli slaw
1 cup Craisins (1 5-ounce bag)
1 cup toasted salted sunflower seeds
6 ounces bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 small red onion (grate a small portion of this onion for the dressing and then chop the rest of it for the salad)
DRESSING
1 cup mayonnaise (light is fine; no Miracle Whip)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Creole or other mild coarse-grain mustard
2 tablespoons grated red onion (just use the onion you’re using in the salad)
Heaping 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup white sugar
Instructions
Toss together salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over the salad. If possible, chill for at least an hour before serving. Serves 12-14.
Notes
If you want to serve this for a quick dinner in the summer, try adding sliced, grilled chicken breast on top of larger servings of this salad!
- Prep Time: 10
Questions & Reviews
My granddaughter made this salad for a family gathering it was delicious! I asked her for the recipe,
I use monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar (you’d need to use 1/2 as much or to taste.)
This is a first class recipe. We used dried blueberries and it came out fantastic. Thank you and my guests thank you!
I prefer broccoli salad made with fresh grapes. I first encountered this at a local Chinese restaurant. Tell in love. I also am not a fan of raisins in anything unless the have been plumped first.
Yes, this is a broccoli salad I can get behind. I am totally with you… cheese does belong in pre-dressed salad!
OMG so good! I used Splenda instead of sugar and it was perfect! I did leave out the sunflower seeds as I forgot to buy them.
I took a look at the salad in the glass bowl and had to try it. It was absolutely marvelous. Used half of mayo and salad toppings that included the sunflower seeds. You won’t be disappointed. Omit dressing until you serve your guests because it will become soggy.
I found your recipe through Pinterest and went with it, with a few minor adjustments to cut carbs even lower. I brought it to a FD family BBQ and the best compliment I got was a picky firefighter asking if he could take the leftovers home! My husband was actually dissappointed that we didn’t have any to take home, haha. We have our annual awards BBQ potluck this coming weekend and I’m making a double batch for that, might as well stick with what works!
Yay!! I’m so glad you found us!
This version is so similar to my mom’s version, I love it! One thing that My mom does that I LOVE is to take about half the broccoli and pulse it in the food processor or blender till it’s coarse and still chunky- about the size of large pebbles. It’s only 3-4 pulses. It gives the salad awesome varying texture instead of just big chunks of broccoli. Another great recipe, thanks gals!
I made this tonight for dinner. It was awesome! Thanks for the great recipe.
I just made this for 100th time. I like a lot of food blog/websites. But yours is the one I use the most regularly. I can’t begin to list all the recipes of yours that are in regular rotation. Happy Memorial Day!
This recipe is soo amazing. Every time I make it, people say something. I leave out the bacon and you can’t notice it missing. It is still super yummy without it.
I want to make this however I would like to see the nutritional values.
This is crazy good and I’m not the biggest broccoli lover in the world. The only change I made was to use homemade bacon mayonnaise, over the top!
I grew up eating broccoli salad, and it definately wasn’t the “traditional” kind. I would NEVER put any kind of cheese, bacon, or (eek!) raisins in my salad. I would pass on the red onion as well. My recipe is slightly similar to this one, although it does use the tradtional dressing. The salad includes broccoli (obviously), red grapes, sunflower seeds, green onion, and a dressing made with 1 c. Miracle Whip, 1/4 c. sugar, and 2 Tbsp white vinegar.
This looks like a winner. Just one quick question, though. Is the bacon weight pre-cooked or post-cooked?
It’s pre-cooked weight. If it was post-cooked it would read, “6 ounces cooked and crumbled bacon” instead of “6 ounces bacon, cooked and crumbled” make sense?
I cannot find Creole mustard here in Utah. I’ve checked at several different grocery stores. Can you suggest something close to it that would work? I’ve looked for anything that says Creole or Cajun mustard and no luck. 🙁
My mother makes something very close to this and it wins in our family (all grown and out of the house, less one child that should be out of the house but has returned…). She also uses uncooked ramen noodles. I, too, was skeptical. But… it’s good!
This is almost exactly like my mom’s broccoli salad recipe except without the mustard in the dressing and we put more craisins and more bacon in it because why not and we use less onion. But wow, that’s pretty darn close. And it is delicious. Its a holiday must-have in our family.
Made this the other day and we really like it! I used 1/2 light and 1/2 fat-free mayo and it worked fine. Next time I’ll halve the recipe, since it’s only the two of us, but I will definitely make it again.
SOOOO funny you posted this – my dad brought some of this salad home from the deli on Sunday, and my 3 year old LOVED it! I thought it was pretty tasty, too, though I’ve always been too reluctant to try it before. I’m so glad to have another side dish that my little one will eat!
I was skimming through your blog to figure out if it was worth bookmarking (are the posts regular enough, are the recipes doable etc) but you snagged me with raisins “never, ever” belonging with vegetables. I think they muck up a good cookie too but will accept that good people can disagree on that. Fight the good fight sister! Looking forward to trying out some of these.
My mom made broccoli salad frequently when I was growing up and it always made me gag big time. However, this looks sooo much better. I’ll have to try it.
what’s in the liquid measuring cup in the picture? it looks like buttermilk to me. i try skimming your comments but didn’t see that anyone else has asked it.
It’s actually sugar–yeah, I’m a rule-breaking rebel and sometimes measure dry ingredients in liquid measuring cups… 🙂
Well, goodness! You gave me the perfect recipe but couldn’t you also go to the grocery store for me? I don’t have all the ingredients… 🙂
Thanks for another fantabulous dish! You lovely ladies are changing the world, one cook at a time!
Broccoli salad is one of my favourite dishes to take to a BBQ.
Yum! It seems like we have a lot in common…I don’t like cheese in my green salads and always picked that part off at school AND grew up eating Sarah’s Salad from Lion House Recipes…yum! Love the idea of the cherries in this! Can’t wait to try making it myself! Thanks Kate!
I CAN NOT stand raisens. At all! I had never, ever thought to put craisens in my broccoli salad! What a fantastic idea! (Is that weird that I can’t stand raisens, but I will eat craisens?)
Thanks!!!