Classic Broccoli Bacon Salad with Raisins and Cheddar Cheese is an easy and simple side dish that everybody will love! It’s a perfect recipe for parties, picnics, potlucks, and barbecues!
This broccoli bacon salad is a perfect combination of everything: sweet and savory flavors, crunchy veggies, and comfort food. The salad is made with fresh broccoli and has a good amount of fiber.
If you like bacon, you’ll love this refreshing salad. This recipe a great way to consume bacon in a healthier way, with some veggies. If you want to have more broccoli in your diet or just happen to have too much broccoli in your refrigerator, this is a delicious way to use it up and free up some space in your fridge!
Cooking Tips
- Use 1 head of broccoli. Trim the leaves off. Optionally, you can quickly blanch the broccoli by dipping it into the pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Then, chop the broccoli into small bites.
- In this recipe, I use a block of sharp Cheddar cheese, not the shredded kind. Chop up the Cheddar cheese into small cubes. It makes a nice presentation.
- Pre-cook the bacon in the oven, drain the fat, and chop it up into small bites.
- I use both dried cranberries and raisins in this broccoli salad because raisins are usually too sweet for me, so I like to add some dried cranberries that have more tartness to them.
- If you want to reduce the amount of mayo in the dressing, substitute half of mayo with sour cream. Or, for the leaner version of this salad dressing, use Greek yogurt to replace half of the mayo.
This broccoli salad with raisins and bacon is perfect for any time of the year: winter or summer, spring or fall. So easy to make – the recipe uses the most basic ingredients found in any pantry!
You can add lots of salad dressing (all of what’s indicated in the recipe below) or you can add just half – let your taste dictate whether you want the salad to be more or less creamy.
Other delicious broccoli salad recipes
- Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad
- Broccoli, Cashew, Apple and Pear Salad
- Broccoli Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Classic Broccoli Bacon Salad with Raisins and Cheddar Cheese is an easy and simple side dish that everybody will love! It's a perfect recipe for parties, picnics, potlucks, and barbecues!
- 1 head broccoli , with leaves trimmed off
- 8 slices bacon , cooked, crumbled
- 1/2 cup red onion , chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 8 ounces sharp Cheddar , cut into very small chunks
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Wash the broccoli head. Cut the broccoli head into flowerets and small bite-size pieces. Wash them thoroughly again. Dry on paper towels.
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Add clean and dry broccoli pieces into a large mixing bowl. Add crumbled bacon, chopped onions, raisins, cranberries and sliced Cheddar cheese.
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In a separate small mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, white vinegar, and sugar and whisk until well-combined. Add the desired amount of this salad dressing to the salad and toss to combine.
Adapted from Food Network
Great recipe. The only thing missing is sunflower seeds
Loved it so muc,so did my friends.