This is not your ordinary broccoli salad; it’s not drenched in a fattening and over-powering dressing. Instead, it’s sweet, salty, and loaded with crunchy vegetable goodness. This is the type of broccoli salad you can eat every single night without feeling even the tiniest bit guilty. With this broccoli salad, the fresh crunchy broccoli is definitely the star of the show.
Just because you add bacon, cheese, and dried fruit to a salad, doesn’t mean that it has to be unhealthy. A good salad is all about balance. And, this chopped broccoli salad practically screams balance. Sure there’s a little bit of cheddar, bacon, honey, and mayonnaise. However, there’s also a whole lot of crunchy fresh broccoli, shredded carrot, and finely minced red onion. Balance; the good stuff, the bad stuff, but more of the good stuff than the bad stuff because moderation is never a bad thing. Y’all, it’s time to accept that salad doesn’t have to be overly-saturated in dressing to taste good; a little dressing can go a long way. This salad is the perfect example of that.
Ingredients:
- 1 (12-oz.) Bag Broccoli Florets, Roughly Chopped (Approximately 6 Cups)
- 4 Slices Crispy Bacon, Roughly Chopped
- 2-oz. Irish Cheddar, Freshly Grated
- 1 Carrot, Grated
- 1/4 Cup Red Onion, Peeled & Finely Chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Pepitas or Roasted Salted Pumpkin Seeds
- 2 Tablespoons Dried Cranberries
- 2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Directions:
- Place the broccoli, bacon, cheddar, carrot, red onion, pepitas, and dried cranberries into a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and pepper.
- Add the salad dressing to the broccoli salad and stir to coat.
- Allow the broccoli salad to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Suggestions:
- You can chop the broccoli for this salad as large or as small as you prefer. I chopped some smaller and some larger for contrast and texture.
- I used a bag of pre-washed broccoli florets for this recipe. My market is undergoing renovations and that is all that was available to me. Just make sure that you have approximately six cups of chopped broccoli florets for this recipe.
- This is a very versatile salad, you can play around with the ingredients and add more or less of any ingredient you choose to.
- If you prefer more dressing on your salad, double the amount used in this recipe.
Improvements:
- Add 1-teaspoon of poppy seeds to the salad dressing.
- Garnish with a few tablespoons of chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds.
- For an even healthier salad, replace the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.
- Serve this crunchy broccoli salad with these Mandarin Orange Honey Mustard Pork Chops or these Paprika & Oregano Marinated Pork Chops.
Ingredients:
- 1 (12-oz.) Bag Broccoli Florets, Roughly Chopped (Approximately 6 Cups)
- 4 Slices Crispy Bacon, Roughly Chopped
- 2-oz. Irish Cheddar, Freshly Grated
- 1 Carrot, Grated
- 1/4 Cup Red Onion, Peeled & Finely Chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Pepitas or Roasted Salted Pumpkin Seeds
- 2 Tablespoons Dried Cranberries
- 2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Directions:
- Place the broccoli, bacon, cheddar, carrot, red onion, pepitas, and dried cranberries into a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and pepper.
- Add the salad dressing to the broccoli salad and stir to coat.
- Allow the broccoli salad to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving.
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Make sure to check out all of the other great Sunday Funday “Stay Healthy with Salads” recipes below. A huge thanks to Sneha’s Recipe for hosting this event.
- Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad from Palatable Pastime
- Chicken and Mandarin Orange Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Golden Apple & Potato Salad from Sneha’s Recipe
- Irish Cheddar Honey Mustard Broccoli Salad from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Japanese Potato Salad from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Kale Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Lettuce, Pear and Grapefruit Salad from Cook with Renu
- Red Cabbage, Apple, Mandarin Salad from Food Lust People Love
- Snap Peas and Avocado Salad from Mayuri’s Jikoni
- Sesame Chicken Salad from Making Miracles
- Super Nacho Taco Salad from Amy’s Cooking Adventures