Broccoli Salad Recipe

What is up with copy-paste broccoli salad recipes? They are sent around from person to person at every get together, so there must be something good about it. This version is a little better though, it includes bacon, raisins, sunflower seeds, and, for the big finish, a sweet and savory mayo dressing to top it all off. It takes about 20 minutes to make, and it will continue to get better the longer it sits.

The first time you make broccoli salad from scratch it can be a little confusing. The dressing is the most important part of the salad. Having a good contrasting texture is why the salad is so good. Even if you don’t like raisins in a savory dish, you still need them. The raisins create a good complement to the vinegar and bacon.

Why This Broccoli Salad Works

Most recipes for broccoli salad are okay. This one is the first to disappear. Here’s why:

The Two-Cut Broccoli Method

One bunch of broccoli is processed in a food processor or a blender until it is almost crumb-fine. The other bunch is chopped by hand. The outcome is a salad that has some real body — not just large florets sitting in dressing. The finer pieces soak up the dressing and help hold everything together. The hand chopped pieces are more substantial too. A salad that is only chopped by hand is chunky and the dressing just sits at the bottom of the bowl. A salad that is processed is mush by the time you are ready to serve it.

Good food processors handle the processed batch in about 30 seconds. If you’re doing this manually with a knife, you should expect an additional 10 minutes while also accepting that the texture will be a bit different. It’ll still be good, just not as cohesive.

The Dressing Is Tangy, Not Sweet

The dressing consists of mayo, sugar, and vinegar. While sugar is included, the vinegar avoids a dessert-like flavor. If you reduce the amount of vinegar or skip it entirely, the salad will taste flat. Both white vinegar and apple cider vinegar are good choices. Apple cider vinegar imparts a mildly warmer taste, and white vinegar provides a sharper taste. Both options are fine.

It Gets Better As It Sits

Ideally, prepare your dish 4 hours in advance. The dressing will soften the broccoli, blend the flavors, and soften the raisins with the moisture almost like they were new. If you prepare it and serve it right afterward, the dressing will taste sharp and the broccoli will taste raw. The recipe is designed to be made in advance.

What You Need to Know Before You Start

Use Fresh Broccoli, Not Frozen

Fresh broccoli retains its integrity and does not cause the salad dressing to soupy or change its consistency. For these reasons, the use of fresh broccoli is imperative to achieve the desired outcome.

Wash It Properly

Broccoli especially traps dirt among its florets. To clean it, get a large bowl, fill it with water, and pour in one cup of white vinegar. Let the broccoli soak for five minutes. Then, lift the broccoli out of the bowl (don’t pour because all the dirt and broccoli pieces will come out with the water) and rinse the broccoli in the sink under cold running water. You’ll be surprised at all the dirt and debris. It’s definitely worth the five minutes.

Which Part of the Broccoli to Use

Visualize a broccoli head as a tree and save me the thick central trunk which is really woody and hard to chop, discarding or saving it for soup is a better option. Most recipes call for the trunk to be removed, giving you the freedom to use the upper thin stems which have a leaf/tree branch look. This is the ideal part for the salad.

Bake the Bacon

When you bake bacon at 400℉ on a foil-lined sheet pan, it comes out flat, evenly cooked, and crispy. If you make bacon in a pan, it will curl and won’t be cooked evenly. Place your bacon strips on a sheet pan, bake for 18 to 22 minutes (this will depend on how thick your bacon is), then drain on paper towels and crumble once the bacon is cool. If you warm bacon to mix in with mayonnaise dressing, it will create a food safety problem because it makes the dressing greasy. Instead, wait for the bacon to cool completely before adding it to the salad.

Broccoli Salad Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients and materials you need to follow the recipe, and the quantities are in the recipe card below.

For the Salad

• Broccoli — Two full bunches. One gets processed fine, one gets hand-chopped into small pieces. Look for tight, dark green heads with no yellowing.
• Bacon — Three-quarters of a pound. Bake it, cool it completely, crumble it. Pre-cooked bacon bits are a backup option but the texture is noticeably different.
• Green onions — Three stems, chopped. Use both the white and green parts. They add a mild sharp note without the intensity of regular onion.
• Raisins — Half a cup. Standard raisins work. Golden raisins are slightly sweeter and milder if you prefer. Do not skip them.
• Sunflower seeds — Half a cup. Roasted and salted sunflower seeds add crunch and a toasted, nutty flavor. Raw sunflower seeds taste bland in this context.

