This Broccoli Salad is a delicious and light side dish for any meal or gathering. A wonderful balance of crunchy, sweet, and savory it’s the perfect dish to make ahead of time.
Whenever it starts to warm up, I’m always looking for foods that cool me down. Salads, fruits, vegetables, popsicles, anything I can get my hands on, I’ll try it for the sake of keeping cool! One of my favorite dishes to prepare that cools me off whenever I’m going to cook on the grill for family and friends is this broccoli salad.
It’s a side dish I can make and keep it in the refrigerator until everything is off the grill and ready to eat. It’s cool, crisp, and refreshing. With simple ingredients like broccoli, green onions, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, and a light, tangy dressing, it’s packed full of flavor and a real treat to enjoy under the patio umbrella while eating delicious pork ribs and drinking lemonade!
Ingredients For This Recipe
The ingredients you will be using are:
- Broccoli – You can use a 1 pound bag of pre-cut broccoli to help save time on the cutting board. Buying a head of broccoli is usually less expensive and works just as great.
- Cheddar Cheese – Freshly grated cheddar cheese tastes best in this dish. A thick grated cheese will hold up longer than finely grated cheese. You can use prepackaged cheese to save time, but the flavor and texture will be better if you use the block.
- Bacon – A high quality, thick cut bacon is best in this salad. You can use bacon bits from the store but it won’t compare to the flavor and texture that real bacon adds. Want to make this dish vegetarian? Simply leave out the bacon.
- Green Onion – thinly sliced green onions add the perfect amount of flavor without creating an overpowering taste of onion.
- Dressing – This dressing is made with mayonnaise, sugar, and white vinegar. It is very simple to make and gives this broccoli salad it’s delicious bite.
How To Prepare Broccoli Salad
Start by preparing your bacon in a skillet. Over medium heat, cook seven slices of bacon until they’re evenly brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the skillet once it has browned and let it cool completely on a paper towel. Once the bacon has completely cooled, crumble it into bits.
While the bacon is cooling, rinse your broccoli florets, chop them into bite sized pieces, and set aside. I prefer to have small florets of broccoli in this dish. Having large florets of broccoli makes it more difficult to fully coat each piece with the dressing and could leave you with a mouth full of broccoli and no other ingredients on your utensil when you take a bite. Who wants that?
Next, finely chop the green onions on a cutting board and set aside. Now it’s time to get cheesey…insert dad joke here! You can use any cheese for this dish but I like a sharp cheddar cheese as I find it pairs best with the rest of the ingredients. Whatever cheese you decide to use, I would suggest using a thick grated over a thin or finely shredded cheese. Finely shredded cheese may be too small to taste and can fall apart when stirring the dish. It’s all about the presentation!
This last ingredient is the one that really ties this broccoli salad together, the dressing. It’s super simple to make and adds the signature flavor that is unforgettable. Simply whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Finally, combine all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir until all of the florets are coated with dressing. Serve immediately or let it set in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. If you are making ahead of time, this broccoli salad will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
What Does Broccoli Salad Go With?
This broccoli salad recipe is a delicious side dish that can go with just about any main entree. A few of my favorites to serve it along side are:
Recipe Variations
Want to add even more flavor? Try adding some of these delicious add in’s:
- 1/2 cup of Dried Cranberries (Craisins)
- 1/2 cup of Raisins
- 1/2 cup of Sunflower Seeds
- 3/4 cup of Chopped Pecans
Other Sides You May Enjoy
Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound Broccoli
- ¾ cup Bacon about 7 strips
- ¾ cup Green Onions
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons White Vinegar
- ⅓ cup Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash the broccoli and slice the florets into small pieces.
- Cook 7 pieces of bacon. Let cool completely and crumble into bits.
- Finely chop the green onions and set aside. Grate the cheddar cheese and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the broccoli, green onions, bacon bits, and grated cheese.
- In a seperate mixing bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper until well combined.
- Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir until well combined. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
- Wait until your bacon is completely cool before crumbling it. If it's still warm it may melt the cheese.
- If you want to make this recipe even easier, you can use pre-cooked bacon or pre-made bacon bits and pre-grated cheese.
- Want to make this dish vegetarian? Simply leave out the bacon!
- Broccoli Salad will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Delicious!