Broccoli Salad

When you need a bit more green in your life, and are looking for a crunchy and vibrant side dish, then make our delicious Broccoli Salad. Bite sized pieces of broccoli, cranberries and almonds all brought together with a light and zesty dressing.

We are always looking for more ways to get green vegetables in to our diet and this broccoli salad is one of our favourite ways. It’s super quick and  easy to make, with just a few ingredients. Serve this tasty summer salad as a side with dinner, or make it for a crowd at a BBQ.

Jump to:

• Why should you try it?
• What you will need
• Step by step
• Health benefits of broccoli salad
• What else can be added? 
• Dressing
• What to serve it with
• FAQs
• Extra tips
• More salad recipes
• Recipe

Why should you try it?

What you will need

Broccoli - The star of this dish. To make this the best it possible can be, then try to choose the perfect broccoli. Choose a broccoli head with tight, green florets and firm stalks. Your broccoli should feel heavy for its size. Avoid broccoli with dried out or browning stem ends or yellowing florets.
Celery - This adds some extra crunch to the salad. I know that not everyone loves it (even though I don't think it really tastes of anyway), so you could swap it for another crunch vegetable like carrot or bell pepper.
Oil - Try to use the best quality olive oil that you can, as you really will be able to taste the difference.
Vinegar - We used apple cider vinegar, as we love the tangy flavour. You could use red wine vinegar for a deeper flavour.
Mustard - This gives a nice kick to the dressing. We used Dijon mustard, but you could use wholegrain instead.
Honey - Runny honey is best to use for this.
Cranberries and almonds - These are optional toppings, but the cranberries add a nice sweetness and the almonds add a nice crunch.

Step by step

One: Mix all the dressing ingredients together.

Two: Put all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, pour over the dressing and mix well.

Health benefits of broccoli salad

Yes, this is a really healthy side dish. I am sure we are all aware of how nutrient dense the humble broccoli is. If you aren’t, then it is a great source of fibre and folate, as well as vitamins A, C, E and K.

Broccoli salad is traditionally loaded with a creamy dressing and some cheese, however we have left that out of our recipe to make it lower in calories. However, we have provided those are suggestions below if you do want to make it more indulgent. 

What else can be added? 

This salad is so easy to adapt and add other ingredients, which is why we love it so much. 

Other vegetables that work well in this are cucumber, courgette, sweet corn, mushrooms, peppers, mange tout or cauliflower. 

It doesn’t have to just be able the vegetables though. Some grilled and chopped bacon is a wonderful addition to this, and makes it a little more indulgent. The saltiness of the bacon pairs beautifully with the zestiness of the dressing and the sweetness from the cranberries. 

We used cranberry and almonds as the crunchy topping for this salad, however you could swap the cranberries for another dried fruit like cherries or raisins and the almonds could be swapped for pecans or walnuts. 

Another delicious addition to this salad is some cheese. We like crumbled goats cheese or some shavings of Parmesan. Please note that any additions will change the nutritional information of this recipe. 

Dressing

A dressing really does make it bread a salad, so it has to compliment it perfectly. This dressing is a balanced mix of olive oil,  apple cider vinegar, a touch of honey and some mustard, along with seasoning of course. 

You can swap the honey for maple syrup or leave it out if you don’t like sweet dressings, although it isn’t overly sweet. 

You could make a creamier dressing my whisking in a little mayo to it. 

What to serve it with

This side salad is so versatile and goes with almost anything. We love it with grilled chicken or salmon. 

It’s also a favourite side dish at our BBQs, so it goes with things like beef burgers and halloumi skewers. Here are some of our favourite recipes to serve it with.

• Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
• Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
• Easy Chicken Traybake
• Vegetable and Halloumi Kebabs
• Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
• Honey Mustard Salmon
• Stuffed Chicken Breast
• Chicken Kiev

FAQs

Extra tips

• Make sure you use the broccoli in to small bite sized pieces. With the broccoli being raw, smaller pieces make it easier for the dressing to soften it and makes it easier to eat. 
• If you are making this in advance, make sure to add the nuts at the last minute so they don’t get soggy. 
• A little bit of cooked chopped bacon is a great addition to this salad.
• Why not try some crumbled goats cheese or shaved Parmesan on top?

More salad recipes

Do you want to be kept up to date on more delicious posts like this? Please subscribe to the blog mailing list (it takes 30 seconds). Click here to sign up.

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog then let us know how you got on in the comments below, we love hearing from you!
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - we love sharing photos when people make our recipes. You can use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

DON’T FORGET TO RATE THE RECIPE ↓

Recipe