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Our Favorite Broccoli Salad Recipe

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Broccoli salad ingredients

Our favorite broccoli salad recipe is a mix of broccoli, bacon, cheddar cheese, walnuts, and golden raisins topped with a creamy and sweet mayonnaise yogurt dressing. It’s the best easy and healthy summer BBQ side dish!

I love broccoli.

I love it raw, baked, drenched in cheese, and splashed with balsamic vinegar.

I’ve never met a broccoli dish I didn’t like.

When Joe and I were thinking about adding a vegetable dish to our beloved Thanksgiving feast, we both thought of broccoli, but neither of us had a recipe in mind.

Suddenly, it was the night before our feast, and we still hadn’t decided on a recipe.

I took matters into my own hands. I was glad to have a couple of bags of pre-cut broccoli and used them to make my favorite cold broccoli salad.

My broccoli salad was the biggest hit of the meal. There were only 3 or 4 little broccoli pieces left over, not even a small bowlful.

I was sad about that. I wanted to have it for breakfast the next day. There wasn’t enough left over even for breakfast.

This recipe came out so well that I made it again for our second Thanksgiving feast with Old Grandma, and this time, I doubled the recipe. It lasted a little longer, but not much.

How to make our favorite broccoli salad

  1. Cook bacon over medium high heat. Drain it well and pat dry to remove as much of the grease as possible. Crumble the dried bacon and set it aside.
  2. Pour broccoli into a large mixing bowl. Add to it a large handful of golden raisins (my sister says that’s a cup but I think it’s more than that) and a large handful of walnuts. Add the crumbled bacon and two big handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese.
    the best broccoli salad ingredients
    broccoli salad ingredients mixed up
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together rice wine vinegar, garlic, sugar, and mayo. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and toss it well. Make sure it’s all blended and well-coated.
    the best broccoli salad recipe dressingadd dressing to broccoli salad
  4. Refrigerate the salad for a couple of hours to overnight to let the flavors blend.
    finished broccoli saladbroccoli salad recipeone serving of broccoli salad

Here are a few more side dishes that you might like:

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Broccoli salad ingredients and the finished salad

Our Favorite Broccoli Salad Recipe

Our favorite broccoli salad recipe is a mix of broccoli, bacon, cheddar cheese, walnuts, and golden raisins topped with a creamy and sweet mayonnaise yogurt dressing. It's the best easy and healthy summer BBQ side dish!
4.29 from 14 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 10 slices bacon
  • 1 pound broccoli
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup walnuts chopped
  • 6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar garlic flavor (a little more than 1/3 cup)
  • 1 clove garlic or 2 if they're small
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup mayonnaise I wouldn't recommend Miracle Whip in this recipe.
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt

Instructions
 

  • Cook bacon over medium high heat. Drain it well and pat dry to remove as much of the grease as possible. Crumble the dried bacon and set it aside.
  • Pour broccoli into a large mixing bowl. Add to it a large handful of golden raisins (my sister says that's a cup but I think it's more than that) and a large handful of walnuts. Add the crumbled bacon and two big handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese. Don't worry about mixing it up yet.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together rice wine vinegar, garlic, sugar, and mayo. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and toss it well. Make sure it's all blended and well-coated.
  • Refrigerate the salad for a couple of hours or overnight, to let the flavors blend.
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A bowl of broccoli salad with raisins, walnuts, and cheese

A bowl of broccoli salad with cheese, golden raisins, and walnuts

A bowl of broccoli salad

A bowl of broccoli salad with bacon, raisins, and cheese

A plate of broccoli salad with a fork

A plate of the best broccoli salad

Broccoli salad ingredients

Broccoli salad ingredients

Broccoli salad ingredients

A bowl of the best broccoli salad

A bowl of broccoli salad

A bowl of healthy broccoli salad

Pouring the dressing onto the broccoli, cheese, bacon, and nuts

Pouring the dressing onto the broccoli salad

Pouring the dressing onto the broccoli salad

A close up of a plate of food with broccoli, with Salad and Bacon

A close up of a plate of food with broccoli, with Salad and Bacon

A close up of broccoli salad on a plate

A close up of broccoli salad with bacon

A close up of broccoli salad with raisins

A close up of a bowl of broccoli salad

A bowl of food with broccoli, with Salad and Bacon

A plate of food with broccoli, with Salad and Bacon

A plate of food with broccoli, with Salad and Mayonnaise

A plate of food with broccoli, with Salad and Bacon

A bowl of salad, with Broccoli and Bacon

A close up of a plate of food with broccoli, with Salad

A bowl of food with broccoli, with Salad

© 2012 – 2020, Tara Ziegmont. All rights reserved.

