With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, party food has been at the top of my mind. Wings, dips, and chips are usually the star of the show when it comes to the Super Bowl. One of the most underrated parts of any gathering in my opinion is a standout salad. Salads get a bad rap of being a boring healthy food, but I think with the right toppings and dressings they can be one of the most delicious foods. This easy broccoli bacon salad recipe is no exception to that theory.
One thing I think we get wrong when it comes to salads is that they have to be lettuce-based. Some of my favorite salads don’t have any leafy green component to them. The base of this salad is broccoli florets instead of lettuce, spinach, or kale. The great thing about salads is how customizable they are. Since you’re just tossing ingredients together in a bowl, they’re one of my favorite ways to clear out the fridge with leftover fruits and vegetables.
Ingredients Needed
To make this simple broccoli bacon salad at home you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Bacon: In my opinion, the bacon is the best part of this recipe. We’ll need 6 slices of bacon for this salad recipe that we will cook and crumble on top.
- Broccoli florets: We’ll need one 12 oz bag of broccoli florets for this recipe. Additionally, you could buy a head of broccoli and chop it into florets.
- Red onion: For this broccoli and bacon salad recipe we’ll need half a red onion, diced.
- Golden raisins: The flavor profile of mixing salty and savory flavors with sweet flavors is one of the reasons why I love this salad recipe so much. Adding in a 1/4 cup of golden raisins gives this salad the perfect amount of sweetness. If you can’t find golden raisins at your grocery store, regular raisins will give a similar result.
- Chopped walnuts: Is it just me, or is a salad not complete without some kind of nut? Walnuts are the perfect way to add some crunch to this broccoli bacon salad recipe. For this recipe, we’ll need a 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts.
- Mayonnaise: For the salad dressing we’ll need a 1/4 cup of mayonnaise. I’ve linked the Primal Kitchen brand mayonnaise that I love due to the minimally processed ingredients.
- Maple syrup: To sweeten the dressing, you’ll need 2 tbsp of maple syrup. Feel free to start with 1 tbsp of maple syrup and work up to 2 if you don’t like your dressing too sweet.
- Red wine vinegar: Finally, to complete the dressing you’ll need 1.5 tbsp of red wine vinegar.
How to Make this Easy Broccoli Bacon Salad
To make this healthy and delicious salad yourself at home follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Cook the 6 slices of bacon until they’re fully cooked and crispy. Let the bacon fully cool and then crumble into small bite-sized pieces.
Combine the crumbled bacon pieces, broccoli florets, chopped red onion, golden raisins, and chopped walnuts in a large salad bowl. Toss until well combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, maple syrup, and red wine vinegar. Whisk together until the dressing has reached a smooth consistency. Pour the dressing over the mixture in the salad bowl. Toss until well combined.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Answering your easy broccoli bacon salad recipe questions. If you don’t see the answer to your question, feel free to leave a comment!
Using a different dressing
One of the best things about salads is that changing out the dressing makes it taste like a completely different dish. I’ve shared a few different salad dressing recipes such as ranch, caesar, and balsamic vinaigrette in past blog posts. Any one of these dressings would taste great on this salad and be a fun way to vary this recipe if you make it a few different times.
Making this recipe vegetarian
If you’d like to make a vegetarian version of this dish you can simply omit the bacon. If taking the bacon out I’d recommend upping the number of walnuts used from a 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup to make up for the missing crunch and protein.
Easy Broccoli Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- 12 oz broccoli florets
- 1/2 medium red onion chopped
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/5 tbsp red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Cook the 6 slices of bacon until they’re fully cooked and crispy. Let the bacon fully cool and then crumble into small bite-sized pieces.
- Combine the crumbled bacon pieces, broccoli florets, chopped red onion, golden raisins, and chopped walnuts in a large salad bowl. Toss until well combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, maple syrup, and red wine vinegar. Whisk together until the dressing has reached a smooth consistency. Pour the dressing over the mixture in the salad bowl. Toss until well combined.
- Serve and enjoy!
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