Mandarin Broccoli Salad
A super yummy combination of fresh broccoli, mandarin oranges, bacon, craisins, and toasted almonds and the tangy, sweet dressing is fabulous!
Broccoli salad beckons me; it calls to me. And I’m usually quite powerless to resist it’s deliciousness (yeah, I’m one of those broccoli salad stalkers at the potluck who kind of scares everyone away from the salads table by hovering).
Because of my love for it, I can’t leave you with just one measly broccoli salad recipe You need options. And I’ve got them.
This recipe today is fantastic. It’s chock full of fresh broccoli, mandarin oranges, bacon (lots of bacon), craisins and toasted almonds for a lil’ bit of crunch.
The real star is the dressing, though. It’s sweet and tangy and ultra-creamy.
You start off with a simple cooked mixture that gets a boost from plain yogurt stirred in after it cools a bit (you could use mayo, too) and once it’s tossed with the colorful, tasty salad ingredients, magic happens.
Don’t rush the goodness; the dressed salad really benefits from hanging out in the fridge for a couple hours. It’s worth the wait, I promise. Broccoli salad perfection!
If you’re wondering how this broccoli salad recipe differs from the other one I have, it’s a matter of ingredient combinations: the first recipe has sunflower seeds and cheddar cheese whereas this one doesn’t have cheese but does have toasted almonds and mandarin oranges. The dressings are slightly different with today’s dressing having more depth of flavor and texture thanks to the cooking method. Both are super yum.
One Year Ago: Chopped Taco Salad with Homemade Catalina Dressing
Two Years Ago: Fudgy Brownies {Think: Homemade Brownies Like The Boxed Mix!}
Three Years Ago:Chicken Pillows with Creamy Parmesan Sauce
Mandarin Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup white wine or red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup plain yogurt or mayonnaise
Salad:
- 4-5 cups broccoli florets, chopped
- 8 slices bacon, cooked, drained and chopped
- ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted
- ¼ – ½ cup finely diced red onion
- ½ cup craisins
- 1 (10-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained well
Instructions
- For the dressing, combine the eggs, cornstarch, vinegar, salt, sugar, mustard, and water together in a medium saucepan. Whisk well. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it bubbles and thickens – it should be the consistency of pudding (take care not to heat too high or stop whisking or there might be small bits of cooked egg in the mixture).
- Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Stir in the yogurt or mayonnaise and let cool completely.
- Toss all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in the dressing and toss lightly until all the ingredients are covered with dressing.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours before serving.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from a family cookbook my friend, Sunny D., lent me (added salt, reduced sugar, used plain yogurt instead of mayo) – PS: I LOVE looking through those spiral bound paper family cookbooks even if I’m not related at all to any of the recipe submitters!
Five stars! A keeper! Enjoyed at our Christmas meal.
I have made a similar recipe, but not with a cooked dressing like this. I really liked this and received compliments on it. I doubled the broccoli because I was making it for a crowd, but did not double the dressing. Because I doubled the broccoli, I added some extra craisins and would have added more oranges, if I had them. I used about half the sugar after reading other reviews. Will definitely make it again.
YUMMY!!!!!!
Hi Mel,
Do you think your Maple Balsamic Dressing would work with this salad? With only 3 tablespoons of maple syrup required, I’m thinking it wouldn’t be too sweet. Love your recipes, always a hit.
Oh, I think that sounds like a good idea!
We love this salad. It’s so cool and refreshing and quick to go together. Since I don’t often remember to make anything ahead of time I don’t let this sit. It’s still really delicious just made. I also cut the sugar completely and added about a Tablespoon of honey. We also love an extra can of mandarins.
Great salad…love the addition of mandarin oranges.
I substitute cranberries and add pomegranate lovely substitute
I’ve made this before… sooo good, I took it to a birthday party and not a single broccoli piece was leftover! I’m wanting to make it as a side for Easter lunch, how far in advance do you think I can make it? Also do you think Greek yogurt would be good?
I definitely think Greek yogurt is worth a try! This salad gets a bit watery if made too far in advance, but I think maybe 24 hours should be ok.
great thank you!!
Greek yogurt worked great! also it was fresh and perfect 24hours later! thanks for all the advice and yummy ideas!
Random question, have you ever made a cold fresh raspberry pie? I had one over Easter weekend, graham cracker crust and a cold filling that from top to bottom seamed to be only fresh whole raspberries and a small amount of jello/or preserves it was heaven! I can’t get the recipe from the maker of said pie and so I thought maybe Mel in all her awesomeness has one she hasn’t gotten around to posting… it’s a long shot but I had to ask. Hope you had a great Easter!
Hey Crystal – I haven’t had a pie exactly like that, but I’ve had a strawberry version that sounds similar. Do you think it could be made like this (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/favorite-fresh-raspberry-pie) but with a graham cracker crust instead?
bummer… it was worth a shot. the pie I had the raspberries hadn’t been cooked so it’s not the same as the recipe you linked, but thank you for looking into it for me!! If I ever get my hands on that recipe I’ll send it along.
