Broccoli Cashew Salad with Apples, Pears, and Cranberries is tossed with the most delicious homemade creamy salad dressing. This is an easy and healthy recipe packed with fruits and veggies.
The salad has an amazing texture thanks to the crunchy cashews, fresh vegetables, and fruits! The easy creamy salad dressing is made with mayonnaise, sour cream (or kefir or Greek yogurt), honey, and lemon juice! If you love broccoli salad, be sure to check out these 2 delicious salads: broccoli bacon salad and creamy broccoli and cauliflower salad.
This broccoli cashew salad is a healthy recipe that you can make any time of the year, but especially during the winter season to get a boost of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber! It's easy-to-make, and it keeps well refrigerated. A great choice for family weeknight dinners, barbecues, potlucks, and parties!
Salad dressing
Whenever I make a broccoli salad, I love combining mayo and sour cream together for a creamy salad dressing and it's a lovely flavor combination! If you don't like sour cream (or don't have it), feel free to use kefir or Greek yogurt in place of sour cream for an equally good flavor! I also add lemon juice, honey, and salt. Make sure to soften the honey (by heating it up gently) before adding it to other salad dressing ingredients, to make sure it blends in smoothly.
How to make broccoli cashew salad
Broccoli salad is all about chopping up the fresh veggies and fruits and then combining them in a large bowl with a salad dressing. That's it!
- Cut broccoli into small, bite-sized pieces.
- Chop up a cored apple, cored pear, red onion.
- In a large bowl, combine chopped up broccoli, apples, pear, red onions, cranberries, and cashews.
- In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream (or kefir or Greek yogurt), lemon juice, honey, and salt. Tip: honey should be soft and runny. Warm it up if needed, so that it mixes easily.
- Add in the dressing and stir everything together.
Variations and substitutions
- Cauliflower. If you want to mix things up, use an equal amount of cauliflower to replace the half amount of broccoli.
- Nuts. Many types of nuts will work here. Use pecans, peanuts, walnuts, pine nuts, or pistachios instead of cashews.
- Dried fruit. Dried cranberries work great in this recipe, and so do dried cherries, raisins, or dried blueberries.
- Fresh Fruit. The mix of fresh apples and pears works beautifully here, but you can go just with apples or just with pears.
- Salad dressing. For the salad dressing, combine together mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, honey, and salt. You can lighten up the dressing by replacing some of the mayo or sour cream with kefir or Greek yogurt.
Other Broccoli Salad Recipes to Try
- Broccoli Bacon Salad
- Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad
- Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad with Corn and Bacon
- Broccoli Bacon Salad with Pecans, Cranberries, Raisins
- Broccoli Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Broccoli Cashew Salad with Apples and Pears
Ingredients
Salad:
- 5 cups broccoli florets chopped into small bites
- 1 apple cored and diced
- 1 pear (firm, not soft), cored and diced
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- 1 cup cashews toasted or roasted
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Creamy Salad Dressing:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream or kefir or Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup honey softened or warmed up
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine together chopped broccoli, diced apple, diced pear, diced red onion, cashews (toasted or roasted) and dried cranberries.
- In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream (or kefir or Greek yogurt), lemon juice, honey, and salt. Note that honey should be soft and runny, warm it up if needed, so that it mixes easily. Whisk the ingredients until well combined and smooth. Add salt if needed.
- Add the dressing to the broccoli salad and stir everything together.
Notes
- Pears. Choose pears that are firmer in texture and to the touch. Otherwise, they might get mushy in this salad. I used firm pears without any soft spots or visible bruising on the skin. The same applies to apples.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Made this salad for the first time and it is amazing! Shared with my mom and she says it the best salad she has ever eaten. Definitely will make again.
This tasted wonderful! The only thing I did differently, was to add cut up cooked chicken breasts. You don't need to add the chicken because the recipe was great, just the way it was, I just wanted a little more protein. So good!
I love your recipe! Being food sensitive, this salad worked great! I made my own mayo, used walnut, broccoli was raw….yummm! Hubby had two helpings. That says a lot. We will be make it again and again. Thank you!!!
Hello,does broccoli has to been cooked prior or just raw? Thank you
I used raw broccoli here.
I blanch my broccoli for about 3 minutes. Makes it a vibrant green and still has crunch but softens the texture just a tad.
Absolutely delicious! My new favorite, especially for side dishes at get togethers as well as dinner or lunch!!
I used cherry infused cranberries and light soul cream. Does not disappoint!
Pat, your comment really made my day! Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Julia, I hit the review button by mistake. I haven't made this yet but will
I hope you love it!
Have made this a few times now, loved by all. Works well as a make-ahead.
Kathy, I am so glad you love this recipe. Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
This salad was great and my whole family loved it. My daughter is allergic to dairy so I dubbed the sour cream with white balsamic vinegar. It was delicious and we will have it often!
Esther, I am so glad you were able to adjust the recipe to suit your dietary needs. Thank you for the comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
white balsamic is great, I use it for marinating as well
Love this salad. I’ve been making a version of this for many years. Never put onion or cranberry in mine so I tried it & LOVE IT! the kick of onion & texture of the dried cranberries really elevated my versions.
Here’s a tip on the dressing …. Heat your bowl by running hot tap water into it, dry it, add the honey, it’s gently warmed.
Peg, I love your tip about using a hot bowl for making the salad dressing! Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive comment and 5-star review - I truly appreciate it! 🙂 🙂 🙂