Broccoli Salad Recipe [VIDEO]

Name: Broccoli Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 4 cups broccoli florets (sliced); 1/2 medium red onion (thinly sliced); 1/2 cup shredded carrot (about 1 small carrot); 3/4 cup pomegranate arils; 1/2 cup dried cranberries; 1/2 cup pine nuts (or almond slices, toasted); 1/2 cup pecan halves; 1 cup mayo; zest of 1 lemon; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 3 tablespoons honey; 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Broccoli Salad with Creamy Lemon Poppy Seed dressing is a cold side dish with loads of flavor, texture, and crunch. This easy salad recipe comes together in about 15 minutes, making it perfect for a quick lunch as well.

We love quick and easy side dishes that are a breeze to make. Sometimes when we entertain, we love concentrating on making a few side dishes and appetizers for everyone to nibble on. This dish pairs perfectly with Grilled Salmon, Pork Chops, or Pork Loin.

Easy Healthy Broccoli Salad

Because broccoli is a quick dish that everyone always LOVES! Although this recipe is popular during summer times, you can really make it year-round. Made with fresh and colorful broccoli, carrots, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, pomegranate arils, and pecans all tossed in a creamy homemade dressing.

This makes it versatile enough to serve as a side dish or a meatless main dish. Also, it is a perfect potluck and goes well with pretty much anything. To make the dish healthier, we do not use cheese or refined sugar in the recipe. You can also easily add and swap some of the ingredients. If you have extra veggies you need to use up, feel free to toss them in.

Zucchini, cucumber, cauliflower, celery, and many others are all great additions! Again, feel free to add and rotate some of the veggies as you please.

Do you have to cook the broccoli for broccoli salad?

While some recipes do require boiling or blanching the broccoli, this recipe does not. By using raw broccoli, the salad is quick and easy to prepare. If you prefer broccoli to be softer, feel free to blanch it first.

What dressing goes on creamy broccoli salad?

The dressing we make uses a few simple ingredients, with mayonnaise being the primary one. For food safety purposes, the broccoli salad should be refrigerated. In addition to mayonnaise, you will need 1 lemon, some honey, and poppy seeds for the dressing.

What do you need to make the Broccoli Salad Dressing?

Mayo
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Honey
Poppy seeds

How to Make Broccoli Salad?

This dish is probably one of the easiest salad to make. Apart from being healthy, it is super delicious and flavorful. It is one of our favorite salads!

Start by making the dressing by simply whisking together the dressing ingredients.
Next, wash and cut the broccoli and the rest of the veggies and place them into a dish.
Pour the homemade dressing over the veggies and gently stir to combine.
Serve fresh!

Can you make broccoli salad the day before?

This is definitely a make-ahead dish! However, the longer the dressing sits on the salad, the softer the ingredients will become. To keep everything crisp and crunchy, you may want to wait until just before serving to toss the salad with dressing.

What does broccoli salad go with?

Because of the wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and nuts we use, this Creamy Broccoli Salad recipe is quite versatile. Enjoy it as a side dish or a vegetarian main dish. For a protein-packed meal, add some Grilled Chicken or Fish. Consider serving it with some Oven Roasted Mahi Mahi or BBQ Pork Chops.

Recipe Tips:

Feel free to incorporate other veggies into this dish. Also, cut them into your favorite sizes.
If you are a cheese lover, you can add some cubed cheddar cheese.
For best taste, let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. This way, the dressing combines with the veggies making it even more delicious!
Bacon can be added as well.
This salad is very popular during summer gathering, picnics, potlucks, barbecues and pool parties. However, we really make it year-round as broccoli is always in season. So feel free to make it whenever you feel like it!