Best Broccoli Apple Salad

Broccoli Apple Salad

It’s fall and it’s apple season, but we’re not done with the crispy crunchy salads of summer. So let’s do this Broccoli Apple Salad in honor of all the warmish coolish days of fall. This healthy, crispy, crunchy salad fits into every kind of day the sky brings. 

Plus, this broccoli apple salad gets even the most unexpected eaters munching on broccoli. We have our amazing honey mustard dressing to thank for that. I originally created that dressing for crispy Kale Brussel Sprout Salad over the holidays last year. Then we started drizzling it on everything like nobody’s business.

I highly recommend making a double batch of the dressing for this broccoli apple salad and beyond. 

Honey Mustard Dressing

This honey mustard dressing makes all the difference in our broccoli salad. The key ingredients include:

• Good quality extra-virgin olive oil. Olive oil makes up a fair portion of the dressing, so you want a good one.
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice (not from a bottle); fresh lemon juice is much more refreshing than the typical apple cider vinegar
• Whole grain mustard — the kind with visible mustard seeds; sometimes also called coarse ground mustard
• Pure honey; we opt for this as the sweetener, in lieu of sugar, as it provides richer flavor and smooth texture

Make your broccoli salad irresistible

• Use only broccoli florets, and tear them even smaller into little bite sized pieces so the dressing soaks in. I simply cut off the bit of stem that’s still attached to the florets; this quickly releases the broccoli into perfect mini florets.
• Make the salad anywhere from a few hours to a day ahead, tossing all the goodness together so the flavors can meld and the broccoli relaxes just a bit.  Broccoli salad stays crispy really well. 
• It’s all up to you, but we highly recommend a sprinkling of blue cheese (or gorgonzola.) The creamy-salty properties of blue cheese are amazing with the sweet crunch of apples.

Fun Substitutions in your Broccoli Salad

Salad is a playground for substitutions and variations based on your palate’s desire or whatever’s in the fridge. Here we go:

• Aside from smoky roasted almonds, try cashews or pistachios.
• Roasted salted pepitas are my favorite seeds to use, but sunflower seeds work well also.
• If raw red onions are a bit much for you, go with shallots.
• I know you know I said to sprinkle with blue cheese on your broccoli salad. But I do know a few souls who aren’t into blue, so if you’d like, use an extra-sharp white cheddar instead. Then use the rest of it for cheesy popovers. 
• I used dried cherries for a taste of tang, but feel free to toss in raisins or dried cranberries.

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Healthy Broccoli Apple Salad

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This Broccoli Apple Salad is a healthy and delicious version of classic broccoli salad. * If you enjoyed this recipe, we’d love you to come back and give it a rating and comment! * 

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

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For the Dressing:

• ⅓ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, not from a bottle
• 3 TB pure honey
• 2 TB whole grain mustard with visible seeds in it
• 1 TB real mayo
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black peppers, plus more to taste

For the Salad:

• 12 oz broccoli florets, stems trimmed and torn into little bite-sized pieces
• ¼ cup red onion, chopped
• ¼ cup dried cherries, or raisins/dried cranberries
• 1 large honeycrisp apple, chopped and tossed with a bit of lemon juice
• ½ cup smoky roasted almonds, slivered or sliced
• ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded extra-sharp white cheddar

Instructions

• Make the Dressing: In a medium bowl, hand-whisk together all dressing ingredients until thoroughly combined. Taste and add more salt/pepper as needed. Cover and chill until ready to use – can be made a day or two ahead.
• In a serving bowl, toss together the broccoli florets, red onion, dried cherries (or other dried fruit,) and apples. Pour dressing over broccoli salad and toss to combine well. If not serving yet, cover and chill several hours to overnight.
• When ready to serve: toss broccoli salad again. Gently stir in almonds and cheese; serve. 

Notes

A bit of real mayo provides creamier texture to the dressing, but it can be omitted if you prefer.

Try roasted salted cashews, pistachios, or sunflower seeds as substitutions

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Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 74.9g | Protein: 3.4g | Fat: 10.6g | Saturated Fat: 1.7g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 129.9mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 70.6g

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Method: No cook