Broccoli Salad
A healthy, hearty broccoli salad loaded with plump grapes and crunchy pecans tossed in a “skinny” Greek yogurt dressing!
I hope you’re not getting tired of these healthy recipes left and right. I’m still trying to stick to my New Years resolutions as I also stuff my face with this, this and this. But have no fear – I have a cheeseburger soup, cheddar bay biscuits and zucchini “chips” coming up this week! But first, let’s talk salad.
Now I have always been a bit skeptical about raw broccoli. I’ve always had it baked, fried, or smothered in something, but never raw. But when I saw this gorgeous, vibrant broccoli harvest salad from Eat Yourself Skinny, I just had to give this raw broccoli thing a chance, and boy am I glad I did.
From the plump grapes to the crunchy broccoli florets – which I might add is amazing and not weird at all – to the crisp bacon bits, this is one of the best salads I’ve ever had. The dressing is even made “skinny” by swapping out half the mayo with Greek yogurt, and with the red wine vinegar, you get a sweet tanginess that melds so well with the rest of the veggies. The best part about this is that it doesn’t even taste healthy at all!
Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces farfalle pasta
- 6 slices bacon, diced
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets and finely chopped
- 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
- ⅓ cup diced red onion
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
For the dressing
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To make the dressing, whisk together mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, vinegar, sugar, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste, in a small bowl; set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- In a large bowl, combine pasta, bacon, broccoli, grapes, red onion, pecans and Greek yogurt dressing.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This was a huge success in our household and it will be a part of our regular meal rotation this summer! Damn Delicious recipes probably make up a solid quarter of my recipe collection.
I’m also really happy to have a new potluck/picnic recipe. I think this will be a hit in social settings, too.
I did make some changes, which I will note for anyone who is curious. Based on my personal dressing/pasta preference, I doubled the amount of pasta, broccoli, and grapes while leaving everything else as written. Even doubling the pasta and produce, there was still plenty of dressing for the salad! I also left out the onions as I don’t like them raw.
This is a five star recipe as written, and a five star recipe with the modifications. You can’t go wrong making this!
They look so easy . Will try your recipe tomorrow. Thank for sharing!
This dish is delicious. I will definitely do it when I have free time
It’s a creative recipe for Broccoli salad more and more attractive. I love it !
Yep, tried it last months and it is Delicious. You can have lots of variations of this salad as well. Great share. Thanks
Brilliant Recipe Chungah! Broccoli is my top pick!
I loved the toppings specially. Can’t wait to try…
I need to make these, they look yummy.
What a wonderful and colorful salad!!
Without the bacon (it’s forbidden for us) and it’s the perfect salad for me.
I’m definitely making it SOON !!
Your salad looks so great, but this is the first time I’ve seen grapes in the salad, so hope that the combination of broccoli and grapes won’t make me disappointed, thanks for sharing.
I often make vegetables salad, but this is the first time I make broccoli salad following your recipe. And the result, you know, awesome!!! All of my family’s member like it
I made this without the pasta to cut down on the calories and it was a great salad. So much crunch and the yogurt/mayo dressing was light and tasty, without feeling overly sugary.
Made this today. It was very good. I steamed the broccoli quickly and then put it in cold water,as I am not crazy about raw broccoli. Great salad idea..even my husband who never eats broccoliliked it..
Looks delicious. Can this be served as a cold dish?
This is actually meant to be a cold dish!
Can it be made ahead of time and refrigerated for a few hours before serving.
Barb, that should be fine, but I recommend keep the dressing separate until right before serving.
This is NOT vegetarian. It has bacon in it.
It certainly is not vegetarian! 🙂
love this site; beautiful food photos, fun design, love the logo…and the recipes sound so delicious! I just found you and I’m so glad I did. can’t wait to try out your recipes. 🙂
I’m not a huge raw broccoli fan so when I’ve made broccoli, raisin,bacon salad before I just put the broccoli in a steamer and steam until it’s just bright green. Then I run it under ice cold water to stop the cooking process. It still has plenty of crunch but not the raw taste I don’t love. Your lightened version looks amazing – I’m making this today!
This salad was excellent. Will make again for a party this weekend
Brilliant. Grapes AND broccoli. Two favorites I never thought of eating together. I’m making this soon and I’m not sharing. haha 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
How long does this last after mixed, in the fridge?
I’d say a couple of days to be safe.
Loved this salad! I used prosciutto instead of bacon and sprinkled it on top. Next time I would only use 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar because I found that a little strong. But amazing never the less. Thanks for sharing!