This Broccoli Grape Salad is loaded with juicy grapes, crunchy broccoli, fresh cucumber, crisp bacon, and toasted pine nuts. The simple ingredients come together in a fresh, crunchy salad with sweet, savory, and tangy flavors. The creamy dressing is made with just four ingredients and ties everything together perfectly.
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Broccoli Grape Salad Video
I’ve made alot of broccoli salads over the years, like our most popular Broccoli Apple Salad, Broccoli Corn Salad, or Broccoli Cauliflower Salad. They are perfect for potlucks and always get rave reviews! This Broccoli Grape Salad is the perfect combination of savory, sweet, and salty flavors.
Broccoli Grape Salad Recipe
The flavor and texture combination of this broccoli grape salad is very exciting with sweet grapes, salty bacon, toasted pine nuts, and tangy dressing. It’s hard to stop eating it!
I originally shared this salad in 2015. It is a recipe from my Mother-in-law and we still love it. It’s a great side salad for dinner, paired with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Pork Tenderloin, but it’s also a perfect potluck salad.
Ingredients for Broccoli Grape Salad
The ingredients are simple, and several can be swapped depending on what you have on hand:
- Fresh Broccoli (or broccolini) – thoroughly washed and chopped into bite-size pieces. If you prefer a softer texture, see my notes below on blanching.
- Cucumber – use ½ English cucumber or 2 garden cucumbers. I leave the skins on unless I’m using wax-coated grocery store cucumbers.
- Seedless Grapes – red or green, both work well, or substitute raisins if you prefer.
- Red Onion – or sweet yellow onion. Shallots also work well for a milder onion flavor.
- Toasted Pine Nuts – or substitute sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or chopped nuts like almonds or pecans.
- Crispy Bacon – cooked and chopped.I like to make air fryer bacon and chop it up
Is it ok to eat raw broccoli?
Yes, broccoli is perfectly safe to eat raw, and it’s one of the healthiest vegetables you can add to salads. It’s low in calories and carbs and packed with fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Just be sure to wash it well and cut the florets into bite-sized pieces, so they’re easier to eat.
If you prefer a slightly more tender texture, you can quickly blanch the broccoli before adding it to the broccoli grape salad. Simply boil the florets for 30–60 seconds, then transfer them immediately to ice water to stop the cooking. This keeps the broccoli bright green while softening the bite.
The Best Dressing for Broccoli Grape Salad
The dressing is really simple and good, real mayo lightly sweetened and balanced with freshly squeezed lemon juice and simple salt and pepper seasoning.
If you want to substitute mayonnaise, you can use equal parts of sour cream and mayo, or just use all sour cream. If using sour cream, you might add a teensy bit more sugar to taste since sour cream is tangier than mayonnaise.
How to Make Broccoli Grape Salad
- Brown the bacon and toast pine nuts.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all prepared salad ingredients.
- Stir together the broccoli salad dressing until smooth
- Mix the dressing into the salad and serve cold.
Can Broccoli Grape Salad be Made Ahead?
To save time, you can make this ahead. Chop up all of the salad ingredients and arrange them in a bowl. In a separate container, stir together creamy broccoli salad dressing. Stir the dressing into the salad just before serving.
This Broccoli Grape Salad is fresh, crunchy, and always a hit—I hope you love it as much as we do.
Broccoli Grape Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- 6 oz bacon, chopped, browned
- 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (or sunflower seeds)
- 1 lb broccoli crowns, (2 medium heads) cut into small florets
- 1/2 English cucumber, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups red grapes, (seedless), halved
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, or added to taste
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Brown bacon in a skillet then remove to a plate using a slotted spoon. In a separate, dry skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat until golden and fragrant, tossing often (3 minutes), then transfer to a plate.
- In a mixing bowl, combine chopped broccoli, sliced cucumber, halved grapes, diced onion, browned bacon and toasted pine nuts.
- In a separate small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of mayo, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and mix well.
- Mix the dressing into the salad & serve.
Nutrition Per Serving
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More Potluck-Ready Salads and Sides
Here are more potluck recipes that always get great reviews. Many of these can be made ahead!
- Egg Salad Recipe – the easiest salad
- Avocado Corn Salad – one look and you’ll know
- Chicken Potato Salad – aka Olivier
- Deviled Eggs – these fly off the plate
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad – most requested dessert!
Does it taste bad without the sugar in the dressing? I’m diabetic and would prefer to not add sugar. Also would swapping out the grapes for pomegranate seeds be any good? Thanks!
Hi Melissa! I have tried this with pomegranate. Feel free to experiment. The sugar brings balance to the salad and adding grapes creates the perfect sweetness to the salty and tangy flavors.
I have everything to make this today. I’m wondering if I can make this ahead of time and have it be just as good. I was thinking I might leave out the sunflower seeds until just before serving.
Hi there! Yes, you can. See my notes above for make ahead instructions.
I served this for Easter dinner and everyone loved it. It was so delicious! Just made it again while visiting my daughter and son in law. He asked for the recipe. I did not originally have enough broccoli so I used part cauliflower and part broccoli. It was great both ways! Thank you Natasha for sharing this recipe and so many others.
Aww! I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you.
Made this as one of our side dishes today for our Easter meal. Absolutely delicious; everyone loved it. I made enough so there will be leftovers for me to take to work this week. Thank you Natasha for such an awesome recipe, as always.
I made this a couple weeks ago and it was so good I’m making it next week for Easter
The dressing ingredients ask for 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp granulated sugar but the instruction ask for 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp sugar. May I know which is correct?
Hi Lee, it sounds like you may have adjusted the recipe using the recipe slider. The original recipe shows that is serves 6 as a side. Based on that, the original measurement is 2 Tbsp lemon juice & 1 Tbsp granulated sugar. I hope that is helpful. When adjusting the recipe the ingredients list will update the quantities, but the instructions will not. I hope this helps.
Made it twice. Love it. Kept dressing separate and added as I ate it. My husband discovered how good it was the second time I made it. Oh well.