Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe

This Healthy Broccoli Salad recipe with Greek yogurt is a healthy twist on classic broccoli salad!Is it weird that one of my guilty pleasures is broccoli salad? I crave it almost the way my husband craves Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

The thing is, I never actually make the broccoli salad that I crave. Although I love this Vegan Lemony Broccoli Salad, that’s not the one that calls my name at the most random times.

The broccoli salad I crave is the classic broccoli salad with raw broccoli, bacon, raisins, red onion, and a sweet mayo dressing. It’s hard for me to pass by the deli counter at my local grocery store without eyeing that creamy broccoli salad and thinking about how much I love it.

I’m the only one in my family who will eat that broccoli salad, but I have no shame in purchasing a big container of it when the craving hits. It was time for me to make my own version.

So this healthy Broccoli Salad recipe is a spin off of the traditional broccoli salad I love so much. I healthified it just a bit, because, you know, that’s what I do.

The Greek Yogurt dressing replaces the mayonnaise version and I keep it sweetened naturally with maple syrup instead of regular sugar. It’s still a creamy dressing that tastes amazing.

I also gave it a unique spin by adding the red bell peppers, dried cranberries, and pecans. Such a great addition! The combination of these ingredients just works and the red bell peppers add even more vitamin c!

This would make a perfect make-ahead holiday side dish! This Broccoli Salad with Yogurt dressing would be great in the summer, too, though. It’s an all-season salad, guys.

Whenever you make it, the best thing is that this is such an easy broccoli salad you can throw together at the last minute. Mix all your ingredients in a big ol’ bowl and drizzle the tangy dressing on top, mix it all together, and you’re good to go. 

I just love this new version of classic, yet not quite classic, broccoli salad.

Once I made all these changes, but I wasn’t sure how my modifications would translate. Would I crave this new version, the Healthy Broccoli Salad recipe, same way I crave the more traditional versions?

I got my answer the night after I first made it, at 10:30, when the hunger beast was calling and I had a big bowl of this for my evening snack. You know when I’m craving broccoli at 10:30 at night, the recipe is a winner.

Ready to make it? Let’s go!

Recipe Ingredients: What You Need

There are simple ingredients that make this delicious salad!

Salad Ingredients

• 1 large head of broccoli, chopped into 6 cups broccoli florets
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 4-5 pieces cooked bacon (preferably uncured bacon; turkey bacon will work), crumbled

For the Dressing

• 1  up plain Greek yogurt (or plain non-dairy yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

The great this is this recipe is very customizable! Try adding crunchy sunflower seeds in place of the pecans. Raisins can be used instead of dried cranberries.

If you’d like to make this a vegan broccoli salad, leave out the bacon and use a non-dairy yogurt.

How to Make this Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe

1. Mix together the first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix well.
4. Chill until ready to serve. Enjoy!

This easy recipe is great for meal prep. If your people like broccoli salad, it’s great for family dinners! I eat it as a main dish for lunch!

Save it all for your summer parties as you’ll want it on the menu!

It’s a classic side dish and it goes so well with my Sweet Potato Black Bean burgers. It’s the best broccoli salad recipe I’ve tried, and I’ve had a lot of them!

If you try this fresh broccoli salad with creamy greek yogurt, or any of my healthy salad recipes, please share it on instagram and please share it on Instagram  and I’ll feature you!

Also, if you try it, please leave a comment with a star rating below! Those star ratings are so helpful for my recipes getting discovered by more people searching for healthy recipes.  I appreciate you!

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This recipe was first published in 2016. Updates were made and it was republished in 2022.