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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 Cashew Salad with Apples and Pears
Ingredients
Salad:
- 5 cups broccoli florets chopped into small bites
- 1 large apple cored and diced
- 1 large 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
- How to roast raw cashews. I used raw cashews for this recipe, and I toasted them in the oven. Roast raw cashews in the preheated oven at 350 F on a rimmed baking sheet for 10 minutes or longer. Unlike other nuts, cashews can take more than 10 minutes to get roasted. They should change color and turn rich golden brown. Depending on your oven and your oven settings, that can take between 10 and 15 minutes (or even up to 20 minutes in some ovens). Move them around once or twice so that they roast evenly on all sides. You can also purchase pre-roasted cashews - they do not need roasting.
- 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.
For the salad dressing, what could one use instead of honey to ensure that diabetics could eat it.
Im guessing liquid stevia would work well. I may start using half of what it calls for and adding to taste
I just made this, this is sooooo good!
Had some pomegranate left and chucked it in, added an extra pinch off goodness!
I never ate raw broccoli before but you made me do it and it's really nice!
Carole, I am so happy you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you for such a positive and enthusiastic comment! 🙂 Raw broccoli is so good for you, I am glad you liked it!
OMG this is super amazing and our new favourite salad! Thank you
I am so happy to read your comment! 🙂
If I made this this morning will it be ok till tonight. Should I leave it till the last minute to make before I take it to a potluck dinner?
You can make this in the morning, refrigerate it and serve it in the evening. The chopped apples and pears will brown - but you can lessen the effect by using lemon or lime juice. Also, once everything is covered with a creamy dressing - you won't really be able to see browned fruit. I would add nuts right before serving to preserve their crunch.
5 cups of broccoli is one or two heads?
Any particular type of apple or pear?
5 cups of broccoli would be 2 heads. I used Fuji apple and for pear, I like to use Asian pear, because it usually has a tougher texture than other varieties, which works well in a salad. Enjoy!
Doesnt the lemon juice prevent the apple and pear from browning?
I would like to make this a day ahead of time but dont want to compromise the visual appeal
Yes, lemon juice does prevent the cut apples and pears from browning, but I am not sure for how long. Don't know if the effect will last for a whole day.
I'm trying this recipe for Thanksgiving. I've never roasted or toasted nuts can you tell me how you do yours?? Plus can you lime juice instead of lemon?? Thanks in advance!!
Hi Carol! Note: I used raw cashews and they turned a beautiful golden brown color when toasted. If you use cashews that are already labeled as roasted or are flavored cashews - you don't even need to toast them - use them as is. If you do have raw cashews, here is how I do it:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the nuts in a single layer. Toast the nuts in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Cashews take a longer time to taste than, say, pecans or pine nuts (pecans or pine nuts take about only 5 minutes and can burn easily). Cashews are much more forgiving. In fact, it might take you longer than 10 minutes to get them toasted until they reach a beautiful golden-brown color but do watch them frequently after 10 minutes.
And, yes, you can use lime juice instead of lemon. Preferably freshly squeezed.
I’m making this for a friend tomorrow. Make ahead for flavors to meld, or just prior to carrying?
I would make this just prior to carrying. Also, keep in mind that chopped apples and pears will brown if the salad is made ahead. It doesn't matter to me, personally (I would eat sliced browned apples the next day), but I know it matters for other people and for presentation purposes.
Looks delicious and I would love to make soon, but so many carbs.. how to cut those some?
Don't use dried cranberries and reduce honey in half - that will cut some carbs (but not all).
We LOVE this recipe!! I have made it twice in the last 3 weeks and it has been shared in my family with my 3 sister-in-laws.
Kelly, so glad to hear this recipe was a success - thanks for letting me know!
This looks fabulous, but what proportions form the dressing?
The dressing ingredients are listed on the recipe card. I am copying them here, too:
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
This looks amazing! Do you use lightly salted cashews?
I used raw cashews that I toasted until a beautiful golden-brown color in the oven. You can certainly use salted cashews or even flavored, spicy cashews - all will work here!
This looks and sounds yummy . I have made a spot for it on my Thanksgiving menu. I will be sure to chime back in with the results. Thanx Gwenda
This is another great salad/side dish to add to the Thanksgiving menu! It's colorful and healthy, too!
Can you make it without the honey, maybe using sugar???
Yes, sugar will work. Maybe, add a very small amount of hot water to the sugar before adding to the salad to form a syrup so that it mixes well with other ingredients without being grainy.
How much sugar would you use to replace the honey?
I would probably use 2 tablespoons of sugar.
This recipe is fantastic! I used pecans instead of cashews and blue agave syrup instead of honey in the dressing and could see substituting golden raisins too. I would love to know the nutrition information about this salad because I could eat ALOT of this!
Loren, I am so happy you tried this salad and liked it! Pecans sound delicious! I have updated the recipe with a Nutrition Label. Do note that the nutritional information on this website is only an estimate. 🙂
I could eat this every day, so good! I chose the Greek yogurt over sour cream, and golden raisins instead of cranberries. Highly recommend this recipe.
Anita, I am so glad you've enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for the comment!
is this salad best chilled before serving ?
No, this salad can be served warm or at room temperature.