Easy Broccoli Salad Recipe | The Modern Proper (2024)

May 21, 2024

This cold, crunchy broccoli salad—studded with crisp bacon, diced red onion and chewy raisins, then tossed in a creamy homemade dressing—is what all of your summer party dreams are made of.

Pairs Well With Barbecues, Pool Parties and Sparklers.

Need a great picnic food idea? Broccoli salad is pure retro, cold salad comfort food, just waiting for you to bring it to your next summer party! Sure, it’s coated in a (delicious) mayonnaise-based dressing—what summer salad isn’t? Looking at you, macaroni salad! —but it’s made with broccoli instead of macaroni or potatoes, so you can go ahead and pile those paper plates high with this bacon-y, onion-y easy broccoli salad.

What Is in Broccoli Salad?

Broccoli salad could also be called broccoli slaw, since it’s very similar to cole slaw in that it features a raw vegetable from the brassica family, tossed in a creamy, mayo-based dressing. Our easy broccoli salad recipe is classic, through and through! You’ll need:

• Raw broccoli florets. Yep, no need to blanch broccoli for this salad. No-cook summer salads FTW!
• Bacon. Cooked until crispy, then minced.
• Raw red onion, also minced.
• Sunflower seeds, for crunch. Look for the unsalted kind.
• Raisins. Sounds weird, but their hint of sweetness and toothsome chewiness is a great foil for the super-crunch of the raw broccoli.

How To Make Broccoli Salad Dressing:

Traditional broccoli salad dressing is just creamy, mayonnaise-y perfection and we’re not about to stray from that sweet-tangy goodness. We start with store-bought mayo, and add both cider vinegar and fresh lemon juice for lots of tangy brightness. A bit of sugar and salt to balance it all out, and that’s all there is to homemade broccoli salad dressing.

How To Make Broccoli Salad:

This cold broccoli salad is the best thing ever—it knocks other cold summer salads out of the park, because there’s basically no cooking required. Here’s how to whip up the best broccoli salad ever:

1. Chop chop chop! Chop the broccoli into small, bite-sized florets, mince the onion and cooked bacon.
2. Mix up your homemade broccoli salad dressing in the bottom of a large bowl.
3. Toss everything together until the salad is well dressed, and refrigerate for an hour. This last step is really important—if you’re super pressed for time, it is OK to skip it, but the salad really benefits from a little time in the fridge to let its sweet, savory, creamy flavors mingle and harmonize.

What Pairs With Broccoli Salad?

From picnics in the park to backyard cookouts and everything in between, this broccoli salad recipe is one that we turn to anytime we’re invited to a summer party. It’s cold, crunchy, creamy and satisfying—plus, it’s a great way to sneak a green vegetable onto that chip-and-burger covered gingham table. Try pairing it with:

• These juicy, pineapple pulled pork sandwiches.
• A classic cheeseburger.
• And, of course, it’s not summer until there arehot dogs on the grill.

Tools You’ll Need:

• Sharp knife.
• Large bowl for mixing and serving.

The Best Broccoli Salad Ever?

Did you love it? How’d it turn out?! We want to know! Snap a photo of your broccoli salad and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!