This broccoli salad is made with blanched fresh broccoli tossed with toasted almonds, bacon and peas and topped with a homemade honey and vinegar dressing. It’s a must-have potluck salad for summer BBQs and picnics!
Video: How to make broccoli salad
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Broccoli salad
The best way to prepare broccoli salad
So how do you make a broccoli salad if you don’t like raw broccoli?
The solution – blanch the broccoli for 1 minute or no longer than two minutes. The broccoli will still be firm enough for salad, the color will be even nicer because the blanching brings out the green, and the flavor will be less raw and more cooked.
Other ingredients in this broccoli salad
In this recipe, the broccoli pairs beautifully with toasted almonds, bacon, peas, and onions. The honey and vinegar in the dressing adds something sweet and sour to the mix.
I usually cringe at the thought of broccoli salad, but honestly, this is one of the most delicious salads I’ve ever made, broccoli or no broccoli.
This salad needs to chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, or up to six hours or so. The salad is best served the day it is made.
If you want to prep a little longer, you can blanch the broccoli, fry the bacon, and make the dressing a day or two ahead. Store them separately in the fridge and wait until the day you plan to serve them to assemble the final salad.
When to serve broccoli salad
This salad loves to grace any buffet, from a summer cook-off to a holiday get-together. It goes well with almost any main dish, but it goes particularly well with chicken, steak, or salmon.
More easy side salads to try!
- Cold Pea Salad
- traditional coleslaw
- carrot salad
- Waldorf Salad
- Black Bean Salad
Broccoli salad
The recipe makes a generous amount of dressing so you may not have to use all of it.
ingredients
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1 teaspoon Salt
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5 to 6 cups fresh broccoli florets (about 1 pound florets)
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1/2 Cup toasted slivers of almonds
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1/2 Cup cooked, crumbled bacon
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1/4 Cup Red onionchopped
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1 Cup frozen Peasdefrosted (or fresh peas if you can get them)
For the dressing:
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1 Cup mayonnaise
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2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
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1/4 Cup honey
method
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Blanch broccoli:
Bring a large pot of water, salted with a teaspoon of salt, to a boil. Add the broccoli florets. Cook for 1-2 minutes, depending on how crispy you want the broccoli to be.
One minute will turn the broccoli light green and still leave it quite crunchy. Two minutes will cook the broccoli through, but it will still be firm. Set your timer and cook no more than 2 minutes or the broccoli will become mushy.
Drain the broccoli and immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. After the broccoli has cooled, drain well (pat dry on a clean dish towel or place in a salad spinner to remove excess moisture).
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Make the dressing:
Whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and honey.
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Mix salad ingredients with dressing:
Combine broccoli florets, almonds, crumbled bacon, chopped onion, and peas in a large serving bowl. Add the dressing to the salad and mix well. (Note that you may not need all of the dressing.)
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Cool thoroughly before serving.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 454 | calories |
| 35g | Fat |
| 30g | carbohydrates |
| 10g | protein |
