I have been craving broccoli salad ever since I saw Kendra’s recipe at Homegrown Housewife.
This is one of those flexible dishes that can be adapted to whatever odds and ends you have in the pantry. Out of slivered almonds? Try sunflower seeds.
Try it with dried cranberries instead of raisins. For the record, let me note that I still hate the flavor of mayonnaise, but it is important to use real mayo rather than MiracleWhip for the best results. This is a classic; if you’re asked to bring a dish to a potluck or cookout, this is a winner. HOWEVER, please just go with dried cranberries. Why? Stereotypes, just trust me.
The bacon can be omitted for vegetarians. Just increase or add a different type of nut for variety and interest.
If you hate the flavor of raw broccoli, you can still make this dish. Just blanch the broccoli for 1 – 2 minutes in boiling water.
Drain, then plunge the florets into ice water. This will get rid of the raw broccoli taste but still keep enough crunch to make this a pleasing cold salad.
Ready?
Broccoli Almond Salad
Ingredients:
- 1lb broccoli florets (5 – 6 cups) – roughly chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds – *toasted
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup onion thinly sliced (use red or yellow for best results)
- 3 slices cooked bacon – crumbled or chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas, optional (If I have them, great. If not, no loss)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup sugar (Kendra swears Splenda works well) or 1/4 cup honey
- 2 – 3** TBSP vinegar – red wine or cider for best results
*Toasting almonds is simple, either heat in a dry pan over medium heat until they start to smell nice, tossing often, or use your broiler for 3 – 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them. It’s very easy to go from delicious to eew, burnt mess. It’s better to under toast in this case.
**Since I hate mayonnaise, I lean towards the 3TBSP of vinegar. Experiment to find what best suits your palate.
In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, almonds, raisins, bacon, and peas. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar. Stir briskly until almost all of the sugar is dissolved. (It won’t all dissolve, yet). Pour over the broccoli mixture and toss or stir to coat. Cover and chill for at least an hour before serving. Do not skip this step. The flavors of the bacon, onion, almonds, and raisins need to marry with dressing and the florets need time to soak it up, too.
I like it even better the next day, but it will need to be stirred before serving.
Enjoy!
Cool coincidence – I just bought broccoli yesterday with intentions of making broccoli salad!
If I left out the bacon, there would be mutiny. I think my guys would prefer a 1:1 bacon to broccoli ratio, but that ain’t gonna happen. Unless I decide to make it the main course and be done with it. It will vanish.
Our preferred version uses dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, some shredded carrots and red onions. For dressing, I just use my Marzetti’s slaw dressing copycat that I came up with a few years ago, but I now use my homemade mayo as the starting point.
Oh, and I run the stalks thru the food processor to shred them – the recipe I followed the first time was on the back of a bag of “broccoli slaw” that I got for FREE. That stuff is way expensive! So I just shred it myself. If I try to make it with just the florets and no shredded broccoli, DH wants to know why I changed it. He likes some things to just stay the same.
Hi there. I have been lurking here for some time and thought I should say hello! 🙂 I enjoy your posts, especially this one! I love Broccoli Salad and always wondered how to find a good recipe! It sounds yummy enough to try! Thanks!
I’m kind of new to the whole salad world, so this is new to me. I’m a huge almond and broccoli fan, so this one will be going down for dinner tomorrow night. wish me luck!
I love this salad! The one I make uses sunflower seeds.
Another SUPER FAST broccoli salad is: blanched broccoli florets, grape or cherry tomatoes and Italian dressing. (We like Wish Bone the best.)
Great way to use the “extra” bits of veggies from the salad night.