This is a favorite salad for my family when we all gather. In fact, my brother often requests it, and I love it because it’s a great way to use up fresh produce I have in the fridge. I also think it’s a great quick meal prep option as a veggie side for the week, since it lasts a long time in the fridge.
Recipe Highlights
This healthy broccoli salad was one of our first viral recipes. Here are a few reasons why it has remained so popular throughout the years:
- With no cooking required, the prep time is minimal, and the total time is under an hour
- Made with veggies, fruit, seeds, feta cheese, and a homemade salad dressing, it’s a hearty salad recipe that makes it easy to meet your daily veggie and fiber intake
- You can easily mix and match different ingredients to suit a variety of flavor preferences and dietary needs, and I love to use it as a way to clean out my fridge
- One of my favorite meal prep recipes, the flavors of this salad taste even better the next day. I like to prep a big batch and enjoy it as a quick addition to my lunches and dinners throughout the week
- The crisp texture and sweet and savory flavors are always a hit, and it’s a popular potluck side dish that has hundreds of five-star reviews
5-Star Reviews
Here are what some of our readers are saying about this popular broccoli salad:
- Delicious! I tried several recipes from your website and each one has been a winner with our family. Thank you for all the great ideas for meals! ~ Jo
- Love this recipe. Easy to prep and have ready, great for cookouts. Plus broccoli and cauliflower are great for hormones and liver health! ~ Laura
- I didn’t have cauliflower so I used all broccoli. This salad was delicious along with the dressing! It was hard to stop eating it! Everyone enjoyed it and everyone had seconds! Thank you for such a great and tasty salad!! ~ Palette
Health Benefits
Not only is this apple broccoli cauliflower salad tasty, but it’s also extremely nutritious thanks to the antioxidant and fiber-rich ingredients like broccoli, cauliflower, and apple. Fresh broccoli is also a naturally hydrating food, which could be why this salad is always so satisfying to serve in the summer.
The additions of cranberries and nuts provide heart health benefits, as does the olive oil-based dressing.
Ingredient Highlight: Cauliflower
Not only is it extremely versatile and tasty, but cauliflower is also full of health benefits. For instance, cauliflower is:
- A versatile low-carb alternative to grains and legumes
- An excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, and potassium
- Rich in choline and sulforaphane
- A good source of fiber
Make It Allergy-Friendly
One of my favorite things about this salad is how versatile it can be, making it great for every occasion. Feel free to mix and match different ingredients to suit all your dietary needs. Some easy ways to switch it up include:
- Using cashews, pecans, or sunflower seeds in place of the almonds
- Omitting the feta cheese to keep it dairy-free
- Replacing the mayo with Greek yogurt for an egg-free and lower-fat option
Using maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing, using an egg-free mayo, and plant-based cheese (or omitting the feta) will keep it vegan.
How To Store
I love to prepare a big batch of this broccoli cauliflower salad recipe at once. Stored in an airtight container or covered bowl, it will stay fresh for up to 4 days in the fridge. Just give the ingredients a good toss to redistribute before serving. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe, because it doesn’t thaw well and is likely to become soggy.
Try It With These Pairings
I love to pair this salad with a light protein source for a filling meal. Shredded chicken, homemade chicken nuggets, grilled salmon kabobs, and grilled shrimp are some of my favorite options. However, it’s also great with a light pasta dinner such as zucchini pasta carbonara.
And don’t forget to add a refreshing beverage like a watermelon mojito, or some blackberry lime prosecco cocktails, or even a glass of wine to balance out the flavors of the raw broccoli florets and cauliflower! No matter how you serve it, you really can’t go wrong. It’s always a crowd-pleasing dish that’s perfect for everything from weeknight meals to weekend cookouts and family gatherings.
Tip! Prep Ahead
You can easily prep this salad a day in advance. To do so, toss the diced apples in a little lemon juice before adding them to a large bowl. Then, combine all the salad ingredients except for the almonds. Add the almonds and dressing to the bowl about half an hour before serving, and toss to combine and coat the ingredients.
Video: Making Apple Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
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Apple Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
Add more veggies to your plate with this Apple Broccoli Cauliflower Salad that’s tossed in a creamy, lemony garlic dressing.
Ingredients
- 4 – 5 cups broccoli florets, chopped into bites size pieces (10–12 ounce bag)
- 2 ½ –3 cups cauliflower florets, chopped into bite size pieces (10-ounce bag)
- 1 medium apple, diced (1 ½ – 2 cups)
- ½ small red onion, diced (½ cup)
- 2 celery ribs, diced (½ cup)
- 2–3 green onion, thinly sliced (1/3 cup)
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled (omit for dairy-free or Whole30)
- ½ cup lightly salted roasted almonds, roughly chopped (may substitute walnuts, pecans, or sunflower seed for nut free, etc.)
For the dressing:
- ¾ cup mayo (use egg-free mayo for vegan)
- ¼ cup olive oil or avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 2 teaspoons honey (use maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dressing: in a small bowl combine the mayo, oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients – broccoli, cauliflower, apple, red onion, celery, green onion, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and almonds or walnuts.
- Add the dressing to the large bowl and toss until well combined. Let salad sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow veggies to marinate in the dressing (optional step but recommended)
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
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Notes
You are able to prep this salad a day in advance. How: Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl except for the almonds. Toss the apple in a little lemon juice before adding it to the bowl. About half an hour before serving, add the almonds and the dressing to the bowl and toss until everything is coated and well combined.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/10 of recipe (1 cup)
- Calories: 275
- Fat: 22 g
- (Sat Fat: 3.5 g)
- Sodium: 315 mg
- Carbohydrate: 17 g
- (Fiber: 3 g
- Sugar: 11 g)
- Protein: 4 g
Dietary
The photos in this post were taken by Megan McKeehan.
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Great salad with a different spin! Really enjoyed this and will add it to my list to keep. I made extra dressing to have on the side.
Excellent
Thanks so much Kathy!
Terrific fresh crunchy salad! The family loved it
Great Lu! Thank you for the feedback and 5-star review. We love this salad during the fall apple season!
This recipe looks amazing ! I do need to adjust dressing for a friend who cannot have garlic . Will it be ok wo? Is there a spice that you would use as a substitute it just leave it out and call it and call it a day? Thank u!
You could definitely leave it out and this will still be delicious and flavorful!