Broccoli Grape Salad

I’m sure you’ve had a Broccoli Grape Salad or two in your lifetime, but this one is the best. There are a million variations, but I’ve never had another one that tastes as delicious as this. With the crunch from the toasted almonds and bacon to the light, creamy dressing, every bite is full of flavor.

This is the perfect salad for hot, summer days. It’s filling and flavorful – makes a great side dish with an herb-roasted chicken or pair it with some homemade sweet dinner rolls for your main entree. Other delicious summer side dishes include this Amish macaroni salad and Amish potato salad.

More Dishes You Might Love:

• Beef and Broccoli
• Citrus Chicken Salad Recipe
• Artichoke Rice Salad
• Chicken Chopped Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing
• Pesto Pasta Salad

How to Prepare a Broccoli Salad

This is a simple recipe to mix up without any complicated ingredients or instructions. Here are a few tweaks that will make your salad extra delicious!

1. Cut the broccoli florets very small. This takes a little extra time, but it makes all the difference in achieving the perfect balance between the strong flavor of raw broccoli and the other ingredients.
2. Use chives instead of green onions (and definitely don’t use red onions!)  One of the quickest ways to ruin a good salad is by overpowering the flavor with onion – of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion re: onions, but at least we’re clear on mine. 🙂
3. Cut chives using your kitchen scissors. Chives are really easy to grow and they last almost year-round here in Northern California. I planted a tiny 4″ pot of a few wisps of chives about a month ago and I now have a huge mound to snip from. Cut off a handful, rinse with water, and then just use your scissors to chop small bits for your salad (or your baked potato!)
4. Go ahead and use the whole pound of bacon. The recipe calls for ½ pound, but I’m not opposed to extra bacon with my broccoli. Freeze the slab of bacon slightly and then chop into pieces while it’s still hard. Saute over medium heat until golden brown and you can skip the whole “crumble” part of preparation.
5. The toasted, slivered almonds complete this salad. I hate getting a big cookie sheet dirty for the almonds – it’s easier to wash a little disposable pie plate. Spread the almonds in a single layer on your tin pie plate(s) – I divided between two for this recipe – and then pop them in the oven. I’ve found that if I stick the almonds into the oven and then turn it on – the almonds are perfectly toasted as soon as the oven heats to that 350 degree mark. When the timer dings, take the almonds out before they burn!! Remove them from the pan immediately so they don’t continue cooking.
6. The dressing for this salad has a whole cup of mayonnaise and ⅓ cup sugar. It’s kind of a lot for those counting their calories. We’ve substituted greek yogurt for part (or all) of the mayo. We’ve also used Stevia as a sweetener instead of the sugar. You can achieve a pretty tasty broccoli salad with these substitutions, though it’s not quite as good as all those calories. Experiment to see what works for you, your tastebuds, and your lifestyle.
7. Broccoli Grape Salad is really good leftover as well. The almonds and the bacon aren’t as crisp the next day though. Always hold off on adding the nuts and bacon until just before serving. If you know you’re not going to eat the whole salad up front, consider packing up half the salad for later and hold the bacon and toasted almonds in separate containers until you’re ready to eat the leftovers.