Broccoli Salad – Easy and Creamy Side Dish

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Happy Friday! I don’t know about you but this week has been long and I am glad to be setting up camp for the weekend. While packing for this weekend, I knew that this Broccoli Salad would be on the menu.

Creamy Broccoli Salad

Before changing my diet one of my favorite summer sides was a deli salad very similar to this one. It was always drenched in a sweet and creamy dressing that tasted delicious but was full of ingredients I shouldn’t be eating.

Now, I will say, that there are a lot of variations of this salad out there and honestly, all the ones I’ve tried have been delicious however none of them captured the flavor I was looking for. This is my take on a classic with a real food twist and I hope you enjoy it!

What You’ll Need

For the salad:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)
• Raisins
• Sunflower Seeds
• Chopped bacon

For the dressing:

• All-Natural Mayo (I like Primal Kitchen’s Avocado Oil Mayo)
• Sweetener of choice
• Half & Half or non-dairy milk

To Make This Broccoli Salad

I start with washing the broccoli and cauliflower and roughly chopping into ¼ to ½ inch pieces.

Add the raisins and sunflower seeds to the bowl. Try to look for unsweetened raisins, their natural sugar is plenty. The amount of sugar that is added to dried fruit always amazes me!

I use pre-shredded cheddar cheese in this salad but it is just as delicious without the cheese!

Stir the dry ingredients until mixed well. 

Making the Dressing

I like to keep the dressing for this salad simple. Add the mayo and sweetener to a dish. Here I use Pyure, an organic stevia blend, but coconut sugar or honey would work too. Splash in some milk and stir well. If you feel like the dressing is to thick add a little more milk. That’s really all there is to it!

Add the dressing to the salad and stir until combined.

I like to make up extra bacon for breakfast and keep some to the side if we are going to make broccoli salad. I kind of have to hide it in the back of the refrigerator since bacon doesn’t last long around our campsite. You’ll want to wait to add the bacon until you are ready to eat the salad that way it stays crispy.

Once when I tried to make this salad a whole head of broccoli I planned to use ended up not being fresh anymore. I had a lot of people to feed and no other side dish planned so we improvised and shredded the broccoli stalks from the head that was still good. This ended up being delicious and a great way to avoid wasting food. If you have access to a grater or food processor that has a shredding blade it’s really simple to make this addition and it really bulks up the salad.

Packed with flavor, broccoli salad makes a great summer side that is packed with flavor. I personally love the combination of sweet from the raisins and dressing with the salty of the sunflower seeds.

What’s your favorite sweet and salty combo? Let me know in the comments!

Happy camping!

-Jess

Broccoli Salad

Creamy broccoli salad is a new take on a classic favorite. With lots of veggies and tasty ingredients this salad makes the perfect summer side dish.

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 16 Servings

Ingredients

  

• 4 Bunches of Broccoli
• 1 Head of Cauliflower
• 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
• 1/4 Cup Raisins (Optional)
• 1 Lbs Bacon

Salad Dressing

• 1 Cup Mayo
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 Tbsp Pyure or Sweetener of Choice

Instructions

 

• Wash and chop broccoli and cauliflower and add to a large mixing bowl.
• Add cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds, and raisins to the bowl and combine.
• Chop bacon into small pieces and fry in a large cast iron pan. When crispy, place on a plate with paper towels to drain of the extra grease.
• In a separte bowl, wisk all the salad dressing ingredinets together and pour over broccoli/cauliflower mixture.
• Refriderate salad until ready to serve. When ready to eat, add bacon and stir in.

Notes

For the dressing I like to use Pyure, an organic stevia blend. You can also use your favorite alternative sweetener like coconut sugar, monk fruit, maple syrup, or honey.

If the salad seems to dry, you can make up additional dressing in 1/4 batches until it reaches the desired creaminess.

It’s best to add the bacon right before serving as this keeps it crispy.

This salad can easily be made up a day ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.

Keyword Bacon recipes, Easy, Easy side dish, Side Dish, Simple side dish

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