Broccoli Cranberry Salad
Elevate your holiday table with our tasty Broccoli Cranberry Salad. This easy side dish can be made ahead for your convenience, featuring smoky bacon, sweet cranberries, and crunchy walnuts.
Suitable for gluten-free diets. Post includes Weight Watchers points.
The holiday season is known for indulgence, and veggies tend to take a back seat to gravy, bread, cream-laden recipes, and sweets. Luckily, this Broccoli Cranberry Salad is a healthy recipe that is chock full of delicious seasonal flavors.
This broccoli salad recipe is not only simple to prepare; it’s full of goodness. The flavor combination of bacon, cheese, and cranberries makes it feel like a special treat, but it’s still loaded with freshness, vitamins, and minerals. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a heavy holiday meal.
Moreover, broccoli cranberry bacon salad can be prepped in advance and doesn’t need to be reheated. Pair this simple yet flavorful salad with my Christmas Chicken along with a White Cheddar Mac and Cheese for an easy but impressive Thanksgiving meal or Christmas dinner.
Yeap, holiday cooking just got easier thanks to this delicious dish. And why not whip up this easy Christmas Fruit Salad or these easy Easy Yeast Rolls and make your holiday meal prep even more stress-free?!
Why Make This Broccoli Cranberry Salad Recipe
- Fresh and Flavorful Dressing – The great dressing on this delicious salad adds so much flavor to simple, fresh ingredients.
- Easy to Prepare – Prepare this broccoli side dish in just minutes and serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Colorful – The green of the broccoli and purplish red of the cranberries is a perfect compliment for Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving.
- Kid-Friendly – Kids are sometimes hesitant to eat their greens, but adding bacon, cheese, and cranberries makes this recipe enticing to even the pickiest eater. It is one of my favorite recipes; the entire family loves it, so it’s a win-win! Plus, it’s gluten-free.
Ingredient Notes
For the Salad:
- Broccoli – Use fresh, raw broccoli florets cut into bite-sized pieces. You can also add cauliflower, but we love broccoli as it tastes delicious.
- Cheese – Diced or shredded gouda cheese or substitute your favorite cheese.
- Dried Cranberries – You can also substitute dried cherries, raisins, or golden raisins.
- Onion – Use diced red onion because it is sweet and works well in raw applications.
- Bacon – Cooked and cut into pieces. Diced chicken breast also works well if you want to make it a filling dinner.
- Walnuts – Chop in half or into bite-sized pieces. You can also use pecans.
For the Dressing:
- Mayonnaise – Use your favorite brand of mayo. Substitute light mayo if preferred.
- Sour Cream – Substitute low-fat sour cream if preferred.
- Garlic Powder – If substituting garlic salt, omit the additional salt in their recipe.
- Salt – to taste.
- Vinegar – White wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even lemon juice adds a tanginess to the dressing.
- Honey – Optionally, add a bit of honey, maple syrup, or sugar for sweetness.
Ready to learn how to make this festive and flavorful broccoli cranberry salad? Then gather up your ingredients, and I will show you…
Handy Tip: Use Good Kitchen Tools!
For the best tools to help make your recipe even easier and more successful, check out my collection of the Best Kitchen Tools on Amazon.
How To Make Broccoli Salad With Cranberries
Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
- Bring a pot of water to boiling.
- Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, and transfer into a bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Pour the dressing over the broccoli.
- Toss the broccoli in the dressing and let rest for 5 minutes for it to absorb the dressing.
- Add the cheese, cranberries, bacon, and walnuts (or sunflower seeds), and mix well.
- Serve immediately or chill for a few hours.
Expert Tips For Broccoli Cranberry Bacon Salad
- Use just the florets and omit the stalks.
- Some broccoli salad calls for broccoli to be steamed. Just a quick blanch is all that is needed for this cranberry salad recipe.
- Combine the dressing in a separate small bowl.
- Taste the dressing for seasoning before adding it to the broccoli mixture, and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- This salad is an excellent recipe for your holiday table but can be enjoyed all year round.
- You can serve this salad right away, but making it at least one hour in advance lets all the flavors bloom.
- If making ahead, add the crumbled bacon just before serving.
