Broccoli Salad
This homemade best-ever broccoli salad is so good it will make even the biggest broccoli salad-snobs reconsider!
From the famed, Aunt Marilyn, this broccoli salad is delicious, even evoking two thumbs up from my broccoli-salad-snob-of-a-husband.
I was ecstatic when my Aunt Marilyn emailed me this recipe and was even more pleased with the result, which was a slight tweak from the original recipe.
A few changes
Personally, I get frightened by raisins in nearly anything (including cinnamon rolls, don’t hate me!) so I left those out.
But because I know many people aren’t weird like me and would like the raisiny contrast, I left them in the ingredients list as a strong optional choice.
You could definitely sub in craisins or regular raisins if that’s your thing.
Additionally, I cut down the mayo in the recipe a bit and swapped out the red wine vinegar for balsamic to give the dressing a bit more depth of flavor.
The end result is a salad lightly dressed in a subtly sweet and tangy dressing.
Not gloopy or heavy or overpowered by a strong mayo dressing, it’s just the perfect balance of crunchy broccoli with all the other yummy ingredients..
My favorite part? The crunchy sunflower seeds and crisp bacon.
Serious yum factor right there. As you can tell already, the salad is super versatile, as well, so feel free to experiment with salad ingredients that suit your personal taste.
This broccoli salad is definitely going straight to the Best Recipes archive.
Broccoli salad needs to be part of everyone’s life, don’t you think? It makes the perfect dish to bring to potlucks or BBQs or church dinners.
Bring it everywhere! Even your weeknight Tuesday dinner with just your kids. It really is amazing.
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The Best Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
Dressing:
- ¾ cup light or regular mayonnaise
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salad:
- 1 ½ pounds fresh broccoli, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup golden raisins, optional
- ¾ cup sunflower seeds
- 1 small shallot or red onion, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss the salad ingredients together. Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and toss to coat all the ingredients with the sauce. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Right before serving, give the salad another good toss to recombine any dressing that may have settled at the bottom.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from my Aunt Marilyn
Can you make this a day or two ahead of time?
It does pretty well made up to 24 hours in advance.
Made the broccoli salad. Delicious! Could you tell me what the serving size is?
The recipe serves about 8 – I don’t have the exact serving size, but just adding up the ingredients, it would be about 1 to 1 1/2 cups salad.
I did not make it yet. I need a few more ingredients. On my way to store now. I know we are going to love this new way to make this salad. Ty so much for new faily fav.
Best recipe I have come across. Taste delicious.
This is delicious, however I did find a whole tablespoon of balsamic vinegar is a bit too much. I added only a half tbsp the second time I made it, and it was delicious.
I wondered about that, I just made it with a half a tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar too. The Balsamic Vinegar was what my wife liked about this recipe. I tried to follow it, I honestly did, but, alas, I couldn’t help myself and I modified it. I added diced water chestnuts, a heavy pinch or two of white pepper, a 1/8 tsp salt, and less than a half cup of shredded sharp cheddar. Both Craisens and Raisins, which, I boil in water to sort of rehydrate, plump them up a bit, obviously strain everything. I have to say, the Balsamic was, is a brilliant idea.
Just made this as a side for Sunday dinner and it was AMAZING!!!! My 10 year old son said it was incredible!! Everyone should make it!! I practically ate the entire bowl!!! I will definitely make this again!!
Love this simple recipe, I didn’t add the raisins and used the shredded cheese I had. My whole family enjoyed it.
I just made this best broccoli salad and the addition of the balsamic vinegar is a game changer. The dressing looked a bit thick after mixing up so I did add about a Tablespoon of milk. Super lovely and super delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I am looking forward to eating this throughout the summer.