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Comments

  3. Rebecca says

    5 stars
    I keep things simple…so, our fave broc recipe is just steaming it. However, THIS will probably replace it!

  14. Ashley W says

    would love to try the beneforte broccoli! my kids and I can’t wait to try this broccoli salad recipe

  17. Chavonne H says

    I had an amazing Broccoli Casserole for Thanksgiving that a friend made. It contained Velveeta Cheese and Bread Crumbs with Broccoli of course, it was insanely delicious!! and I hope she makes it again for Christmas. I could eat that every single day!!

  19. Sue C. says

    3 stars
    Your recipe sounds and looks delish! Our family likes to keep broccoli simple, just steamed with a little cheese sauce.

  27. Kay C says

    I don’t have a recipe for it. But I like cabbage and broccoli bake…with some cream of anything soup and melt cheese over the top. Salt and pepper to taste. Or just love broccoli raw with dip.

  34. Victoria Carlson says

    Favorite brocolli recipe is sauteing brocolli, potatoes, minced garlic and basil! Sooo good!

  55. Monica says

    Longhorn Steakhouse makes the best broccoli!! i do not know what they put in it but it is so good!

  59. Joseph Stowell says

    My favorite broccoli recipe is a frittata with broccoli, ham, mushrooms, and feta cheese. Yum!

  77. Wendy Kroy says

    I used to love the broccoli and sun dried tomato penne at California Pizza Kitchen years and years ago.

  81. Nichola says

    Roasted Broccoli- Preheat oven to 425, coat chopped fresh brocolli with olive oil. Add chopped Garlic, roast for 20-25 minutes. Top with parmesan and lemon juice. YUM!

  88. Teresa R. says

    My favorite recipe for broccoli is a broccoli and beef stir fry I found on Mel’s kitchen cafe blog. Thanks for this great giveaway.

  89. Mary DeBorde says

    My daughter LOVES broccoli, so I’m giving her your recipe! Thank you so much
    for sharing, plus this sweet giveaway <3

    My favorite broccoli dish is simple but tasty:
    Warm up about 1/2 cup of sweet & sour sauce in a med sized saucepan.
    Add to this about 2 cups diced broccoli or just the *flowerettes*.
    Throw in a fistful of finely chopped almonds or cashews.
    Warm and stir the above.

    THEN, thinly spread whipped cream cheese over the contents of a box of rice crackers.
    Pour the warmed broccoli mixture into 4 guest/serving bowls and arrange several of the rice crackers around the outside of each serving bowl.

    Optional: Serve with sticky rice instead of/or in addition to rice crackers
    Feeds 4

    Happy Holidays <3
    Mary
    zenrei57 (at) hotmail dot com

  93. Crystal F says

    I’d never even heard of broccoli salad until this past Friday night. My hubby tried it for the first time and we have been looking for recipes for it every since so thanks for the great recipe.

    The only time I normally eat broccoli is raw with ranch dressing. I’m not a fan of cooked broccoli. thank you!

  104. Amy Green says

    Mine is a rice bowl I make, with layers: cooked, frozen broccoli on the bottom, melted cheese slice, white or premium, rice, shredded turkey or chicken lunch meat, topped off with another melted cheese slice!

  105. joseph gersch jr says

    i love broccolli, turkey, pasta and chicken with cream of mushrooom soup baked as a casserole

  116. Rachael E says

    I love a good stir fry with extra broccoli. My favorite is when you use tofu instead of meat with a little bit of spicy stir fry sauce. It’s amazing!

  136. Louis says

    broccoli and cheese soup with toast
    Thank you for hosting this giveaway

    Louis
    pumuckler {at} gmail {dot} com