Broccoli Salad Recipe (2024)

I have been making popular salad with unsweetened dried cranberries and chopped nuts or pepitas, apples, whatever. BUT I give brocolli a quick par boil, holding onto intact stems with a few seconds dipped in boiling water. Brightens and tenderizes but not cooked. Then chop up crowns only roughy. Save stems for future.

I love this recipe, and suggest adding a pinch or two of smoked paprika to allude to bacon.

I toast almond, hazelnuts etc in the microwave. No need to heat the oven for a handful of nuts.

I agree that the broccoli should be steamed up a bit first and that more dressing would be helpful and added to the warm broccoli. I used the florets as well. I also added garlic to the dressing, just because. It was very good, very fast and very fresh. Husband loved it; had it for dinner and for breakfast

If you love the traditional version of this salad with bacon, I would suggest making vegan bacon bits using Bob’s Red Mill coconut flakes. There is a sensational Bacon Bits recipe on the back of the bag. Follow exactly as written including the tossing every few min in oven. YUM!!!

We really enjoyed this! I used pre-cut broccoli florets which I think may be a little more voluminous than incorporating the occasional stem - I wish I had multiplied the dressing by 1.5. That said, it made plenty of salad for the two of us, and I look forward to eating it again tomorrow night. We did dried cranberries and sunflower seeds by the way, but I think pepitas would have been even better!

Added a few shakes of red pepper flakes to dressing. Letting it sit really helped flavors come together and soften broccoli. Will make again.

It is not clear to me what is meant by sesame oil: toasted (more common in stores, strong sesame flavor) or untoasted (less common, mild sesame flavor). So I followed the recipe but instead of using 1 tablespoon of (unspecified) sesame oil I used 1 teaspoon of toasted oil. The result was perfect. 1 tablespoon would have been way too much.

This was delicious. Used honey in place of sugar and followed everything else as written. Amazing flavor and healthy too!

Excellent. My tweaks were based on comments from other cooks here: I lightly steamed the broccoli, while still in large pieces, then quickly rinsed in cold water to stop the cooking and drained; eliminated the sugar [yep, plenty sweet enough due to the apple cider vinegar]; had currants so used currants. Sprinkled w flax seeds.Making the brine beforehand is the critical component and what elevates this dish.

Made this recipe exactly as written. It is absolutely delicious. Actually tasted better the next day. I used yellow raisins and red grapes. Will definitely be making this again! Yum!

Awesome summer salad for entertaining and picnics. It's very pretty and delicious. The sesame oil adds a nice dimension to the flavor combination. Second the comment, recommending time for curing/pickling the raw broccoli after tossing the salad. No blanching needed. Made it in the evening and we had it for lunch the next day. The comment about doubling the dressing was also helpful, especially if using two heads of broccoli as indicated in the recipe.

Smoked nuts will satisfy the bacon craving for those who miss that flavor in this salad. I half the sugar and along with the grapes and raisins it’s still a lovely tangy sweet salad.

This is a much better dressing for traditional broccoli salad, i. e. with bacon. I did all dressing ingredients at once and used both black raisins and cranberries for color and flavors. Will try to follow pickling step better next time. No Apple but green grapes which hide among broccoli pieces then burst when bitten. I briefly steam broccoli for color and texture reasons and I do use stems peeled and chopped and cooked a minute longer. Toasted walnuts and sunflower seeds in a pan on the stove.

Delicious and so fresh. Love the tangy dressing. Used dried cranberries instead of raisins and did not add grapes. I should have read the instructions more carefully. But even though I mistakenly added the olive oil to the ‘pickling’ step for the dressing, it still worked out wonderfully!

Was there an answer to the question of toasted or not sesame oil ? Aren’t they quite different in flavor? Thank you!

Substituted the sugar for 2 packets of Stevia and omitted the sesame oil and added a pear. Absolutely delicious! This is a wonderful recipe!

Cut the broccoli to about ⅔ the amount. For me that has a better balance of dressing to the broccoli and broccoli to the other ingredients.

I do love broccoli salads. This version is may be at the top of my list now. Always love a touch of sesame oil.

I make this regularly, just as described in the recipe (I've used both craisins and raisins at different times, but never the optional grapes). I absolutely do not cook the broccoli (why add a step?). I do chop the broccoli head up on the finer end of the spectrum, so it's never tough or chewy. This salad lasts for days and is fantastic as a lunchtime salad at work. Make it, you won't be sorry!

I doubled the dressing - would triple the broccoli next time - delicious. Could add chicken for a great lunch. Good meal prep recipe.

Delicious! I followed directions exactly after par boiling broccoli. I recommend adding grapes and almonds!I just had it for breakfast its that good.

Other notes say use less sesame oil and less sugar.

This would be a good option forwhen Nathan is here-- use Pepitas &/or sunflower seeds, rather than almonds. Use dried cranberries rather than raisins to make Suzy happy!

I read comments and added a bit of smoked pimento, pineapple vinegar with the apple cider vinegar, honey instead of sugar, a bit of powdered garlic, toasted sesame oil with the olive and used 1 1/2 recipe for the dressing. I steamed the broccoli just a little. Very delicious!!! A great recipe to try this, that and the other! Love that the NYTimes offers others ideas and comments:) Bon Appétit!

Southern broccoli salad includes cheddar cheese. This is a vegan salad but vegan cheddar cheese might work.

Added dried cranberries for a holiday touch. Carnivores and vegans devoured it.

This is a tasty and nutritious salad and it keeps well for a quick lunch or dinner addition. Next time I will use roasted walnut oil instead of sesame oil and swap some toasted walnuts in. I find the strong sesame oil flavor to be the less desirable feature of this salad. The beauty of this salad is that it is so customizable!

I followed a tip in the comments and lightly steamed the broccoli. It was nice on day 1, but on day 2 the broccoli has deteriorated more than I’d like and is a more brown green. Next time I’d steam the broccoli only if I don’t plan on having leftovers.

Wow. Delicious. No need to cook broccoli when it is cut small. The sweetness from the dried cranberries and apple is perfect.