Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe: Seasonal Winter Salad

Are you ready for a healthy, easy side dish that’s full of all those sweet and salty flavors we love?

If you have never had broccoli salad, you are missing out on one of the best ways to eat your veggies.

It’s like a chicken salad… but with broccoli.

Mkay, maybe that won’t convince you to try it.

But the fact is, this salad deserves a place at your next lunch date, your next meal prep session, and your next meal.

When you’re trying to eat better, broccoli salad will help you do that, while still tasting special and indulgent.

It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, and if you use egg-free mayo, it’s egg-free. So win-win-win.

Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe

My goal with all of my recipes is to give you meal ideas that use what you already have in your kitchen. So I’m going to give you a real recipe to follow, but I’ll also show you how you can make it using ingredients you already have and keep it as budget-friendly as possible.

This recipe is as easy as stirring all the ingredients together, then popping them in the fridge for at least an hour. You can even let it sit in the fridge a day or two! It tastes better the longer the flavors can meld.

Healthy Side Dish for a Potluck

Healthy broccoli salad is the perfect dish to bring to a potluck. You can make it ahead of time, it’s easy to transport, and it will help you and everyone else make healthier decisions as they fill their plates.

 

Packing healthy lunches when you’re short on time and out of bread is mind-boggling. Is there such a thing as a lunch without a sandwich? Is it possible for it to be healthy too?

The Healthy Lunch Box: Sandwich-free Secrets to Packing a Real Food Lunch is loaded with strategies to streamline your packing process, stock your pantry with emergency backups for your backups, and send healthy, delicious food in the lunch box, no matter how old your eater is. Read more and start packing healthier, processed-free lunches today.

Meet Your Health Goals with this Healthy Broccoli Salad

Listen, I know that it’s January, and we’re all feeling a little sluggish after Decembers’ shenanigans.

Broccoli salad will save the day.

It tastes indulgent because of its sweet and salty flavors and creamy textures. But it’s also a simple, delicious way to eat a lot of veggies. I know this because I could not stop eating it while testing the recipe for this post and video. I had to make a whole new batch because I didn’t get a single photo before the salad was gone.

Broccoli Salad Ingredients

Here’s how you can make this recipe work for you, your special diet needs, and your budget:

Broccoli

There’s nothing you can substitute here. Either you have fresh broccoli or you don’t. This recipe is worth adding an extra thing to your grocery list.

Apple

In order to serve true real food, I like to use diced apples. However, my super-official Instagram story poll said that more real foodies prefer to just go ahead and use dried, sweetened cranberries – or a mixture of both apples and cranberries. 

You can purchase apple-juice sweetened dried cranberries at health food stores or some places online.

Or you can try using raisins if you don’t have apples. 

Bacon

Listen, I know bacon is sometimes on the naughty list when it comes to making healthy decisions. But if you can find a clean source of bacon, or try turkey bacon, it’s worth the splurge.

You can also simply skip the bacon – no harm done. 

Pecans

I like to toast my pecans for this salad – helps them not taste so… you know, raw. But if you don’t have the time (it only takes 3 minutes) or the desire, just toss them in raw. 

To make it more budget-friendly, use sunflower seeds. Another official Instagram story poll agreed that we budget-minded foodies would rather use sunflower seeds than indulge in pecans. 

Mayonnaise

Lots of options. You can make homemade, use a clean brand of mayo you feel comfortable with, or try to substitute it with plain whole milk yogurt (lots of people do this, but it is a different flavor). You can use Greek yogurt if you like, but it’s not as fatty and satisfying). 

If you are egg-free, use plain yogurt. 

If you are egg-free and dairy-free, there are plenty of egg-free mayo substitutes. We like the Chosen Foods brand. 

Salt and Pepper

Don’t forget this step. I know the bacon and mayonnaise already have salt, so wait until the end to add salt and pepper. Keep in mind that the flavors will intensify in the fridge, so don’t over-salt it. You can also add more before serving. 

Fresh Salad in the Winter Months

While trying to save money and eat healthily, I try to eat with the seasons. This means I eat tomato and cucumber salad in the summertime, and I eat this balsamic vinaigrette spring mix salad in the colder months.

And now I eat broccoli salad too.

It’s the perfect salad for the cooler winter months when broccoli is more budget-friendly – and frankly, more delicious than the other out-of-season salad vegetables.

Meet your new year goals with a delicious, indulgent, simple recipe like broccoli salad.

Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe

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• Author: Steph Jenkins
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Cuisine: Salad
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 heads of fresh broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 small apple, diced
• 1/3 c. red onion, diced
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup mayo, to taste
• Salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase) and pepper, to taste

Cook Mode : prevent your screen from turning off while you're making this recipe

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Instructions

1. Toss all ingredients except salt and pepper in a large salad bowl, using salad tongs or a spoon to combine thoroughly. You can stick to the ingredient amounts here in the recipe, but in the end, I won’t tell you how much bacon or onion you should use in your salad.
2. If you love bacon (who doesn’t), add a little more. If you don’t love onion, start with half the amount and add more to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cover your bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour. Taste the salad and add more salt and pepper, to taste. 

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/2 cup
• Calories: 159
• Sugar: 5g
• Sodium: 292mg
• Fat: 11g
• Saturated Fat: 2g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 13g
• Fiber: 3g
• Protein: 5g
• Cholesterol: 12mg

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More Healthy Salad Recipes at Kitchen Stewardship^®:

• Roasted veggie salad
• Make your own salad dressings
• “Seed” salad
• Pasta salad bar to feed a crowd
• Black bean and avocado salad
• Potato salad (Katie’s favorite for potlucks!)
• Veggie filled pasta salad
• Kid-friendly salad bar ideas