by Alyssa RiversThis website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my privacy policy.
Broccoli, pecans, cranberries, carrots and apples come together to make an amazing salad with delicious flavors and textures. The creamy dressing on top makes this salad absolutely incredible!
Broccoli is amazing in salads, it adds crunch, nutrition and flavor. Some of the best salads with broccoli in them include Broccoli Cauliflower, Greek Broccoli Pasta and this incredible Bacon Ranch Pasta salad.
Easy Broccoli Apple Salad
Broccoli in salads is my favorite. I especially love this Broccoli Cashew Salad that is on the blog. But this Broccoli Apple Salad became an instant favorite! As I was eating it, I just couldn’t get enough! I knew this salad would be amazing but I wasn’t expecting it to become a new favorite! SO many delicious new textures and flavors in this salad. The broccoli, carrots, and red onion, was followed by the sweetness of the apples and dried cranberries. The pecans added another yummy flavor and crunch. The creamy dressing on top was THEE best. It completed this fresh and delicious salad perfectly. I know that if you make this salad, it will become an instant favorite as well!
At first you might think that broccoli and apples don’t go together, but they do, trust me. This is truly one of the best salads out there. It’s healthy, full of flavor and the dressing is even light. I traded out some of the mayonnaise for greek yogurt, giving you a boost of calcium, protein and cutting the fat. All without compromising on taste and tang. It’s going to be a new go to salad for sure!
Ingredients for Broccoli and Apple Salad
Full of fresh crunchy ingredients, this salad is truly satisfying and filling. You are going to love all the vegetables and the tangy dressing.
- Fresh Broccoli Florets: About 2 medium heads
- Shredded Carrots: You can sometimes find pre shredded carrots in the produce section
- Red Onion: Adds a bit of spice and tons of flavor.
- Apples: 2 large apples will work, pick sweet ones not tart or sour. I used Gala
- Pecans: Coarsely chopped
- Dried Cranberries: Perfect bit sweetness and tartness
Creamy Dressing Ingredients
- Light Mayonnaise: Creates the base of the dressing
- Low Fat Greek Yogurt: Gives it more creaminess and a nice bit of tang
- Lemon Juice: Adds a bit of tartness, and helps keep the apples fresh looking
- Sugar: Balances out the tart with a bit of sweet
- Salt and Pepper: Add more or less as desired.
How to Make Broccoli Salad with Apples
Chopping all the ingredients for this insanely delicious broccoli apple salad is the longest part of throwing this together. But it is so worth it. Add the flavors meld so perfectly together, it’s so good!
- Combine: In a large bowl combine broccoli, carrots, red onion, apples, pecans, and dried cranberries
- To make the dressing: Whisk together mayonnaise, greek yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Add: the dressing to the salad and toss to coat. Chill until ready to serve.
Why This Recipe Needs to be Made Today!
Besides being extremely delicious this broccoli apple salad has so many pros to it, you will truly want to keep this recipe close by.
- Nutritious: Packed with vegetables and fruit and even nuts, this broccoli salad is an immune boosting, fiber enhancing delicious dish. This salad is high in vitamin C, K and A plus it’s high in fiber. Pecans add protein and a healthy fat. Even though you have mayonnaise in the dressing, it’s such a big salad that the amount you’ll actually ingest is just little. Unless you eat the whole thing, which I wouldn’t blame you. It’s extremely diet friendly.
- Make Ahead: This broccoli apple salad actually tastes better if it sits for at least an hour. The flavors and the dressing all meld together in the most fantastic way. This non lettuce salad is full of hearty ingredients so this will stand up to being made ahead of time beautifully. It’s a great choice for packing in lunches, taking to potlucks, and having as leftovers. Make it ahead of time and free up time for making other dishes before dinner.
- Colorful: It’s been said we should eat the rainbow! Well, this broccoli apple salad is definitely a rainbow of colors! It’s as fun to look at as it is too eat! Not only isn’t appealing to the eyes, but to the tastebuds too! It’ll be a salad that gets eaten first at your next picnic
- Hearty and Satisfying: This salad is packed with nutritious ingredients that will not only taste good, but fill you up. The crunchiness satisfies your desire to chew and the high fiber will fill up your tummy!