- This broccoli cranberry salad should be served cold.
- This makes a great side dish for your weeknight dinner, potlucks, or a Thanksgiving feast.
- Check out some of my favorite things to use to make this recipe. Do you have any of these instead.
Delicious Variations on Cranberry Broccoli Salad
- Swap the Onions – Red onion is perfect for raw applications, but you can use sweet onion, shallot, or green onions if preferred.
- Swap the Nuts – Use chopped pecans if desired. If you have a nut allergy, consider using sunflower seeds.
- Make it Sweeter – Add a bit of honey, maple syrup, or sugar to the dressing for a bit of added sweetness.
- Add More Crunch – Add pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds for even more crunchiness to your broccoli salad.
- Make It Tangy – Swap the gouda cheese for crumbled blue cheese for an extra tangy version of this cranberry salad recipe.
Prep And Storage
- Prep Ahead – Make this broccoli cranberry salad recipe up to 24 hours in advance. Stir in the bacon when ready to enjoy it.
- Storage – Keep leftovers in an airtight container inside the fridge for 3 days.
- Freeze – Freezing this recipe is not recommended.
FAQs For Cranberry Broccoli Salad
You should use fresh broccoli for this salad. This recipes calls for fresh broccoli that has been blanched. Frozen broccoli is not recommended, as it will be too wet and mushy .
To make this salad healthier, swap the mayonnaise and sour cream for light or low-fat versions. You can also substitute it with plain Greek yogurt.
You can make this broccoli cranberry bacon in advance. Prepare the salad up to 24 hours in advance and store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. For the best results, add the bacon just before serving.
Kept in an airtight container, broccoli salad will last in the fridge for 3 days.
To blanch broccoli, simply boil the florets for 1-2 minutes until they turn bright green. Immediately plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Yes, you can eat broccoli raw in a salad! It adds a pleasant crunch, a vibrant green color, and a slightly peppery flavor to your salads. However, keep in mind that it might be a bit tough and have a more pronounced flavor compared to when it is cooked, so for this recipe, we like to blanche it.
Similar Recipes
Serve Broccoli Cranberry Bacon Salad With:
- Air Fryer Ham for an easy take on a Christmas dinner classic.
- Air Fryer Stuffing is a must-have holiday side dish.
- Air Fryer Turkey Legs are a perfect accompaniment to this salad.
- The flavors of broccoli salad complement tasty Air Fryer Sweet Potato Cubes.
- Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce – a true staple for any holiday meal.
Recommended Tools
- Get the best saucepans for even cooking.
- You need a sharp knife for all that cutting and dicing.
- For the best tools to help make your recipe even easier and more successful, check out my collection of the Best Kitchen Tools on Amazon.
Weight Watchers Points
There are 13 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
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Broccoli Cranberry Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 pound (453g) Broccoli cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup (118g) Gouda cheese diced
- ¾ cup (65g) Dried cranberries
- ½ cup (26g) Diced red onion
- 6 slices Bacon cooked and cut into pieces
- ½ cup (50g) Walnuts
Dressing:
- ½ cup (115g) Mayonnaise
- ½ cup (115g) Sour cream
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons White wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- Honey optional
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boiling.
- Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain and transfer into a bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Pour the dressing over the broccoli.
- Toss the broccoli in the dressing and let rest for 5 minutes for it to absorb the dressing.
- Add the cheese, cranberries, bacon and walnuts and mix well.
- Serve immediately or chill for a few hours before serving.
Video
Notes
- Use just the broccoli florets and omit the stalks.
- Some broccoli salads call for broccoli to be steamed. Just a quick blanch is all that is needed for the broccoli in this recipe.
- Combine the dressing in a separate small bowl.
- Taste the dressing for seasoning before adding it to the broccoli mixture and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- This salad is a great recipe for your holiday table but can be enjoyed all year round.
- You can serve this salad right away but making it at least one hour in advance lets all the flavors bloom.
- If making ahead, add the crumbled bacon just before serving.
- Serve cold.
- This makes a great side dish for your weeknight dinner.
- Storage – keep in an airtight container inside the fridge for up to 3 days.
- There are 13 WW Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
