This crunchy, colorful and super delicious broccoli apple salad comes together in under 20 minutes. Make this sweet and savory salad for your fall or holiday table. It’s great for picnics and potlucks too (paleo, gluten-free, vegan)
If you are someone who loves a good salad, then here are some more delicious Salad options for you – Cranberry Chicken Salad, Watermelon Feta Salad, Traditional Greek Salad, Ramen Noodle Salad, Kale Mango Salad, and Cucumber Avocado Salad.
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About This Recipe
Broccoli Apple Salad is a delicious and super healthy salad with sweet and savory flavors. It’s crunchy, colorful, and comes together in under 20 minutes.
The classic Southern Broccoli and Apple Salad has a creamy mayonnaise-based dressing, but to give this salad a healthy twist, I made a light apple cider vinegar dressing which paired perfectly well with the salad.
I have shared the creamy mayonnaise-based dressing in the post too. So choose which one you want to go for.
This salad is great for your fall or holiday table. It is also perfect to make for lunch boxes, potlucks, or picnics. It can be made ahead as the ingredients that go into it do not become soggy for quite some time.
Broccoli Apple Salad is super healthy and nutritious. The sweetness of the apples and honey perfectly balances the bitterness of the broccoli.
Make this nutritious broccoli salad any time for any meal and you are sure to feel wholesome. It is vegan, paleo, gluten-free, and very diet-friendly. Mark it up on your menu then? Here’s my recipe for making this salad at home:
This Broccoli Apple Salad is,
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Paleo
- Dairy-Free
- Make ahead
- Healthy
- Low Carb
- Without Mayonnaise
- Easy & simple to make
Ingredients
Apples – Use red sweet apples like gala, honey crisp, or fuji as they are sweet and juicy and taste great in this salad. You can also use green apples if you like their sour taste. You don’t have to peel the apples for this salad.
Broccoli – Cut the broccoli into small bite size florets.
Dried Cranberries – These add a nice chewy texture along with a sweet tangy taste. You can use raisins in place of cranberries.
Toasted Pecans – Pecans add a nice crunch or bite to the salad. You can replace pecans with almonds, cashew nuts, or walnuts.
For Dressing – To enhance the flavor of this simple salad, you will need a light dressing that will instantly oomph up the taste. For the dressing, you will need ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.
You can use orange juice and orange zest instead of lemon in the salad. Honey adds a nice sweetness. But if you are looking for a vegan version, go for maple syrup instead.
Others – You can add cheese like blue cheese or feta to the salad as they will pair beautifully with the other ingredients.
How to make Broccoli Apple Salad?
Toast the pecans in a pan over medium heat until crisp (3-4 minutes). Chop and set them aside.
Wash a medium head of broccoli and cut it into small bite-size florets. Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tsp salt and broccoli florets to the boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat. Do not overcook otherwise the broccoli will become mushy.
While the broccoli is cooking, keep a large bowl full of ice-cold water ready. Drain the broccoli and transfer it to the pot with ice-cold water to stop the cooking. Let the broccoli rest in ice-cold water for 2 minutes. Then drain and set aside.
Mix the dressing ingredients that are 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp lemon zest, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp honey, or maple syrup, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Add the cooked broccoli, 2 cups of cored and diced apples, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup chopped onions, ½ cup diced carrots, and ½ cup chopped roasted pecans to the bowl and toss everything well.
Chill the salad for 1-2 hours and serve cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stir together ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt, ¼ cup full-fat mayonnaise, 1-½ tbsp apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp honey, and salt to taste in a bowl. Pour in dressing over the salad and toss until evenly coated.
The ingredients in this salad are mostly raw and will not wilt even after a few hours of making it. However, I suggest packing the dressing in a separate bottle and mix it with the salad once you are ready to eat.
If you are making a creamy yogurt or mayonnaise dressing, then you can mix it in advance too.
I prefer sweet and juicy apples like Red Delicious, Gala, or Fuji over sour ones like Granny Smith to make this salad.
You can try a mix of sweet red apples and sour green apples if you wish to. Make sure to choose fresh and firm apples to make this salad. Their crunch is what makes this salad extra special.