Hmmm, interesting! Not cooked, huh? I wonder if it used some type of gelatin or Danish dessert-type product?
Hi!!!
Looking fwd to the mandarins! would it work if i use fresh mandarin slices? instead of canned?
and also could i substitute the broccoli for lettuce or smth? or at least mix broccoli with smth else? i´m not a big fan of it =s
Feel free to experiment! Although since broccoli is such a huge component of this salad, you may want to look at different salad recipes for one that’s more to your liking.
I made this in the morning, for my sons lunch at work. I had fresh cara cara oranges so put them in instead. I didn’t use the egg due to time. I mixed the dressing without measuring it in a dish till I liked the taste did add everything else in again with out measuring it for a single portion. I did squeeze some OJ into the may-anise instead of water. It was great.
Made this tonight as a side with salmon and it was delicious! I left out the bacon because I didn’t have any on hand, but everything always better with bacon so I’m sure it’ll be even better the next time around! Just curious… do you know the nutrition facts or calorie count of the salad? I’m assuming it’s all going to come from the dressing.. 🙂
Jacqueline – I’m glad you liked it! I don’t have nutritional values but any online calculator could help.
This was yummy! I was in a rush when I made it & added the yogurt in with all the other dressing ingredients by accident & it still turned out perfectly smooth & didn’t separate. It was like a really easy hollandaise sauce! I added chopped up chicken breast to make it more filling for my husband too. And I didn’t have a chance to let it sit & was still very flavorful. Looking forward to the leftovers for my lunch tomorrow. Thanks Mel!
Oh & I also used way less sugar as my hubby doesn’t like sweet dressings & to me it was plenty sweet – I would guess I used about 1T sugar.
Made this last night and it was completely delicious! Even my husband who normally wouldn’t like something like this enjoyed it. My son suggested additional bacon and mandarins. Then he asked me to make it again this week. Thanks Mel!
It was good, but too sweet for our taste. If I make it again I’ll use way less sugar in the dressing.
I made this as a side for our dinner tonight, and my husband and I loved it! He said we will bring it for a potluck party next time.
I made this.
I love the mandarin oranges instead of cheese.
I am not sold on the extra work for the dressing.
But, my husband and I loved it and I’ll keep checking back here in case you find yet another broccoli salad recipe to tantalize us with. Love broccoli salad.
I made this with our dinner last night, and thought it was absolutely fantastic! I’ve already had a large helping with my lunch today too.
Just had your taco salad last night and it was fantastic. This broccoli salad looks awesome. I have a family member allergic to onions. Any suggestions for a substitute? Or maybe I won’t need one.
Terri – I’d just leave out the onions if it were me. I think it would still be plenty delicious.
I love salads with broccoli in them — this one looks yummy!
Broccoli salad has been appearing regularly on our table lately. I can’t wait to try this one!
I made it tonight and it was wonderful. Couldn’t wait for it to sit in the fridge. It was still warm. I think it could use a bit less sugar and still be great. It was pretty sweet. I used greek yogurt and it was fine. My menfolk also loved it.
How does it hold up? I love salads like this but I would be the only person eating it – my husband may try it but doubt he would eat much. It looks beautiful.
Ellen Renee – It keeps pretty well in the refrigerator for a couple days (also could be halved easily).
This was fabulous! We had a family reunion to attend this past weekend so I decided to take this salad since I had been wanting to try it. I was wrong…my husband tried it ….and loved it. You just never know with that man! :o)
Fantastic salad…that dressing sounds delish. Thanks for sharing!!
Choppin’ brocco-LI … remember that from SNL?
Have you tried Greek yogurt? Would it work?
I used plain Greek yogurt.. worked great! Haven’t tried it without Greek.. but I thought it was tasty! 🙂
This sounds and looks soo yummy! Got to try that dressing!
Wow! This looks amazing! I just made a healthy/trim healthy mama/paleo version of a broccoli salad a day or two ago. Yum! That blog post is yet to come.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR BLOG, MEL! Love. It. In fact, I love it so much that you were added to my top favorite blogs at my website. Check it out: http://www.myover-allapron.blogspot.com
Hope you had a great Fourth!
From your whole food-y!
Janie Lynn
Thanks for posting this!! I just bought broccoli last night because I was craving broccoli salad. I have everything but the plain yogurt, so I’ll have to pick that up and make this ASAP! 🙂
Beautiful salad, love those mandarins 🙂
I love broccoli salad but I’ve never used mandarin oranges in it. Looks tasty!
Have a marvelous week Mel!
Dang, those manderin oranges are inspired!!
I love broccoli salad! This recipe looks especially delicious with the cooked dressing and addition of the oranges. I can’t wait to try it!
This recipe is perfect for summer potlucks! LOVE!