This broccoli salad is always a favourite with my family. There is something delicious about the combination of crunchy raw broccoli, salty bacon, sweet cranberries and that creamy dressing.

While this salad does use raw broccoli, you could blanch the broccoli first if you prefer it slightly cooked. This salad is always perfect for making ahead, making it a great choice to take to those summer BBQs.

What you need

To make this broccoli salad you will need to following ingredients:

• Bacon – I like to use shortcut bacon, but any variety of bacon will work just fine.
• Broccoli – Use 1 good sized head of broccoli, or 2 smaller ones. Always use fresh broccoli in this salad, not frozen.
• Dried cranberries – Sweetened dried cranberries add a great hit of sweetness to this salad that works so well with the salty bacon.
• Slivered almonds – The almonds can be substituted for other varieties of nuts, or even seeds such as pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
• Mayonnaise – Mayonnaise is used as the base of the dressing. The mayonnaise can be substituted for Greek yoghurt, or a mixture or half mayonnaise and half Greek yoghurt.
• Apple cider vinegar – This can be substituted with white wine vinegar.
• Honey – The honey can be substituted for maple syrup.
• Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper

More salad recipes

• Beetroot salad
• Caesar salad
• Italian pasta salad
• Macaroni salad
• Pesto potato salad
• Watermelon and rocket salad
• Creamy pasta salad

Step by step instructions

Step 1. Cook the bacon

Cook the diced bacon in a large frying pan over a medium high heat until golden and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Step 2. Make the dressing

To make the creamy dressing, add the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, honey and dijon mustard to a small mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 3. Assemble the salad

Add the chopped broccoli, cooked bacon, dried cranberries and almonds to a salad bowl. Drizzle over the creamy dressing, and mix until all the salad ingredients are coated well in the dressing.

Storage

Store this broccoli and bacon salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

This salad is not suitable for freezing.