This easy-to-make loaded broccoli salad is full of vegetables, nuts, craisins and tossed with a delicious homemade dressing.
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Our Loaded Broccoli Salad is a favorite all year round, it 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. 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! This dish can be be thrown together in a short amount of time with some short cuts that make this such an easy dish.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our loaded broccoli salad, you need the following ingredients:
- Red Onion
- Gala Apple
- Craisins
- Chopped Walnuts
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese (cubed)
- Bacon
- Mayonnaise
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Lemon Juice
- Sugar
Equipment Notes
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Loaded Broccoli Salad
- Combine the chopped apple, onion, cheese, and bacon into a large bowl.
- Now mix together the dressing ingredients. The dressing for this salad is simple – only 5 ingredients needed.
- Mix the dressing ingredients together and gently fold it into the broccoli salad. Serve this salad immediately, or let it sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving to really let the flavors meld together.
Recipe Notes
- Storage Tips: This salad will stay fresh 3-5 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Do not freezer this recipe.
- Raw, fresh broccoli is the best in this dish. The remaining ingredients compliment the broccoli flavor.
- To save time use the fresh broccoli florets that you can purchase from the produce section at your local Kroger.
- My next time-saving tip is using these Kroger shredded carrots – all you have to do is dump them in!
Enjoy More Delicious Green Salads
Want to add more veggies to your meals? Browse our comprehensive list of salad recipes.
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- Layered Cobb Salad
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- Santa Barbara Cobb Salad
- Seven Layer Green Salad
- Spring Salad with Homemade Lemon Poppyseed Dressing
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- Taco Salad
- Walnut Pear Salad
Loaded Broccoli Salad Recipe
This easy-to-make loaded broccoli salad is full of vegetables, nuts, craisins and tossed with a delicious homemade dressing.
Serving servings
Ingredients
Salad 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
Dressing Ingredients
- ½ cup light mayonnaise
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, (fresh is best)
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together broccoli, carrots, onion, apple, Craisins, walnuts, cheese, and bacon.
- In a smaller bowl, combine dressing ingredients.
- Gently fold the dressing into the broccoli bowl until all ingredients are coated with dressing.
- Cover and chill in the fridge for 2 hours before serving.
- Salad will remain fresh for up to 2 days covered in the fridge.
Notes
- Storage Tips: This salad will stay fresh 3-5 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Do not freezer this recipe.
- Raw, fresh broccoli is the best in this dish. The remaining ingredients compliment the broccoli flavor.
- To save time use the fresh broccoli florets that you can purchase from the produce section at your local Kroger.
- My next time-saving tip is using these Kroger shredded carrots – all you have to do is dump them in!
Nutrition
Calories: 189 kcal · Carbohydrates: 13 g · Protein: 8 g · Fat: 13 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 5 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 21 mg · Sodium: 361 mg · Potassium: 224 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 8 g · Vitamin A: 1493 IU · Vitamin C: 29 mg · Calcium: 106 mg · Iron: 1 mg
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I made this tonight because I wanted to try it! I have made a broccoli salad before that had grapes in it. I was excited to try the craisins! This was delicious, although nobody else in my house wanted to try it so guess that means more for me! My friend was over and she tried it and loved it too. This is a nice change from regular salad and would be great to take to a barbeque. I didn’t have low fat mayo so I just used regular and I am not a fan of greek yogurt but I used it. I will definitely make this again! Thank you for the recipe! I might try it with pecans next time!
Sunflower seeds for the walnuts
Love love love! It was addicting! Shared some with a friend tonight. My oldest daughter will be eating some tomorrow and have some to give my in laws! Looking like this is gonna be a regular for me for awhile! Only thing I changed was skipping the mayo, just used double Greek yogurt.
I took this to a potluck lunch today and it was well received by all. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This doesn’t taste like “diet food” at all, but I am following Weight Watchers and this is 6 Smart Points per serving and is delicious. I can stay true to the WW program if I eat yummy food along the way. (BTW, I cooked the bacon and set it aside in the fridge since one of the girls is a vegetarian, and I thought I could serve it separately. Left it at home. Dang! But it was still great.)
Hi Jeanne, So good to hear from you and thanks for leaving such a nice comment on our loaded broccoli salad. We appreciate you stopping by our site for recipes. And way to go for being to good with Weight Watchers. Glad the broccoli salad helped keep you on track! 🙂 Have a terrific weekend.
What would you use instead of mayo. I’m not a fan of mayo and wondering if using all Greek yogurt would work.
Would the dressing be ok without the red wine vinegar?
If you don’t like Red Wine Vinegar then you could surely leave it out. We love the taste it gives the Loaded Broccoli Salad.
I made this salad the other day and shared it with my daughter and her family. We all loved it so much! Even my two year old twin granddaughters! It is absolutely delicious. The only thing I did differently was to use sunflower kernels instead of walnuts. Definitely going to make this again!