Hi Friends! It’s another Tasty Tuesday and today we have a recipe for Easy Broccoli Salad!What I love about broccoli salad is that it is so tasty, so delicious, it can win over the hearts of even finicky eaters! It’s a decadent trip to flavor town!

It’s a great dish for potlucks and barbecues and it’s so easy to make, you will love having this recipe on hand! This recipe has many variations and has been around a long time, and my husband absolutely loves it! There are so many stars in this little salad, and I am thrilled to share it with you! So without further ado, lets begin!

Ingredients:

• 2 large heads of broccoli (or about 5 – 6 cups of broccoli flowerets cut into bite size pieces)
• 1 lb bacon cooked crispy and chopped
• 1 medium red onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds

Dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Begin by making the dressing. Put the cup of mayo in a bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.

Using a whisk, mix until smooth and refrigerate while assembling the rest of the salad. The consistency will be like a creamy salad dressing.

Wash and cut the broccoli flowerets into bite size pieces. I purchased two large heads of broccoli, so basically twice what you see here.

Cook bacon until crispy, and drain on paper towels. Then coarsely chop it.

I like using a large bowl to add the ingredients into. Add the broccoli, and 1 medium red onion chopped, or about 1 cup of chopped red onion.

Add on top of the broccoli, the bacon, cheese, red onion and sunflower seeds. Isn’t that pretty?

Pour the dressing on top of the salad.

Using a rubber spatula or a spoon, mix so that the dressing is mixed throughout. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

I transferred it into a pretty bowl but you wouldn’t have to.

We served it with brats, chips, dip and watermelon. Friends, it was soooo good!

The bacon is just such a star in this dish! And the red onion is crunchy and flavorful!

And the dressing just tastes so fresh!

Now there are lots of substitutions you could use, or additional items you could add. Many people will add raisins to this salad. You could also substitute slivered or sliced almonds for the sunflower seeds, even toasted walnuts could go in. You could also add in shredded carrots, or chopped cauliflower. Or dried cranberries. The sweetness of the dressing works well with so many things! You could skip the cheese if you don’t care for it, or use cubed cheese if you want a bigger presence of it. I’ve also seen the dressing prepared with white wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar. So many variations but it is certainly a treat! And an easy one to prepare!

This is also a great salad to make the day before as the dressing soaks into the broccoli.

You know, I’m not really a big fan of raw broccoli. But this salad adorns it so beautifully I really love it! My son Jake says its such a great surprise to have the bacon and cheese in there, and the flavors compliment each other really well.

Summertime is the season for salads and vibrant flavors that come alive. Foods that crunch with the freshness of crisp vegetables and give you fuel to burn! It’s the season of potlucks and barbecues and picnic tables laden with all sorts of beautiful salads and sides to go with the barbecue! Don’t you love that? It’s like a kid on Christmas! You just don’t know where to start! I’m that lady who wants to try a little spoonful of everything! Why? Because I don’t want to miss out on any of it!

It’s a lot like life, there are so many fun and wonderful things out there to try! Sometimes we can get in a rut and only see the same things we have been doing. But there is a great big giant buffet of life out there that we can try! And now is the time to try things! It’s our chance! Go ahead and try a little bit of everything! Why settle for the Crayola box of 8 crayons when the box of 64 crayons is sitting right next to it!

I hope you have a fantastic week!

If you like this recipe, I hope you share it with a friend!

I’ll be back Friday with another post!

Love Always,

Amy

Life is about taking chances, trying new things, having fun, making mistakes and learning from it.  (author unknown)