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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.
Has anyone tried it with canned pears?
Donna, if you don't mind that the texture of canned pears will be soft, I think you could use them. Drain them really well!
Hi! This sounds amazing! Can this be made the day before? Thank you!
Cathy, You can make this a day in advance. Keep in mind that the chopped apples and pears will brown - so if you don't mind that, it tastes great after 1 day or even after 2 days! You can remedy this by dipping chopped apples in lemon juice or lime juice.
However, since the salad uses creamy dressing, I don't think that the browning of fruit would be noticeable.
Also, add nuts right before serving to preserve their crunch. Enjoy!
Just wanted to say this was delicious!!! We are doing Meatless Mondays and this was a great Monday night dinner on a hot summer day!!
Andreana, thank you so much for your comment - I love reading the feedback from people who try my recipes! 🙂
Bonjour à tous!
Je confirme, cette recette est excellente. Merci, pour cette belle idée. Définitivement à essayer! 🙂
Thank you so much for the comment! 🙂
This was so yummy! Will definitely make it again
Debbie, I am glad you enjoyed the recipe! And, thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
I just made this for the second time. The first for a crowd and I’m sad to say they demolished it. There were no leftovers!
Had multiple compliments. This is so quick and easy and oh so delicious. It’s definitely going to be a regular on the menu. Thank you!
Dianne, I am super flattered by your comment - thank you! So glad this recipe was a success! Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback! 🙂
Fantastic salad!! I added a few spring greens and omitted the onion. My husband raved as well. Thanks for the recipe.
Linda, your comment made my day! 🙂 I am so flattered! Adding spring greens is a great idea!
I was looking for a side dish to serve with my mini chicken pot pies. Saw this recipe and thought it’d be great and it was beyond perfect. My dinner crowd raved about. I made an extra big batch and nothing was left. The dressing is so simple and delicious. One side note…I had all the ingredients on hand except for broccoli…I had a couple heads of organic cabbage and used that in place of broccoli…yes I know… I can’t call it broccoli salad but just letting everyone know it was amazing with cabbage too. I will definitely make it again….with broccoli next time.
Patty, I am so, so happy you enjoyed this salad! 🙂 Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive and uplifting comment - comments like that make my day and make me want to do more recipes! 🙂 And, Thank you for sharing your changes about using the cabbage - it's very helpful to me and other readers, too!
I’d like to make this. It looks so good! Do I buy unsalted or salted cashews? Should they be roasted in the oven before putt Salad together?
Thanks
Either salted or unsalted (or even flavored) cashews would work. What I did is I used raw cashews and I toasted them in the oven.
Hi
is the broccoli cooked or used raw?
cant wait to try this.
Jocelyn
The broccoli is raw in this salad.
That is correct!
The broccoli is raw.
Love, love, love! Just made this and served it on top of some arugula, spinach, romaine as I have a lot of greens and trying to get more in my diet. Really great recipe. 🙂
Jacquelyn, I just love how you served this salad over more veggies such as arugula and spinach - what a great way to eat more veggies, love it! Thanks for your positive comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
You can make the salad ahead of time and then add the apples, pears and nuts right before serving
yes, you can!
Made this salad for one g on Shabbat. Yummy! The dressing is just wonderful and so simple to make.
Vicki, I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for the comment! 🙂
Hi
Would like to make this recipe it look so good but can't eat raw broccoli do you think it would work with slightly steamed broccoli?
Oh yes, it will work great with steamed broccoli!
This was wonderful. I am looking forward to making it again. Made it as written, unusual for me, and it was perfect.
Gayle, I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed! Thank you for the comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
Fixed Christmas Day and my whole crowd loved. Followed recipe exactly except omitted onion.
So glad you've enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment and Happy Holidays!
Made this today, Christmas 2021. Oh my! What a hit! Everyone loved it and it was easy and quick to make. I doubled the recipe and sent some home with daughter and her family.
Mary, your comment made my day! Thank you for the wonderful feedback and Happy Holidays!
How far ahead of time can I make this salad?
You can make this a day in advance. Keep in mind that the chopped apples and pears will brown - so if you don't mind that, it tastes great after 1 day or even after 2 days! You can remedy this by using dipping chopped apples in lemon juice or lime juice.
However, since the salad uses creamy dressing, I don't think that the browning of fruit would be noticeable.
Also, add nuts right before serving to preserve their crunch. Enjoy!
What an amazing salad. It's soooo good. Definitely a keeper!! Thanks for sharing.
You are very welcome! Glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! 🙂