Loaded Broccoli Salad Recipe - Savory Nothings (2024)

This is the best Broccoli Salad you’ll ever make. Fully loaded with bacon, cheese, nuts and dried cranberries – and a delicious creamy dressing to pull it all together!

A good broccoli salad is always a hit at any potluck! We like ours fully loaded with all of the goodies – my husband calls it the cheese and bacon salad ?

All of the flavors and extras in this salad go so well together, like it was meant to be. We make this for both grilling out during the summer as well as for Thanksgiving. It’s so good, you can’t only have it once a year!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Cheese: Gouda works best here, but a sharp cheddar is also nice.
• Dried cranberries: Personally, I much prefer cranberries in this salad, especially for Thanksgiving. But raisins are a classic in broccoli salad and you are absolutely free to use raisins in place of the cranberries.
• Almonds: I love almonds with broccoli, but pecans are also nice. The most classic choice would be sunflower seeds here, which also work well.
• Sour cream/mayo: For a lighter dressing, you can use light sour cream and/or Greek yogurt to substitute some or all of the mayo. The flavor will change, but it’s still delicious.
• Vinegar: I like white wine vinegar best, but apple cider vinegar is fine, too.
• Broccoli: If you’re going to buy heads to chop yourself, you’ll need about 2 pounds in order to yield 1.5 pounds of florets. I like to cut my own and leave a little stem on the florets, because that’s my favorite part (just for us, I would chop the stems and add them to the salad as well – I know most people will use bagged broccoli florets though, so I left the stems out in this photo).

To blanch or not to blanch the broccoli

To use the broccoli blanched or raw is a personal choice, and either way works.

I do always blanch broccoli for salad, because I find it a more pleasant texture to eat. And if you struggle with digesting raw broccoli but love broccoli salad, it’s worth trying if it’s easier on you when blanched.

If you want to blanch your broccoli, get a large bowl with ice water ready. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water, then add the broccoli. Cook it for 2 minutes, then drain and immediately place in the ice water.

Leave the broccoli in the ice water for 3-5 minutes, until it’s completely cooled down. Drain and pat dry very well using paper towels. Then, it’s ready to use in the salad!

How to make Broccoli Salad

1. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a large salad bowl. I use a whisk to fully break up the mayonnaise and sour cream.

2. Add the broccoli florets and toss to coat them all, then let them sit in the dressing for 5 minutes.

3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Toss the salad to combine everything with the dressing. Either serve it right away or chill it in the fridge for 1-2 hours to serve it cold.

Recipe tips

Broccoli floret size: You can leave the florets whole or chop them smaller, this is totally up to you. Since I blanch the florets, I usually leave them a little larger so they don’t cook through too much/get mushy.

If using raw florets, I highly recommend to cut them smaller.

Tossing: The dressing tends to gather at the bottom of the bowl, so you’ll want to mix it well before serving.

Storage: The salad keeps in a covered bowl for 2 days in the fridge.

Make ahead: If you need to make it ahead for more than 2 hours, I highly recommend cutting and adding the apple right before serving. I also recommend storing the salad and dressing separately. Add the dressing and the apple right before serving.

Serving ideas

For summer, this is a great salad to serve with a hearty cut of meat from the grill. We love it with marinated and grilled pork chops, with marinated and grilled steak (especially a tomahawk steak!) or with marinated and grilled pork tenderloin. It’s great with some grilled corn on the cob and a hunk of crusty no knead bread!

For Thanksgiving, this dish goes great with all of the traditional trimmings – turkey and gravy, sweet potatoes (sweet potato casserole, twice baked sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes – I’d take all three!), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole… perfection!

PSIf you try this recipe, please leavea review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along onPinterest,FacebookorInstagram.

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