The Best Broccoli Salad

Ingredients

For the salad:
1 head of broccoli, roughly chopped, about 6 cups
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 yellow pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly shaved
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 Honeycrisp apple, sliced and diced
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup Thompson raisins
3 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
For the dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
2 garlic cloves, finely diced

Takes 20 Minutes, serves 6.

Instructions

Prepare the dressing: Using a conventional or immersion blender, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing together to a creamy consistency. Reserve until use.
Prepare the salad: Place the broccoli, tomatoes, yellow pepper, red onion, carrots and apple into a large bowl and toss together. Add the seeds, almonds, raisins and chives and toss again.
Add about 1 cup of the dressing and toss to dress the salad. Taste and adjust flavour with more dressing and/or salt. Serve immediately.

Wait until you try THE BEST BROCCOLI SALAD… ever!

Our goal with this post was to create a nice side salad that we could suggest with some of our more popular main courses, but then we started talking about all the things we wanted it to be: colourful, vegetarian and fairly easy to make. In the end, we followed a series of steps to turn this perfectly nice salad into THE BEST BROCCOLI SALAD RECIPE we’ve ever tasted.

Yes, we know that’s a pretty serious claim to fame, but we’re pretty pumped about it, probably because eating it has left us feeling super healthy!

Here’s a list of the great moments in this salad recipe:

COLOUR FULL

It all started with one of those Nik-the-airplane moments: I was circling the vegetable section in the supermarket looking for the perfect colourful combination of vegetables. Once I settled on broccoli as my main, picking the rest was a joy. Consider colour when you assemble your suggested veggies and check out that rainbow palette. Isn’t it gorgeous?

All of the ingredients for The Best Broccoli Salad assembled in a large bowl

CRUNCH BUNCH

Part of the joy with this salad is the crunch factor. Raw salad ideas are always welcome additions to our recipe repertoire because they’re bursting with vitamins and nutrients which make them good for us too. In this case, we prepped the various veggies in different ways to both maximize their crunch factor and vary the look of the finished salad.

Roughly chopping the broccoli, using a vegetable mandolin to slice the onion and carrots and then dicing, slicing and chopping the pepper and apple make every morsel a burst of fresh flavours.

A creamy buttermilk and mayo dressing for the salad

DRESSING UP

The CREAMY BUTTERMILK DRESSING earns this vegetarian broccoli salad two thumbs up. We made sure the dressing has its own distinct flavour profile by adding in cloves of garlic. The recipe yields more quantity than what you’ll need – add a bit, then, more to taste.

As with so many of our dressing recipes, we suggest doubling the recipe so that you have extra on hand for whenever you might need it. Head HERE to check out our Salad Dressing Playlist on YouTube for additional dressing options.

BEAUTY

Like so many memorable moments with recipes, presentation plays a big part in our enjoyment. In the case of this crunchy broccoli salad, the beauty of it all is apparent in the reactions when you serve it – your guests will be amazed at how beautiful it is!

Speaking from experience, it looks perfect on its own on luncheon plates, but also looks incredible served next to our GRILLED BEEF TENDERLOIN or BARBECUED SALMON FILLET. Yet one more – in a container, on your desk, the next day, because this is also THE BEST BROCCOLI SALAD RECIPE to take to work!