This Broccoli Salad Recipe with creamy lemon dressing is one of the first and most loved recipes on my blog; an oldie but a goodie!
Broccoli Apple Salad is loaded with crunchy broccoli, crisp apples, chewy craisins, and toasted pecans. The creamy dressing brings everything together and it just works.
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Broccoli Salad Video
Watch Natasha make this easy Broccoli Salad. I hope you’re inspired to make and experience it for yourself! If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our and click on the bell icon so you’ll know every time we post a new video.
This Broccoli Apple Salad is my Mama-in-laws that has been a family favorite for years. All of the flavors work really well together. It also refrigerates really well overnight even after stirring in the dressing.
Ingredients for Broccoli Salad
This salad has a shortlist of ingredients but each is important for that It’s sweet, tart, and crisp flavor profile.
- Broccoli – we used 2 medium heads or about 1 lb of fresh broccoli.
- Carrot – should be peeled and grated or sliced on a julienne slicer
- Apple – any crisp, sweet apple will work
- Onion – use 1/4 cup finely chopped. Yellow, sweet onion or red onion will work
- Walnuts – toast on a skillet until fragrant and golden. You can substitute with pecans
- Dried Cranberries – craisins add a sweet tangy bite to the salad. You can substitute it with raisins.
The Best Creamy Dressing
This creamy lemon salad dressing combines real mayonnaise, sour cream, fresh squeezed lemon juice, sugar salt, and pepper. The sour cream lightens up this creamy dressing and the lemon adds a vibrant fresh flavor.
How to Make Broccoli Salad
- Toast walnuts on a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a plate to cool.
- Combine salad ingredients – place all of your sliced, shredded and chopped salad ingredients into a mixing bowl.
- Make Dressing – stir together the salad dressing ingredients, adding lemon juice and sugar to taste.
- Toss and Serve – Add dressing to the salad to taste and stir until well coated in dressing.
Common Questions
It isn’t necessary at all to cook the broccoli in this salad and broccoli eaten raw is more nutritious. We also love the crunchiness and vibrant color it adds to the salad. When the florets are cut small, they are easy to chew and so satisfying!
Some readers have shared good results with blanch the broccoli to soften it a bit. If you blanch the broccoli, just be sure it is chilled and patted dry before adding to the salad.
Broccoli stems can be used in salad and we often do include them. Use a potato peeler to peel away the tough fibrous outer layer of the stem before using.
To make this a paleo broccoli salad, you can substitute the sugar with honey, adding it to taste.
Make-Ahead
This broccoli salad refrigerates well so if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, it will still be delicious the next day. Be sure to cover tightly and refrigerate. The lemon dressing preserves the apples and slows down the browning process.
More Broccoli Recipes to Explore
Broccoli Apple salad is perfect for potlucks, BBQs, picnics, you name it. This salad has been well-loved by our family and readers for years and I hope it becomes a favorite for you as well.
Broccoli Salad Recipe with Creamy Lemon Dressing (VIDEO)
Ingredients
Ingredients for Broccoli Salad Recipe:
- 2 medium broccoli heads , (about 1 lb)
- 1 large carrot, grated or julienned
- 1 apple, cored and chopped
- 1/2 small red onion, (1/4 cup thinly sliced)
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted
- 1/2 cup craisins or raisins
Ingredients for Creamy Lemon Dressing:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, (freshly squeezed)
- ½ Tbsp sugar, or add to taste
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Toast walnuts or pecans over medium/ high heat, tossing them occasionally so they don't burn. Heat about 4-5 minutes then transfer to a cutting board and coarsley chop.
- Chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces, grate carrot, chop the apple and thinly slice onion, and transfer into a salad bowl. Add toasted pecans and dried raisins or cranberries.
- To make the creamy dressing, combine: mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, sugar (to taste), salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Add dressing to taste or use the full amount like we do and toss to combine.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
This broccoli salad recipe was originally published in 2010 and here is the original photo. Thank you for making this salad famous with all of your fantastic reviews, and for sharing this recipe with the people you love!
