Bacon Broccoli Salad Recipe (Easy Summer Side Dish)

Bacon Broccoli Salad

yield: 6 SERVINGS

prep time: 20 MINUTES

total time: 20 MINUTES

Ingredients

  • 6 cups of chopped broccoli florets (around 18 oz.)
  • 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 1 cup real mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup sliced red onion

Directions

1

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and vinegar until it dissolves, about a minute. Then stir in mayonnaise.

2

In a large bowl, mix broccoli florets, chopped bacon, sunflower seeds, raisins, shredded cheddar cheese, and onions.

3

Pour dressing over salad and mix well. Let chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

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4.8 / 6 ratings
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bacon broccoli salad in a glass bowl

Need a delicious summer side dish?

This bacon broccoli salad is a family favorite recipe from my mother-in-law, and it is always the first side dish to disappear at any family BBQ. It’s full of bright flavors and textures that I think your family will love, too!

Hip Tip: Eating low-carb? I made a keto version of this broccoli bacon salad over on Hip2Keto.com.

easy broccoli salad ingredients on the counter

What an EASY salad to make!

Since you only need six pieces of bacon for this recipe, I often will quickly make crispy bacon using the air fryer! Then just make a simple sweetened mayo dressing and toss all the ingredients together. We like using raisins, but if they don’t sound appealing, you can use grapes or omit altogether. The sunflower seeds add some nice texture, too.

mix broccoli bacon salad in metal bowl

Here are a few recipe tips when making this bacon broccoli salad:

  • I love to use the big 3 lb. bag of fresh broccoli found at Costco and typically priced around $5. It makes the salad delicious AND frugal!
  • You can even make this salad a day ahead as it keeps well. In fact, the flavors are almost even better after marinating together.
  • Add in more vegetables if you’d like. Shredded carrots, diced bell peppers, cauliflower florets, and cherry tomatoes are all yummy add-in ideas!
  • Looking to make this vegan? Skip the bacon and shredded cheese and swap in vegan mayo — yum!

making broccoli salad in a mixing bowl

broccoli bacon salad on spoon


Print

Bacon Broccoli Salad

yield: 6 SERVINGS

prep time: 20 MINUTES

total time: 20 MINUTES

The crunchy broccoli, sweetened dressing, and salty bacon are the perfect combination for this easy and satisfying salad.

Ingredients

  • 6 cups of chopped broccoli florets (around 18 oz.)
  • 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 1 cup real mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup sliced red onion

Directions

1

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and vinegar until it dissolves, about a minute. Then stir in mayonnaise.

2

In a large bowl, mix broccoli florets, chopped bacon, sunflower seeds, raisins, shredded cheddar cheese, and onions.

3

Pour dressing over salad and mix well. Let chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Brought to you by Hip2Save.

bowl of bacon brocoli salad

This salad is always a hit!

I love bacon broccoli salad because it’s so simple to make, has a great flavor, and always comes out delicious. The crunch of the broccoli with this sweet dressing and savory bacon is so YUM!

I hope your friends and family enjoy it just as much as mine do!

scoop of bacon broccoli salad


Chili Watermelon Fries are the easiest summertime snack!


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 25

  1. Dansin2

    I make this but blanch the broccoli for 2-3 minutes; is even better!

    • VB Mom

      I agree, the green will be extra vibrant as well.🙂

      • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

        Oh interesting thanks!

  2. Allison

    We make broccoli salad just with broccoli, raisins, pecans, mayo, and sugar. 😃

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh pecans would be yum!

  3. HBee

    Hi There, I makes something similar, but I use bacon bits (not real bacon) and omit the cheese so my vegetarian/no dairy kiddo can eat it. It’s very delicious!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yum! Yes that’s a great tip thanks!

  4. Aleshia

    My step mom makes this, but made a keto version and left out the raisins. We all love it!

  5. nikis22

    So good!

  6. Susan

    We don’t love mayo so we make homemade honey dijon instead and it’s delicious! When we’re out of raisins we sub dates or chopped up dried mango or apricots – whatever is on hand.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh nice – thanks for sharing!

    • Lori

      Thanks for the suggestion Susan because i despise mayo. Sounds yummy!

  7. AS

    I made a version this during quarantine and realized you can pretty much adjust it with what you have on hand!! Just use this as a base. I didn’t have bacon or sunflower seeds but had pumpkin seeds and it worked great with veganaise and golden raisins. Even my son who hates broccoli was reluctantly saying it was good 😀 Perfect leftovers for lunch too!!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yes agree so versatile! Great ideas!

  8. reneetodd

    Has anyone substituted plain yogurt for the mayonnaise. I’m not a big mayo fan plus this would make it healthier?

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      That’s a pretty common substitute for mayo dressings, so I would say go for it!

  9. Mom23

    I’ve always made it with coleslaw dressing. If it’s a little tart, I just add a teaspoon of sugar.

  10. Kismetkitty

    I leave out the raisins and use shredded parmesan cheese instead of cheddar. Yum!

  11. Brenda

    This is the best salad, the only difference I do is substitute dried cranberries in place of the raisins. Yummmmmm

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yum I’ve done that too and love either! Thanks for sharing 🤗

  12. markiesluv

    Hey love this salad. Have made it for years but we add fresh pineapple! Have used greek yogurt for the dressing many times. I also added some blended cranberries and made the dressing pinkish. One holiday added a little cranberry sauce to the dressing!! Great post!! A sweet little lady, (I think she was 90 yrs old at the time) taught this to me and it brought back sweet memories of her! Thanks.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh I love those suggestions – thanks for sharing!

  13. Sallys

    My family also make a version of this that always disappears at summer parties. We do not use the cheese or raisins though. Jus the broccoli, bacon, seeds and onion We use a sweet vinagrette, 1 c. sugar and 1/2 c vinegar mixed with 1 c. oil, spices are 1/2t each dry mustard, paprika, celery seed and salt. Oh my gosh it is so good. The leftovers are amazing the broccoli breaks down in the dressing. The bacon and seeds do get soggy leftover but I still love it.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      I know I still love the leftovers too! Yum

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