This salad will have you eating raw broccoli with a smile on your face! Broccoli, while known for its nutritious value, is not the most popular vegetable on a crudités plate. But toss it with a light creamy dressing, sweet raisins, crunchy sunflower seeds, carrots, and cheddar cheese and this vegetable transforms into a delicious salad you would be happy to have any day of the week. We love it, the kids love it, and it’s the perfect salad to bring to any potlock or a BBQ.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE OUR BROCCOLI SALAD WITH CREAMY DRESSING
HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS BROCCOLI SALAD
Like most of our dishes, we like to give you the room to make it your own. Some of the ingredients in this salad can be easily swapped for whatever you have on hand. Here are the main ingredients and some ideas for subsititutions:
- Broccoli: feel free to add equal parts broccoli and cauliflower florets
- Shredded Carrots: these add a great sweet crunch feel free to add some finely diced red onions to break some of the sweetness in this salad.
- Raisins: adds sweetness to this creamy salad and can be replaced with dried cranberries, or cherries.
- Cheddar Cheese: use freshly grated sharp shedder. Or any cheese you and your family enjoy.
- Sunflower seeds: Great nutrition, crunch and really yummy. A good substitute for this would be some slivered almonds or walnuts.
MAKE THE DRESSING
This is a super easy sweet and tangy dressing. Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper until smooth and well incorporated. Place in fridge while we prepare the salad.
TOSS THE BROCCOLI SALAD
Cut the broccoli heads into bite-size florets. Place the broccoli in a colander and rinse under some cold water. Drain well then place on a clean kitchen towel to dry. Adding vegetables without completely drying them out will make the salad soggy. Nobody wants a soggy salad.
Assemble the salad in a large serving bowl; add the broccoli florets, raisins, sunflower seeds, grated cheese, and grated carrots.
Pour on half of the dressing and toss well. Then add the rest of your dressing and toss once more. Eat right away or place in the fridge for an hour or two before to chill before serving.
Other kickass salad recipes on The Table Diaries:
- Roasted Root Salad with Spinach and Quinoa
- Killer Kale Caesar Salad
- Flavor Bomb Fatteh Salad with Yogurt Dressing
- Eggplant Fattoush with Yogurt Dressing
Broccoli Salad with Creamy Dressing
Ingredients
- 650 grams broccoli 2 large heads of broccoli
- 1 carrot grated (on the large hole of grater)
- 100 grams cheddar cheese grated (on the large hole of grater) about 1 cup
- 70 grams raisins ½ cup
- 44 grams sunflower seeds ⅓ cup
- 250 grams mayonnaise 1¼ cup
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
FOR THE DRESSING
- Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper until smooth and well incorporated. Place in fridge while we prepare the salad.
FOR THE BROCCOLI SALAD
- Cut the broccoli heads into bite-size florets. Place broccoli in a colander and rinse under some cold water. Drain well then place on a clean kitchen towel to dry.
- Assemble the salad; add the broccoli florets, raisins, sunflower seeds, grated cheese, and grated carrots into a large serving bowl.
- Pour on half of the dressing and toss well. Then add the rest of your dressing and toss once more. Eat right away or place in the fridge for an hour or two before to chill before serving.