Just made this salad and it was so easy and is delicious! Thank you!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Would this be good if you added poached chicken to it?
I haven’t tried that but I think it could work Sharlene, If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
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What can you substitute for mayo in recipes?
Hi Sandy, you can make this broccoli salad with Greek yogurt. I recall several readers subbed sour cream for plain Greek yogurt or just regular plain yogurt and one said she used Greek yogurt instead of both sour cream and mayo and still enjoyed the recipe.
The broccoli salad with lemon dressing was delicious. I found the onion a bit strong so googled & found I could soak the onion for 10 minutes in chilled water to tone down the sting.
I’m so happy that worked for you! Thank you for that great review, Annette!
Amazing!!!!! Love it!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
I love this recipe very much as is for myself, but my daughter has food intolerance to product such as eggs, cow and goat milk, so I’m wondering what to use to replace mayo and sour cream since there is egg in mayo and I think there must be milk in yogurt and sour cream.
Hi Diane! That is a bit tricky with this dressing. I different dressing may work better than omitting the base. Here is what one of our readers posted ” Left out the sugar and dairy, just used the homemade mayo and lemon juice, it was bright and crunchy and excellent for this hot day.” I hope this helps!
Hi Natasha!
Will it work to replace an apple with a pear in the salad? I have pears in my hands and I want to use it up.
Thanks!
Hi Natalya, you can absolutely make this a broccoli pear salad. 🙂
It hit off really well with pears! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy to hear that!
About how many cups of broccoli do you use?
Hi Lisa, I would guess it is about 7 cups of broccoli.
blanching the broccoli will kill parasites
Great point! I suppose that is the case with any veggie but broccoli does have a ton of surface area so it couldn’t hurt to blanch.
Is this broccoli not cooked at all?
Some people choose to blanch it. We left it fresh for the crunch!
Just made this Broccoli salad. Had a bowl and it is so yummy.Sure Hubby will enjoy later.,, Thanks
You’re so welcome, Wendy! I hope you both love it!
Hi Natasha! Can I make this salad ahead of time….maybe 5 hours……will it keep well? Thank you.
Hi Cathy! This broccoli salad refrigerates well so it will still be delicious in 5 hours and even the next day. The lemon dressing preserves the apples and prevents browning. So yummy!
Hello Natasha, this salad looks so delicious. However, my son has an egg allergy. Any alternatives with using mayonaise?
Hi Theresa! I recall several readers subbed sour cream for plain Greek yogurt or just regular plain yogurt and one said she used Greek yogurt instead of both sour cream and mayo and still enjoyed the recipe.
What a good way to use the small potatoes! I will try this yummy recipe, thanks!
You’re so welcome!
This salad looks delicious. I am on a strict diet, so I need to reduce the fat in the dressing. I think I will try replacing the sour cream and half of the mayo with Greek yogurt.
I’m so glad you found a way to make that work for you.
I always use greek plain yogurt, its great as a substitute with tacos instead of sour cream and you wont know the difference I use it all the time and my family has no clue its actually plain yogurt 😉
Wow, apple, raisins and broccoli! Love your recipe so much! It adds a new twist to kickstart my day
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I would like to make this recipe soon, however, I wonder if I could use Yogurt instead of Sour Cream in the dressing?
Hi Alice, I recall several readers subbed sour cream for plain Greek yogurt or just regular plain yogurt and one said she used Greek yogurt instead of both sour cream and mayo and still enjoyed the recipe. I have personally not experimented with subbing both.
I love yours reciptes, I’ve made few and they all are delicious!!!!!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me :). I’m all smiles!
I really love the way you slice every ingredient into small pieces, it looks so yummy!!
– Natalie Ellis
Thank you Natalie!! Sometimes when we are in a hurry, we will also use the Vidalia Chop Wizard (Amazon affiliate link) to dice up the broccoli but I do like small bites of broccoli in this salad 🙂
I wonder if skipping nuts and Cranston’s altogether would be ok, trying to save calories ?
Hi Lisa, even though we love the tang and crunch from those ingredients, the salad would still work without them.