Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe – with Video
A deli classic, made easier on the waistline! You’ll love this healthy broccoli salad, it’s an absolute crowd pleaser at any barbecue. And don’t worry, it still has bacon!
I don’t know who first decided to combine raw broccoli, bacon, onions, and raisins in a creamy mayonnaise dressing, but I’m not mad about it. It’s been done a million different ways since its creation, but I obviously wanted to create a healthy broccoli salad since the original version is on the heavy side (especially for a salad!).
But don’t worry, since my philosophy is everything in moderation (except popcorn), I didn’t ditch the bacon. I didn’t even use turkey bacon because I’ll be honest, I don’t really like the stuff. I like turkey sausage, ground turkey, turkey breasts, turkey tenders, turkey tenderloin, whole turkey, but I just can’t force myself to like turkey bacon. I just can’t! It’s not the same. Bacon to me is a treat, not an everyday thing, so I go ahead and splurge on the real thing. There’s truly nothing like it.
PS: I know this would have been a really super duper great recipe to publish before the 4th of July, buuuut you know how it goes. Thankfully there is plenty of summertime left for barbeques and picnics.
I kept this pretty true to the classic salad you find in grocery stores. Red onions (even though we’re not huge raw onion fans — read on for my tips on that), crispy bacon, chewy raisins. They all bring their own unique quality to the salad and the combination is a homerun every time.
Tips for this Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe:
- If you soak the chopped onions in ice water for about 30 minutes before adding them to the salad, it takes the bite out of them and makes their flavor less strong. They are a great addition to this salad even if you think you don’t love raw onions!
- I loooove these jumbo raisins. You can use any old raisins but these add a special something and are extra chewy and juicy.
- I love the flavor that the celery salt adds. It’s a little drift from the classic deli-style broccoli salad, but try it, and I bet you’ll love it too.
Want more picnic-perfect salads? Try these:
Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe
A deli classic, made easier on the waistline! You’ll love this healthy broccoli salad, and don’t worry, it still has bacon.
Ingredients:
- 6 heaping cups coarsely chopped fresh broccoli – about 3 crowns or one large head
- 1/4 cup diced red onion (about 1/2 large red onion) – see note
- 1/2 cup crumbled or chopped cooked bacon
- 1 cup raisins (I like jumbo raisins)
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed (not celery salt!)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, onion, bacon, and raisins.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together dressing ingredients: yogurt, honey, vinegar, pepper, salt, and celery seed. Taste and add salt and pepper to season as you like.
- Pour dressing over broccoli and stir to combine until all broccoli is coated with dressing.
- For best flavor, refrigerate for at least one hour and stir again before serving.
Note: If you soak the chopped onions in ice water for about 30 minutes before adding them to the salad, it takes the bite out of them and makes their flavor less strong.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 8 servings, Serving Size: 1 of 8
- Amount Per Serving:
- Calories: 169 Calories
- Total Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Cholesterol: 11mg
- Sodium: 273mg
- Carbohydrates: 39g
- Fiber: 5g
- Sugar: 18g
- Protein: 9g
Verdict: I love this healthy broccoli salad — along with roasted broccoli, it’s one of my favorite ways to eat the little trees.
Husband’s take: Ben loved this! He still picked around the red onions, but he said, “I ate one by accident and they weren’t too bad.”
Changes I would make: None!
Difficulty: Easy!
Hi, I'm Rachel! This site features a wide variety of recipes with one common thread: easy preparations. I love creating accessible and delicious food that will please the whole family. Hope you enjoy! (
This was a really good recipe that was easy to make! I’m vegan, so I left out the bacon, and added chopped pecans instead. I also used Silk Cultured Coconut in place of the yogurt. It was fabulous!
I’m so glad to hear it! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment with your adaptations!
I’m making this for Easter. Super excited. I know you got a little push-back about the bacon, but I’m with you. Thanks for the recipe!!
Bacon for life! ;) I joked the other day that a certain cookie flavor changed my life and my son (he’s six) said: “A food can’t change your life! Except that one time when I tried bacon.” I agree with him. I hope you love this salad!
Actually pork is an unclean meat because of the way the pig digests its food. Read…The Makers Diet. He explains why we shouldn’t eat pork. Plus pohs are actually very intelligent animals.
I don’t know how this salad can be described as “healthy” when it includes bacon, a known carcinogenic. It is also a product that causes horrible animal suffering. This salad is perfectly nice without it !
You are welcome to leave the bacon out of this recipe if eating it doesn’t fit in well with your beliefs.
Uncured, pasture raised and humanely butchered bacon is actually a healthy source of protein/fat.
Very true! Everything in moderation, right? :)
I totally agree with you. It is also not a clean meat because of the way a pig digests their food. They are intelligent animals also and scream when being butchered.
Broccoli salad is my love language!!! This looks so good!
Thank you!!!
“Don’t worry, it still has bacon!” LOL! This looks incredible!
Life without bacon is not a life I want to live. ;)