Easy Creamy Broccoli Salad with Bacon

Easy broccoli salad recipe with bacon, cranberries, red onion, and a zesty dressing made with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar. Jump to the Broccoli Salad Recipe with Bacon or read on to see our tips for making it.

Crisp raw broccoli is tossed with bacon, dried cranberries, red onion and a zesty dressing made with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar. So simple and outrageously delicious!

For another broccoli packed salad, try our broccoli slaw with sunflower seeds and dried fruit.

Making broccoli salad

This recipe started with a faint memory of something my Mom would make when I was a child. Raw broccoli, a lightly sweetened mayo-based dressing, bacon and cheese.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of vegetables as a child, but I do remember loving her broccoli salad.

Here’s our version with broccoli, red onion, mayonnaise (instead of a sweetened version, ours is doctored up with zesty mustard), bacon and instead of cheese, we throw in a handful of dried cranberries. Not that cheese would be a bad idea, though!

I love the salty crunch of bacon in this salad. We bake our bacon — it is hands-off, takes around 15 minutes and, if you use a foil-lined pan, is less messy than making it on the stovetop. If you are meat-free, try some salty almonds instead.

Don’t Throw Away Broccoli Stems

When I first started cooking for myself, whenever it came to chopping up broccoli, I’d slam my knife down just below the crown and throw away the stem. Thankfully someone, somewhere down the line set me straight. Broccoli stems are excellent — especially in this salad.

We actually save and roast broccoli stems all the time. Take a look at our favorite oven roasted vegetables recipe that includes broccoli stems!

The end of the stem — let’s say about half-an-inch from the bottom is probably going to be too hardy and woody. Cut that off and discard, you won’t be needing that for the salad. The rest of the stem is usable. Depending on how hardy the stem is, it might be a good idea to run a vegetable peeler up and down the stem to remove the outer (sometimes tough) layer. Then, chop into small pieces.

More broccoli recipes

• Seriously Good Broccoli Coleslaw
• Cheddar Baked Broccoli
• The Ultimate Guide for Roasting Broccoli
• 30 Minute Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

Recipe updated, originally posted February 2015. Since posting this in 2015, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne