This creamy broccoli salad is irresistibly delicious! It’s easy to make with fresh broccoli or the packaged mix you can find at most grocery stores.
Here is a new version of the classic Broccoli salad! And who would have thought that it could be so irresistibly delicious? Alex and I finished most of the bowl by ourselves. You can make this recipe with store-bought bags of broccoli salad Where fresh broccoli and carrots. It has a creamy dressing that’s equal parts savory, tart, and a little sweet. It makes a great summer side dish for BBQs, or as an anytime side dish that goes with…well, anything! Try this amazing broccoli recipe…you won’t be disappointed!
First, what is broccoli salad?
Broccoli salad is a twist on the traditional coleslaw, using thinly sliced broccoli stalks instead of cabbage. You’ll often find carrots in the mix and it’s coated in a mayonnaise-based dressing. Broccoli salad has become so popular that the mix is sold prepackaged in grocery stores across the United States. But this also works with fresh vegetables!
Other things you will find in broccoli salad recipes: a sweet element like sliced apple, dried cranberries or raisins and a crunchy element like sunflower seeds, sliced almonds or even dried ramen noodles. Go straight to our recipe to see what we used.
Make coleslaw with packaged mix or fresh broccoli!
A cool feature of this broccoli salad recipe is that it’s customizable based on your preferences and the ingredients you have access to! You can use a store-bought mix or use fresh broccoli and carrots. Here’s a little breakdown of the pros and cons of both:
- Fresh Broccoli and Carrots: It is recommended to use fresh vegetables here! The taste is out of this world cool. It’s quicker and easier with a food processor: you need a chopping blade and a grating blade. Or you can use a knife to thinly slice the florets, then use a box grater to grate the broccoli stalks and carrots. It’s worth it for the taste: I promise!
- Broccoli salad mix in bags: It’s usually easy to find a broccoli salad mix at the grocery store that’s sold in 12-ounce bags. You only need 24 ounces of coleslaw, which is what makes this method very fast and easy. The compromise? You lose some of that nice, fresh veggie flavor; Store bought mix can be a bit dry.
Ingredients for the broccoli vinaigrette
There really isn’t much you can do in this broccoli salad other than chop up the veggies! Just mix the dressing and then toss with the veggies. The dressing in this recipe is mayo-based but contains less mayonnaise than the standard recipe. It’s based on our popular creamy coleslaw dressing. You need these ingredients for the broccoli vinaigrette:
- mayonnaise (use vegan mayonnaise for plant-based coleslaw)
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Sugar (or maple syrup for naturally sweet)
- Dried dill
- celery seed
- salt pepper
Additions to the broccoli salad!
This broccoli salad tastes amazing with just the veggies and dressing. But you can also add sweet or crunchy elements to make it even better. Here are some options:
- sunflower seeds: We added them for a crunchy topping
- Sliced Almonds: it would also add crunch
- Dried Cranberries or Currants: for fans of salty + sweet! Alex isn’t, so we left her out in our version
- Julienne green apple: for another sweet item
More coleslaw recipes
Are you a coleslaw fan? Alex and I have found that we are big fans of this stuff: we have a hard time not loading it up when we serve it! Here are some other coleslaw recipes to try:
This broccoli salad recipe is…
Vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free. For vegans and plant-based, use vegan mayo (should be relatively easy to find at your local grocery store or online).
The description
This creamy broccoli salad is irresistibly delicious! It’s easy to make with fresh broccoli or the packaged mix you can find at most grocery stores.
- 1 1/2 pound broccoli on a stick* (or 24 ounces packaged broccoli salad and sauté the carrots)
- 2 medium carrots
- ½ cup Mayonnaise (or vegan mayo)
- 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds (optional)
- ¼ cup dried cranberries (optional)
- For the fresh broccoli and carrots: Assemble a food processor with the slicer blade. Cut the florets from the broccoli and place in the food processor to cut into thin slices. Peel the stalks of broccoli and carrots, then chop into chunks to add to the food processor. Swap the blade for the grater blade and run it through the food processor. Alternative method: Cut the bouquets into thin slices with a knife. Then use a box grater to grate the broccoli stalks and peeled carrots.
- Place sliced veggies (or pockets of broccoli slaw) in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sugar, dill, celery seeds, kosher salt, and several freshly ground peppercorns.
- Add dressing to vegetables and toss to coat. Stir in sunflower seeds or dried cranberries, if desired. Eat immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Remarks
*For a potluck or BBQ, we recommend multiplying this recipe by 1.5 for 12 servings.
- Category: garnish
- Method: Raw
- Kitchen: American
- Diet: vegan
More broccoli recipes
Here we are big broccoli fans! If you do too, here are some broccoli recipes to try:
