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My family loves this salad. It’s a great side dish for almost any meal. One of my go-to salads to take to BBQs and outings in the summer. It is very similar to the Broccoli salad served at the Walmart deli counter, but you control what goes into it.
The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of sugar, it was way too sweet for my taste and I cut the amount in half for this recipe. Feel free to taste the dressing before mixing it into the salad and add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter.
I usually make it lower carb by using a sugar substitute. I kept sugar in the recipe below but you can definitely use a sugar substitute and no one will know. If you are going for a low-carb salad, you can leave out the raisins or find sugar-free dried cranberries to use as a sub.
You will need a 12 oz to 1 pound package of bacon cooked and crumbled, I cook mine in the oven while chopping all of the vegetables. See my Oven Baked Bacon recipe for reference.
A pound of broccoli should yield approximately 6 cups when chopped. Buy more if you don’t plan on using all of the stalks in the salad.
A medium to large onion should equal 1/2 to 3/4 cup when chopped. I prefer to use a mild red onion for color or a sweeter onion for a better flavor such as Walla Walla or Vidalia.
I have made this with several different kinds of vinegar. It calls for white wine vinegar, but I’ve made it with plain white vinegar and received the same results. I’ve also made it with apple cider vinegar, balsamic, and flavored wine vinegar. It’s been good with all of them, so feel free to change it up.
Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups chopped fresh broccoli
- 1 package bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup golden raisins
- ½ chopped onion
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sugar (or sugar substitute)
- 2 Tbs white wine vinegar (or plain white vinegar)
Instructions
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar to create the dressing.
- In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cooked bacon, chopped onion, raisins, and sunflower seeds.
- Pour dressing over the broccoli mixture, and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Tastes better after a few hours when the flavors have time to meld.
