This is the best broccoli salad recipe. Loaded flavor and tossed in an amazing homemade dressing, this broccoli salad with bacon will become your go-to side dish for any party!
Cook bacon either on the stovetop or bake in the oven (400 degrees for 20 minutes) until crispy.
Remove from pan and place bacon on paper towels to cool.
Once cool, crumble bacon into a bowl, set aside.
Make the dressing
In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth.
Assemble
In a large bowl, combine broccoli florets, red onion, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and crumbled bacon and toss to combine. (Be sure to keep at least 1 TBS of each ingredient to use to garnish the top of the salad).
Pour dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir until evenly distributed.
Chill & Serve
Cover the salad and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
Use the extra bacon, cranberries, and sunflower seeds to garnish the top of the salad. Then, serve cold.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
Red onion. Use your favorite onion variety, green onions, yellow and white are all great choices.
Dried cranberries. you can substitute raisins, if desired.
Sunflower seeds. Pecans are a good substitute for sunflower seeds. Make sure to use shelled sunflower seeds, do not put the shells in the salad.
Sour cream. full-fat greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream.
Honey. granulated sugar works well in place of honey.
Apple cider vinegar. white vinegar works well as a substitute.
StoreStore leftover broccoli salad with bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Do not freeze this recipe.