Tips and Variations for Creamy Broccoli Apple Salad
This salad is delicious as a side dish for beef, fried chicken or even salmon. Or make it a highlight in a light meal served with a refreshing fruit salad and some breadsticks. Yummy!
- Make it Easy: You can make the prep for this salad even easier by buying pre shredded carrots, and pre cut broccoli florets.
- Substitute Dried Cranberries: Use raisins, golden raisins, or dried cherries instead of the cranberries if you wish.
- Nuts: Try using walnuts or cashews instead of pecans. Also try toasting them in a pan on the stovetop till fragrant and slightly browned for added flavor.
- Cheese: For a twist add blue cheese to the broccoli apple salad which adds incredible flavor.
- Apples: I used gala apples in this recipe. You want an apple on the sweeter side. Try Fuji or Braeburn as well for excellent results.
How to Store Apple Broccoli Salad
Broccoli Apple Salad keeps great for up to 3 days before it will start to really get soggy. It’ll still be good for another 2-3 days after, but the quality of the vegetables and fruit will decrease rapidly. If you plan to eat it all week long, try dividing the salad in half and only add dressing to the half you are eating up first. It will help keep the sogginess at bay.
More Broccoli Loving Recipes To Try
Broccoli is good for you, we all know that! I love it, but not everyone does. Sometimes we have to drown it in amazing cheese sauce or ranch dressing to get our kids or loved ones to eat it. Well, these recipes are tried and true and absolute favorites! So if you’re trying to get more good for you broccoli in your family’s diet, try one or all of these recipes! You won’t regret it!
- The Best Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Garlic Beef and Broccoli Noodles
- Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice
- 20 Min Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein
- Three Cheese Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Broccoli Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh broccoli florets (about 2 medium heads)
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 2 large apples finely chopped (I used gala apples)
- 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Creamy dressing ingredients:
- 1/2 cup lite mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup low fat greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine broccoli, carrots, red onion, apples, pecans, and dried cranberries.
- Whisk together mayonnaise, greek yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat. Chill until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Serves: 6
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
I was really surprised at finding this recipe. My father would make this when I was growing up because we always had these ingredients. I m 76 year old and have been making this salad at least once a week, have had to cut it down in size because there are only two of us. But it is still a good salad. Try it with cooked chicken or cubed ham for a complete meal.
Need to know the neutritional values. I am a diabetic and have to count Carbs!!!
Go back to the beginning of the comments and start scrolling forward. She has the values posted!
I can’t find the nutritional values anywhere. Please provide if anyone has them. Tks!
I am in the process of adding in nutritional information at this time. In the mean time you can use myfitnesspal.com.
Don’t the broccoli need to be cooked? Or steamed?
Thanks in advance.
No, it is served raw like other broccoli salads.
I read other comments and wanted to make this as close to the original recipe but still have it be a lunch/meal and not a side salad. SO I added a cup of finely shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup cooked chopped bacon ( I used pre cooked/chopped Oscar Mayer bacon pieces) and I doubled the dressing. OMG soooo good! Will definitely keep this recipe handy for summer potlucks and BBQ’s!!!
I’d love to make this but not sure if I will like raw broccoli,how about if I blanche it first just to soften it a tiny bit?
I tried this recipe last night and it was out of this world! I did put the broccoli in boiling water for about 10 seconds and then promptly in an ice bath just to soften it a bit and bring out the color. That worked wonderfully. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly as written.
Whenever I come across a salad such as this, I would definitely try it! Being a diabetic, and because it’s only my husband and I, I just make adjustments. For example, instead of sugar, I use Truvia. I’d do half raisins and half of the dry cranberries. I’d probably half this recipe, too. My husband LOVES broccoli, me not so much. I’d use half broccoli with cauliflower. I’d also try this at other times with different nuts and different vegetables. It helps keep life an adventure! : D
This salad is one of our favorites! We make it without yogurt as we have a family member with dairy allergies, and it is wonderful! It pretty much goes with everything, or stands alone especially if I add some roasted chicken!
