Yesterday I whipped up a huge batch of this creamy broccoli apple salad recipe and I plan on eating it for lunch every day this week. The last few weeks have been rather chaotic and I need a serious break for a while. We had a series of unplanned home repairs that created a huge mess as well as a giant expense. Sometimes, when the stress level is high, you need a healthy salad recipe to keep you balanced. Even better if it is an easy make ahead recipe that can be stored for a while in the fridge. Thankfully,this broccoli apple salad recipe was a huge hit with the family…even the ones who aren’t thrilled with broccoli!
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Broccoli Carrot Apple Salad to the rescue!
Know what my life is like this week? Torn up wood floors, leaky dishwasher, leaky washing machine, and water dripping out of ceilings. Seriously…I am ready to just ditch this house for a new one if things don’t stop breaking. Then, the day after we got everything ALMOST fixed we left for a 2-week long road trip to see family up north.
Needless to say, there hasn’t been a lot of ‘me time’ this month. Not to mention the fact that I have eaten more fast food and packaged foods than is probably good for me. But, now that life is kind of settling back to normal, I am back to cooking from scratch and feasting on fresh fruits and vegetables. This broccoli carrot apple salad recipe was easy to make and delicious!
Go Meatless with Broccoli Salad Recipes Without Bacon
I have seen a lot of broccoli salad recipes but most of them use bacon which my daughter doesn’t like. Weird, huh? Who doesn’t like BACON? But, to accommodate her food aversions I made this one without the beloved bacon added into it. To give it a bit of protein, I added chopped walnuts instead of bacon (check out my post on the health benefits of walnuts to learn why this is my favorite nut!).
Other Healthy Salad Recipes You May Like
- Healthy Quinoa Salad Recipe with Spinach and Apricots
- Shrimp Avocado Salad Recipe with Cajun Lime Dressing
- German Cucumber Salad Recipe – Gurkensalat
Everything in this salad recipe is really fairly healthy which I’m happy about since we gorged ourselves on vacation. One night I ate a huge platter of batter fried whole belly clams and I am not sorry one tiny bit! I only have them when I go up north so when I finally get them in front of me, I am not sharing with anyone! But, now that I’m home, I am back to healthy recipes for a while or I won’t be able to button up my pants.
Make a Healthier Broccoli Salad with Yogurt
If you are concerned about the calories in this salad, you could make a broccoli salad with no mayo but I really love the flavor of it in this dish. I tried to find a happy medium.
The dressing for this broccoli apple salad recipe is half mayonnaiseand half Greek yogurt. Replacing half the mayo amount is a great way to cut the fat and make it even healthier without sacrificing flavor or using some weird ‘low fat’ version of mayonnaise.
Just whisk some salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice into the mayo and yogurt and you have a simple dressing for your broccoli salad that takes only a few minutes to make. Yogurt is seriously my go to healthy ingredient when it comes to sauces and glazes. Check out my fruit salad recipe with homemade yogurt glaze. Totally delicious!
You can store the broccoli salad in the fridge for several days once you add the dressing. Nothing gets soggy or limp and it will be a quick and healthy lunch for me this week as I try to finish digging out from vacation laundry and the mess of home repairs. I think I need a vacation from my vacation!
Creamy Broccoli Apple Salad Recipe
Yield: 12 servings
Creamy Broccoli Apple Salad Recipe
This creamy broccoli apple salad recipe is healthy and easy to make. An easy summer salad for your next outdoor get together!
Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh broccoli florets (about 2 medium heads)
- 2 large apples, chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice (about half a lemon)
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise,
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/8 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place the broccoli, apples, cranberries, pecans, onion and shredded carrot
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice.
- Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and mix until everything is coated.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 to 2 cups
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 166Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 136mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 4gSugar: 11gProtein: 3g
Nutrition info is not always accurate.
Looking for more salad recipes?
Try thisAsparagus Pasta Salad Recipe with Bacon and Bleu Cheese
Diane Hoffmaster
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician atGood Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at theUniversity of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.