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Loaded Broccoli Salad Recipe

Name: Loaded Broccoli Salad Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 4 cups broccoli florets (chopped); ⅔ cup shredded carrots; ⅓ cup diced red onion; 1 gala apple (diced); ½ cup Craisins; ⅓ cup chopped walnuts; 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (1 block, cubed); 8 bacon strips (cooked and crumbled); ½ cup light mayonnaise; ½ cup plain greek yogurt; 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar; 1 Tablespoon lemon juice ((fresh is best)); 1 Tablespoon sugar

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Published: July 29, 2020Updated: June 17, 2021Author: Camille Beckstrand

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This easy-to-make simple broccoli salad is loaded with everything good - bacon, apples, cheese, onion, carrots, craisins, walnuts, and of course fresh broccoli. Toss it with the homemade dressing and it will be a delicious side dish for all your summer BBQ's.

This Loaded Broccoli Salad is a favorite all year round, but goes great with your summer BBQ’s. I have tried a lot of different broccoli salads and I took all my favorite parts of each salad and combined them.

Summer potlucks and parties are all about the food and I love that broccoli salad is a delicious alternative to the potato salads and jello salads that are served at BBQs.

I love broccoli salad because it’s loaded with nutrients and vitamins (it’s the only way I will eat fresh broccoli!) and the added flavor of the dressing makes this a crowd favorite!

I wanted to make a dish that could be thrown together in the shortest amount of time possible, so I am going to share some short cuts with you that make this such an easy dish!

My first time-saving tip is to use the fresh broccoli florets that you can purchase from the produce section at your local Kroger. This not only saves me time, but also the mess that happens when you are chopping up broccoli!

If you want, you can chop up the broccoli into even smaller pieces, but it is completely up to you.

Some broccoli salads will have you blanch the broccoli before making the salad (which means to cook it for a short time in boiling water and then cool it down in an ice bath), but that is not needed for this recipe.

I feel that raw, fresh broccoli is the best in this dish and with all the other ingredients that are added to compliment the broccoli, blanching is not a necessary step. Toss that broccoli in a bowl and move on to the next step!

My next time-saving tip is using these Kroger shredded carrots – all you have to do is dump them in! No peeling, no cutting, no dicing . . . using shredded carrots from the produce section at Kroger makes this salad so easy to throw together.

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Make sure you have these ingredients to make this easy loaded broccoli salad recipe:

Loaded Broccoli Salad ingredients:

Red Onion
Gala Apple
Craisins
Chopped Walnuts
Sharp Cheddar Cheese (cubed)
Bacon
Mayonnaise
Plain Greek Yogurt
Red Wine Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Sugar

Don’t forget these items too:

Mixing bowl (THIS stacking set is great)
Knives (THESE are great for dicing and chopping veggies)

How to make loaded broccoli salad:

Ingredients for Broccoli Salad in glass bowl

Combine the chopped apple, onion, cheese, and bacon into a large bowl. This salad will feed the masses, so you want to make sure you have a bowl big enough to hold all of it!

Now mix together the dressing ingredients. The dressing for this salad is simple – only 5 ingredients needed.

Ingredients for Loaded broccoli salad dressing

After trying a lot of different broccoli salad recipes over the years, I decided to mix it up by using equal parts mayonnaise and Greek yogurt.

I feel that the Greek yogurt makes the dressing a little tangier and not so mayonnaise-heavy.

I also added a little bit of red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, and a tiny bit of sugar.

Some broccoli salads use TONS of sugar in their dressing (up to 3/4 cup!), but it is just not necessary with the flavors that we have from the other ingredients.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and gently fold it into the broccoli salad. You can serve immediately, but I actually prefer to let it sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving to really let the flavors meld together.

This salad will stay fresh 1-2 days in the fridge and I personally feel that the flavors get better after each day! If you have a favorite way to make Broccoli Salad, please share in the comments below!

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Looking for more salad recipes? Watch how we make some of our favorites!

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This Loaded Broccoli Salad is so easy. Get your kids involved in the kitchen. They’ll love it!

Here are some more great salad recipes for your parties and BBQ’s:

Serves: 12