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
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.
Just made this with the grandkids and we are looking forward to enjoying it tonight with our pizza. Tried a bite and it is very yummy!
Cheryl, this salad is such a nice addition to pizza! Perfect pairing! 🙂
This was absolutely delicious
Carole, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I haven't made this yet but would like to for thanksgiving. Do you think I could make it in the morning and serve w dinner in the evening?
You could. There is, of course, the concern that chopped apples and pears might turn brown. In this case, dip them in lemon or lime juice (plus water), then drain them before adding them to the salad, or add them right before serving. But, frankly, with the creamy sauce, I don't think the browning of the fruit would be visible. But something to consider.
I would definitely add cashews only before serving, otherwise, they will be soggy! Enjoy!
Very delicious! I had pecans so I used instead of cashews. Also I added vanilla to dressing. Great recipe! Thank you
Jennifer, you are very welcome! Glad you tried it and liked it! Pecans sound delicious in this salad! 🙂
Made this today with cauliflower and oh my oh my absolutely delicious. I just love making ur recipes. They are wonderful
Diana, I love comments like this! Glad you enjoyed this recipe! Cauliflower sounds delicious here!
That was supposed to be "red onions"!!
Made it for a family dinner to accompany chicken enchiladas. Oh, my yum!!! Made a little platter of the fruit and broccoli for the little ones who wouldn't appreciate the red apples in the salad. Everyone was happy. Delish.
I added a little Dijon mustard to the dressing for a very slight honey mustard taste!! We loved it!
I bet Dijon mustard was delicious with this recipe - great idea!
Anne, I am so happy you and your family have enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment! 🙂
Will sub out vegan mayo or mayo and maple syrup for honey, what can I sub for yogurt? Maybe Coconut milk?
Heather, I would use vegan yogurt - I see a lot of vegan yogurt options in my local store - yogurt made with plant-based milk, such as cashew milk or coconut milk yogurt alternatives.
I just saw this recipe and thought it looked really tasty. Haven’t tried it yet but as soon as I can get the ingredients gathered, I will give it a shot! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Lorene, you are very welcome! I hope you love it and come back "to report" how this recipe turns out for you! 🙂
How do you think this recipe would work if I sauté the broccoli florettes so they are not completely raw? I have ulcerative colitis and raw veggies can cause problems
Carolyn, I think it would just as delicious if you saute the broccoli. You can even roast the broccoli as is or with cheese like in this recipe:
https://juliasalbum.com/asiago-roasted-broccoli/
This broccoli salad is amazing! So delicious! The only change I made was to substitute lite versions of mayo and sour cream in the dressing. I've been looking for a different salad to serve at Thanksgiving, and I think the combination of apples, pears, and cranberries in this salad will be perfect for holiday entertaining. Thank you for this recipe!
You are so welcome! So glad you loved this recipe and glad you stopped by to share such a positive comment! I think this recipe would work great as a Thanksgiving salad!