All the ingredients in this Broccoli and Apple Salad are vegan, except honey. So to add some sweetness to the dressing, you can substitute honey with maple syrup.
Dressing Variations
I have made healthy olive oil and vinegar-based dressing for this salad, however, you can also use the following ingredients to make the dressing or in the salad.
- Greek Yogurt – Use ¼ cup for dressing. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to it for a great healthy creamy dressing.
- Mayonnaise – The classic Southern Broccoli Apple Salad uses mayonnaise in the dressing. I am not a big mayonnaise fan, but if it’s your thing, go ahead and use it in the salad.
- Sour Cream – Sour Cream is a great replacement for greek yogurt or mayonnaise. You can even use a mix of these creamy ingredients.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing – This is my fav all-purpose salad dressing and goes well in all the salads.
- Tahini Dressing – Looking for something different and earthy in this salad. Then Tahini Dressing is your thing.
- Crispy Bacon – Crispy Bacon on anything is good, right!
- Roasted Walnuts or Pecans – I like some crunch in my salad and what better than some roasted crunchy pecans or walnuts. You can even use cashew nuts, walnuts, or sunflower seeds for the crunch.
- Cheese – A fresh grating of parmesan cheese works great in this salad. Blue cheese and Feta cheese also pairs well with the other salad ingredients.
- Lettuce – I haven’t added lettuce or any other salad greens in this recipe but you can totally do. Cabbage is a great option too.
- Fruits – Feel free to add fruits other than apples to this recipe. Mango, avocado, strawberry is what’s coming to my mind right now. But be creative and choose what you like.
- Beetroot – Boiled or roasted beetroot will work great along with broccoli and apples. Give it a try.
- And do try roasting the broccoli instead of blanching it. It will be a very new taste profile and a very tasty one, I bet.
Serving Suggestions
Broccoli and apple salad tastes best when chilled.
Serve this salad on its own for a light dinner or snack on it whenever the hunger strikes. You can also pack it for your lunch box, bring it to a picnic or a potluck.
Serve this salad on the side with some soups such as Pumpkin Curry Soup, Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Cream Of Mushroom Soup.
Storage Suggestions
This salad needs to be refrigerated for hours for the flavors to marry each other. It also keeps good for 18-24 hours in the refrigerator. After that, it will start to wilt and taste will change.
If you feel that the salad is extra, then store the salad and dressing separately and mix while serving.
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Recipe Card
Broccoli Apple Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium head broccoli
- 2 cups cored and diced apples
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ½ cup chopped roasted pecans
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon feshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Toast the pecans in a pan over medium heat until crisp (3-4 minutes). Chop and set them aside.
- Wash a medium head of broccoli and cut it into small bite-size florets. Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tsp salt and broccoli florets to the boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat. Do not overcook otherwise the broccoli will become mushy.
- While the broccoli is cooking, keep a large bowl full of ice-cold water ready. Drain the broccoli and transfer it to the pot with ice-cold water to stop the cooking. Let the broccoli rest in ice-cold water for 2 minutes. Then drain and set aside.
- Mix the dressing ingredients that are 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp lemon zest, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp honey, or maple syrup, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cooked broccoli, 2 cups of cored and diced apples, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup chopped onions, ½ cup diced carrots and ½ cup chopped roasted pecans to the bowl and toss everything well.
- Chill the salad for 1-2 hours and serve cold.
Notes
- Greek Yogurt – Use ¼ cup for dressing. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to it for a great healthy creamy dressing.
- Mayonnaise – The classic Southern Broccoli Apple Salad uses mayonnaise in the dressing. I am not a big mayonnaise fan, but if it’s your thing, go ahead and use it in the salad.
- Sour Cream – Sour Cream is a great replacement for greek yogurt or mayonnaise. You can even use a mix of these creamy ingredients.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing – This is my fav all-purpose salad dressing and goes well in all the salads.
- Tahini Dressing – Looking for something different and earthy in this salad. Then Tahini Dressing is your thing.
- Crispy Bacon – Crispy Bacon on anything is good, right!
- Roasted Walnuts or Pecans – I like some crunch in my salad and what better than some roasted crunchy pecans or walnuts. You can even use cashew nuts, walnuts, or sunflower seeds for the crunch.
