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You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / Nutty Broccoli Salad

Nutty Broccoli Salad

March 25, 2022 by Alea Milham 17 Comments

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Nutty Broccoli Salad Recipe
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This Nutty Broccoli Salad Recipe combines sweet and savory flavors to create a delicious side dish!

This delicious nutty broccoli salad recipe is a quick and easy side dish. The dressing uses a balsamic vinaigrette to add a unique flavor to the salad.

Last week I had to harvest 7 broccoli crowns that were getting burnt in the sun. I have been using it as a side dish, adding it to salads, and making stir-frys. I needed a new way to serve up broccoli before my family started complaining, so I decided to create a broccoli salad. I had a nutty broccoli salad at a local deli that I thought was good, but one child didn’t like one of the ingredients and my husband didn’t like the nut they had used in their recipe. I decided to come up with a broccoli salad recipe that the entire family would enjoy.

The good thing about making my own broccoli recipe is I was able to use items that I already had on hand. I added cranberries, sunflower seeds, and pecans to my salad. I also added bacon and red onions. If you decide to try this, please adapt it to what you already have available to you and the items that your family enjoys.

Dressings for Broccoli salad usually consist of mayonnaise and sugar. I added balsamic vinaigrette when creating the dressing for this salad. It adds a unique flavor that blends well with the other ingredients. If you are watching your calories, you can replace some or all of the mayonnaise with plain yogurt.

Nutty Broccoli Salad Recipe

This broccoli salad recipe can be doubled. It can also be made the day before a party.

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups broccoli florets
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 6 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette (I used Annie’s Naturals because it is gluten-free)
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions:

  1. Cook bacon. (Here’s how to easily cook bacon in the oven.)
  2. While the bacon is cooking, chop the vegetables.
  3. Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl, stir well.
  4. Mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
  5. Pour dressing over salad, mix until thoroughly coated.
  6. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until chilled.
  7. Serve cold.

Quick and easy Recipe for Nutty Broccoli Salad

 

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Nutty Broccoli Salad Recipe

An easy salad made with broccoli florets, pecans, bacon, cranberries, and onion
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword broccoli salad recipe, nutty broccoli salad recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chilling Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Author Alea Milham

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

  • 5 cups broccoli florets
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 1 cup diced red onion
  • 6 pieces of bacon cooked and crumbled
  • 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

  • Cook bacon.
  • While the bacon is cooking, chop the vegetables.
  • Combine the mayonnaise, balsamic vinaigrette, and sugar in a small bowl, stir well.
  • Add the broccoli florets, pecans, sunflower seeds, onion, cranberries, and crumbled bacon to a large bowl.
  • Pour the dressing over salad, mix until thoroughly coated.
  • Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until chilled.
  • Serve cold.

More Salad Recipes:

  • Taco Salad
  • Apple Walnut Salad
  • Loaded Baked Potato Salad
  • Cajun Ranch Potato Salad
  • Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad
  • Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork
  • Southwest Steak Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
  • Strawberry Spinach Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
  • Chicken and Mango Salad with Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

I originally created this recipe on July 29, 2009. It was updated on March 25, 2022.

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Diana Barrett says

    December 19, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    Hi Alea,
    Your salad looks fantastic. The broccoli looks very green in your pictures so I was wondering if you used blanched the broccoli or left it raw? If the broccoli is blanched could you please give me instructions on how long you leave it in boiling water etc…? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Alea Milham says

      December 21, 2020 at 8:36 pm

      I used raw broccoli.

      Reply
  2. Alea says

    August 4, 2009 at 3:23 pm

    I think that is a good idea! Since I don't have a lap top I have to print out recipes eventually. Even if I had a lap top, I don't know if I would want it in the splash zone. 🙂

    Reply
  3. ~ ~ Ahrisha ~ ~ says

    August 4, 2009 at 2:19 pm

    Hi Alea<
    Your rendition of the salad looks like a winner to me. I love all the nuts you have added. This recipe of yours is a keeper.

    About filing recipes from the internet. Here is how I do it. I'm an old fashioned gal and still like to have a recipe on paper as I work from it so I copy the recipe and paste it to a word document, then print a copy. You might laugh at this but here goes. I have a small filing cabinet and have 1 drawer dedicated to recipes filed under themes like salads or cakes. When I'm ready to cook I can pull the recipe and take it to the kitchen. Just like the little 3×5 card files our grandmothers and mothers used only BIGGER a whole sheet per recipe so I can actually read it!
    ~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

    Reply
  4. annkroeker says

    August 2, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    I love broccoli salad–I could eat an entire mixing bowl of it all by myself! I appreciate your creativity with this–freeing me to stray from the recipe if need be.

    Reply
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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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