I have made this recipe twice in the past couple of weeks… It is amazing. We all loved it. It’s healthy and so easy to make. Thanks for posting 🙂
I LOVE this salad…I used sweet Vidalia onion and it worked fine. I also tweaked the dressing a little: I used just a little over half the mayo, sour cream instead of the greek yogurt (which I don’t always have), added some Mrs Dash original seasoning, did apple cider vinegar and just a streak of Dijon mustard and the salt, pepper. Turned out tangy and great! Raves at supper with friends (-:
oh and I also added sharp cheddar to the salad and also put less than a teaspoon of sugar in my dressing and it worked fine. I also used a bit of orange juice to keep the apple from turning and it worked fine…
So yummy I make this all the time now. Thank you for the great recipe
Second time making this. So delicious! Made exactly written. I find it’s best made ahead of time or even the night before, for the dressing to all blend together. For those asking if the apples turn brown- not to worry. The lemon juice in the dressing does the trick. I was surprised to find that day 3, when we finished it off, the apples were still fresh and did not turn brown!
It’s a keeper! Used Smokehouse almonds and twice as many craisins; didn’t have time to make the dressing so used Llitehouse Cole Slaw (very close to what my granma use to make) excellent! Will be doing this one over and over.
If you cut the Broccoli into strips like the carrots, dice the apples smaller and use honey instead of sugar and add any flavor Bacon crumbles, (we like Turkey), this makes the ultimate Broccoli slaw! My family refuses to eat the normal coleslaw!! It’s a BBQ must side dish!!! Enjoy!!
Is there something I can use instead of mayo or Miracle Whip in the dressing?
What can I use instead of mayo in the dressing?
If it is an allergy issue, I highly recommend Just Mayo by Hampton Creek. It’s better than regular mayo and it contains no egg or dairy. You can buy it at Walmart and Target.
/ Made today and a winner with everyone at Our Bar-b- Q it sure is a make again !!!!
LOOKS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!… WILL BE MAKING THIS SOON!!… I LOVE APPLES IN SALADS, AND ALSO IN HOMEMADE COLESLAW!… TODAY I HAD THE CRANBERRY SAUCE/WITH THE BERRIES, AND ADDED IT TO MY COLESLAW… LOVED IT! I LOVE TO EXPERIMENT WITH FOODS, AND HAVE CAME UP WITH SOME REALLY GOOD DISHES OVER THE YEARS. ( I WILL BE 70 YRS. OLD IN APRIL!)… THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS FOR THE RECIPES,,, SHARED IT ON MY TIMELINE, OF COURSE ADD YOUR REGULAR POST WITH YOUR NAME ALSO!!…. MARYJO
I TRIED TO RATE THIS RECIPE AS A (5-STAR) BUT IT WOULD NOT LET ME!! I EVEN TRIED IT A SECOND TIME!…
SORRY… 🙁 >>> *** I RATE THIS RECIPE A (((( 5-STAR))))*** <<<
This looks so inviting and refreshing! My three men (husband and two sons, 17 & 19) are all good salad eaters, but don’t often like “sweet” salads (with nuts or dried fruit). I’m going to try this one this week.
The other two broccoli salad recipes also look really delicious, and include BACON! (What’s not to love?) We go to a pot-luck often where once in awhile where the group does a bacon theme just for fun. Well, there’s one coming up and one of your salads will attend with me.
Thanks for some beautiful and interesting recipes. 🙂
Looks yummy! I think I’ll try it soon!
Great salad. I did roast the broccoli 5 mins at 425 degrees. Just to take a little of the rawness out of the broccoli but still have a crunch. Let it cool and mixed everything together as directed. I did used lemon zest since i hate to waste it. I also used walnuts. Very good salad. I recommend to try it!
That ALL sounds great! Thanks for sharing your version! I love to hear people mix things up a bit! Xo
Your Recipe Critic,
Alyssa
I absolutely love this salad. I make it all the time. I would like to know the nutritional value if possible please.