For the Dressing

• Mayonnaise — Half a cup. Use a full-fat mayo like Hellmann’s (or Duke’s if you are in the South). Reduced-fat mayo makes the dressing thinner and less rich. Miracle Whip makes it too sweet.
• Sugar — Half a cup. Yes, half a cup. This sounds like a lot, but it is diluted across the entire salad. The vinegar offsets it. If you cut it significantly, the dressing tastes flat.
• White vinegar — Two tablespoons. The acid that balances the sugar and mayo. Apple cider vinegar works as a substitute.

How to Make Broccoli Salad

Step 1: Wash and Prep the Broccoli

Combine one cup of white vinegar and cold water in a large bowl. Submerge both units of broccoli in the mixture and allow them to soak for about five minutes. When the five minutes is up _**DO NOT**_ pour the mixture out of the bowl. Take the bowl to the sink while it is still full of vinegar and water and rinse the broccoli. Use a clean dish towel, or some paper towels, to dry the broccoli. Remember, wet broccoli will dilute your dressing.

Remove the central trunk and thin stems. Discard the trunk. Split the usable broccoli into two equal piles.

Step 2: Process One Batch, Chop the Other

For the first pile of broccoli, use the food processor’s pulse setting to chop the broccoli into small, coarse breadcrumb-sized pieces. Avoid making it too paste-like. If necessary, work in batches so the bowl doesn’t get too full.

For the second pile, hand-chop the vegetables until they are the size of large blueberries. They need to be small enough to fit on a fork, but large enough to have a visible texture. If you have a vegetable chopper, it will speed up this process a lot.

Ensure you have a mixture of both.

Step 3: Add the Mix-Ins

In the bowl with the broccoli, mixed in the crumbled bacon, the sliced green onions, the sunflower seeds and lighty mix to combine.

Step 4: Make the Dressing

In a different small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar, and whisk until the sugar is mostly dissolved and the dressing is smooth. It will look thin at the beginning. This is normal. It will thicken the longer it sits on the salad.

Step 5: Dress and Rest

Cover the broccoli mixture with the dressing and stir to coat everything. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap, or cover with a lid, refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours before serving. If you can eat it in four hours that is even better. The dressing will settle and the flavors will meld together, so stir again right before serving.

Tips for the Best Results

Dry the Broccoli Thoroughly

This dressing does not mix well with water. After washing your broccoli, shake off as much water as possible and pat the broccoli dry before chopping. If you have a large one, a salad spinner is also a good option. Broccoli that is wet will make the dressing dilute and the salad will be watery by the time it gets to the table.

Add Sunflower Seeds Last If Transporting

If you are taking this to a potluck or cookout, hold the sunflower seeds and stir them in just before serving. They are crunchier that way. After several hours in the dressing they soften noticeably. They are still fine, just less crisp. If you are eating it at home within the same day, add them with everything else.

Taste and Adjust the Dressing Before Pouring

Prior to adding the dressing, be sure to taste it first. It should taste sharp and a little too sweet on its own — that is correct. The flavor will mellow a lot once it mixes with the broccoli and sits for a bit. If the dressing tastes balanced already, you should add a little more vinegar to the dressing before putting it on the salad.

Make It a Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Change one of the two broccoli bunches to the same amount of cauliflower. Use the two-cut method again — process half fine, hand chop the rest. The cauliflower holds the dressing differently and adds a milder flavor. The color contrast also makes it look more appealing on a table. All other elements in the recipe remain the same.

Reduce the Sugar If You Prefer Less Sweet

The recipe calls for half a cup of sugar. If that sounds like too much, how about starting with 1/3 cup and tasting as you go? Just know that the salad will be noticeably less sweet with a sharper, vinegar-y taste. It’s a valid choice, but just know you are creating a different version of the dish, not a better one. Keeping the original ratio is what will make this taste like the potluck version people remember.

Tools That Make This Faster

A food processor can finely chop one batch in around 30 seconds. A manual vegetable chopper can process the hand cut batch, so no knife skills are required. Using these two tools, you can prep both batches of broccoli in under 5 minutes. Without them, you’re facing 15-20 minutes of chopping work to get the pieces small enough.

Storage and Make-Ahead

How Long Does Broccoli Salad Last?

This salad will last for about 3 to 4 days if kept in an air-tight container in the fridge. As time passes the the broccoli will become softer, the raisins will plump up, and the sunflower seeds will lose their crunch. The flavor, however, will remain into day three. By day four the salad will still be edible but will be noticeably softer.