That is great to hear!! This is one of my favorites too! At this time I do not have any nutritional information for my recipes. I do recommend using myfitnesspal.com or an app that you prefer to look up the recipes. Hope that helps!!
I am trying this tonight with Grilled chicken. I am going to try dried blueberries and pineapple as well as the apples. I think I am going to use vanilla yogurt and eliminate the sugar as well as decreasing the lemon juice by tossing with the apples prior to adding to the other ingredients
MMM! That sounds delicious! It is a great salad! My kids even love the tastes of it all and forget it is covered in broccoli! Enjoy it! XOXO
My review is just for the dressing. It was amazing! I made a pasta salad with broccoli, red pepper, red onion and ham with this dressing, It was seriously the best pasta salad I’ve ever made. I know I owe it to the dressing. Thanks for sharing!
That is great to hear!! Thanks so much for sharing!! XOXO
Is it okay if i eat without chill?
What can you use in place of the fat-free yogurt??
Can frozen broccoli be used or will it be soft when thawed?
Fresh would be best.
I think I’ll try this substituting granular stevia for the sugar to add that bit of sweetness, sounds delicious!
Just absolutely great ,! Cannot t wait for more recipes!
All of the dishes look so apitizing,!
Oh my life, this recipe is gorgeous! I used light mayo but will probably have to use extra light mayo next time, as after tasting it I wanted to eat the entire thing all to myself haha!
I’d also never had raw broccoli before so was apprehensive that the texture would be too hard. However after slicing the florets finely the rawness actually gives a lovely light crunch, not the tough difficult to eat vegetable that I was expecting.
Overall absolutely 5 stars, will be making this very frequently.
It’s great!
What about using fat free lemon greek yogurt ?
MMM! That sounds delicious! Let me know how it turns out! Thanks for following along with me! XOXO
Nutritional information??
I like to use skinnytaste.com or myfitnesspal.com for any nutritional information. Hope that helps! XOXO
Will try love all the ingredients let you know I know it will be delicious thanks
I always blanch broccoli a minute or so for salads, makes for a bright green color. There are just two of us, so I halved the recipe. Our local store only had honey vanilla greek yogurt, so I used that and eliminated the sugar. In this part of the country, pecans are expensive, while walnuts aren’t so that is what I used along with regular mayonaise. I would recommend trying this one it’s good.
How long does this last in the frig…my husband is not big on raw veggies so it would just be me eating it?
This will last about 3 to 5 days in an airtight container.
This is seriously one of the best recipes ever and it tastes amazing!!!
I made this salad and it was wonderful , I will make this salad again and again
I came across this recipe in June, thinking it looked delicious, I printed the recipe and had it on my desk. I really wanted to try it BUT….. I don’t like yogurt or mayo and my husband will NOT eat broccoli. I love ALL the other ingredients in this recipe and thought I’d try it one of these days, lol
We were having two other couples over On Sunday for a BBQ / birthday celebration for my friend. I thought I’d try this recipe…. it was DELICIOUS, the dressing was very good I couldn’t even tell it was Made with yogurt and mayo. I can’t wait to try other recipes.
Both my girlfriends loved this as well and wanted the recipe which I passed on. My husband loved it mi us the broccoli.
Well done Alyssa, I’m a fan!!!
EVERYTIME I make this salad people ask me for the recipe. This dressing is a new staple in my kitchen. I have made the broccoli bacon salad and I mix and match the two together. Instead of pecans I use cashews. I find the cashews buttery crunch flavor compliments the lemony sweet dressing. The apple brings the whole salad together. I don’t always put bacon in this one and often forget the carrot. I do put the purple onion in the dressing as it adds more flavor and it softens. Make sure to dry your vegetables after washing them as a few times I forgot and the dressing was a bit watery. If you need to bring a salad to a picnic or potluck, PICK THIS ONE!
Love apples, but I’ve never had it this way! Fantastic recipe!
This is the best broccoli salad I’ve ever eaten. I gave the recipe to my friend and she made it for Easter. Big hit!