Can You Make It the Day Before?

Yes, and it really is better the next day. Prep it the evening before your event, seal it tightly, and refrigerate overnight. It’s best if you stir before serving. This is the best option and means you have one less thing to do on the day of the potluck or holiday gathering.

Can You Freeze Broccoli Salad?

The mayonnaise dressing separates when frozen and thawed. Additionally, the broccoli gets mushy. This dish is meant to stay in the fridge. Make only what you can eat in the next four days.

Storing Leftovers After a Potluck

If the salad has been sitting out for two hours or more, throw out the remaining salad. Salads with mayo can breed bacteria that can lead to illnesses. If you want to be extra cautious, throw the salad out. Good airtight containers for transport and storage can help ensure that your leftovers are safe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use pre-shredded broccoli slaw instead of fresh broccoli?

You can, but expect a different result. Broccoli slaw is sliced from the thick stems instead of the florets, so it has crunchier, more fibrous texture, and milder flavor. In a pinch it works, but it won’t have the same flavor as the fresh-chopped florets in the dressing. If you’re looking for that classic potluck flavor, you’ll want to use fresh heads of broccoli.

Can I make this without mayo?

You may use plain Greek yogurt instead of some of the mayo – with Greek yogurt being a full-fat yogurt option. Replacing half the mayo with Greek yogurt will cut the mayo richness slightly while keeping the dressing creamy. If you go mayo-free and use Greek yogurt, it will give you a thinner dressing with more Greek yogurt taste and will be noticeably different. If you’re looking for a classic taste, stay away from vegan mayo substitutes – most have too much of a neutral taste or have a strange aftertaste when dressing like this isn’t cooked.

Do the raisins have to be in there?

While the answer is technically no, leaving raisins out creates an imbalance in the salad. The sweet and chewy addition of the raisins counters the saltiness of the bacon and the dressing’s sharpness. If you really hate raisins, the next best thing are dried cranberries. They are slightly more tart, but functionally they serve the same purpose. The salad will taste flat and one-dimensional if you leave them out completely.

What kind of sunflower seeds should I use?

Shelled sunflower seeds that have been roasted and salted offer added crunch and a toasted flavor that raw seeds do not provide. These can be found in the snack or nut aisle of nearly all grocery stores. If you want to substitute them, roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) work fine, but they’re a bit softer and have a more mild flavor.

How far ahead can I make this?

The ideal time to serve this is 24 hours in advance. Broccoli loses its crunch the longer you wait. Sunflower seeds can get soggy and lose their crunch as well. 24 hours is the longest you want to go. The taste is still good but the crunch and texture will be different. You can expect the salad to still be good past 24 hours. If you want to save it longer, just add the dressing and refrigerate. Keep the sunflower seeds separate, and add them the day you serve it.

My kids won’t eat the broccoli. Any tips?

You’ll want to process more of the broccoli into tiny bits for this and hand chop the rest. Broccoli bits that are smaller in size are less obnoxious and pronounced. This version of broccoli will be more acceptable for kids and they’ll likely eat this when they wouldn’t even consider touching regular broccoli. Raisins and sunflower seeds are a great help with this. Kids who are picky tend to eat around the broccoli and in doing so eat the broccoli anyway. We’ve found this to work more often than it logically should.

Can I add cheese to this?

Yes. The most common addition is sharp cheddar, either cubed very small or shredded. Mix it with the other add-ins. If you want something a bit more savory and less creamy, you could consider feta. Stay away from soft cheeses — they dissolve into the dressing and turn everything greasy.

Recipe Card

More Salad Recipes You’ll Want to Make

Here are some more cookout sides and make-ahead salads that hold up and are worth bookmarking:

• Classic Pasta Salad — Italian dressing, olives, and pepperoni. Makes a big batch and keeps for days.
• Macaroni Salad — Creamy, simple, and the one side dish everyone asks for at a cookout.
• Corn Salad — Fresh or canned corn, red onion, and a simple lime dressing. Ready in 10 minutes.
• Coleslaw — The classic version with a vinegar-forward dressing that does not get soggy.
• BLT Pasta Salad — Bacon, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and a creamy ranch-style dressing on rotini.

We have had this broccoli salad recipe for years and it has probably been at more potlucks than I can count. People always ask for the recipe and when you find out how simple it is, I bet you will wonder why you ever bought the deli version! Make it the day before, take it wherever you are going, and watch it disappear!