This is not your average vegan broccoli salad! It's packed with flavorful ingredients like dried cranberries, cheesy roasted sunflower seeds and a delicious tahini mayo yogurt dressing. It's the perfect side dish for summer entertaining and can be made a few days ahead of time!
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🥗 Why We Love This Recipe
- This salad is the only way I'll eat raw broccoli: seriously. I really wasn't too keen on the idea of a raw broccoli salad, but it soaks up the super flavorful dressing and honestly tastes AMAZING. We all went back for seconds, so if that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will!
- Quick and easy to make: aside from the cheesy roasted sunflower seeds, this salad comes together in just a few minutes. The sunflower seeds are incredibly easy to prepare, they just take about 25 minutes in the oven. Totally optional (and you can just sub with pre-roasted, salted seeds), but they really take this salad to the next level!
- Perfect summer side dish: you can make this salad a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate to bring to your next summer bbq. It tastes even better after a day in the fridge, and it's a great complement to burgers, kebabs, etc.
- Lighter than your average broccoli salad: most broccoli salads are absolutely smothered in mayo dressing. We cut down on the mayo by adding in plain yogurt, which adds a wonderful tanginess and creaminess without all of the fat. Plus, the dressing is so flavorful that you don't need a crazy amount to make the broccoli taste good!
🥘 Ingredients
Here are the key ingredients you'll need to make this vegan broccoli salad:
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Broccoli: this recipe calls for 4 cups total of broccoli florets. When roasting, we often include the stems (they taste great!), but since this is raw, it's best to use just the florets as the stem can be very tough (not fun to eat). We've found that 4 cups of florets is roughly equal to two full small-medium heads of broccoli.
- Be sure to chop the broccoli into pretty small, bite-sized pieces. Nobody wants to chew on a massive hunk of raw broccoli! The smaller the florets, the more they'll soak up the dressing.
- Carrots: you can purchase carrots pre-shredded, or simply use a cheese grater or food processor attachment.
- Cranberries: dried cranberries add a tart, sweet punch to this vegan broccoli salad. It would also be great with dried tart cherries, raisins or even chopped medjool dates.
- Cheesy sunflower seeds: these add a ton of flavor to this vegan broccoli salad, but if you're short on time, you can sub with store-bought pre-roasted and salted sunflower seeds.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
Prep: Preheat your oven to 250˚F/120˚C.
(1 & 2) Toss ½ cup of raw, unsalted sunflower seeds with 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Spread on a parchment lined tray and bake on the middle rack for 25 minutes, making sure to stir every 6-7 minutes.
(3 & 4) Whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. That includes ½ cup plain dairy-free yogurt, ¼ cup vegan mayo (or more yogurt if vegan mayo isn't your thing), 3 tablespoon tahini paste, 1 ½ tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 2 teaspoon mild white miso, 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, ¾ teaspoon fine grain kosher salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
(5) Chop or break broccoli florets into 4 cups worth of small, bite-sized pieces, removing most of the stem. Add to a salad bowl with 1 cup of thinly sliced celery, 1 cup of shredded carrots, ½ cup of dried cranberries and cheesy sunflower seeds.
(6) Pour the dressing over the broccoli salad and toss well to coat.
(7) Refrigerate the salad for 1-2 hours before serving (optional), stirring occasionally, to let the flavors mingle. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.
💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
- Don't skip the cheesy sunflower seeds! They really take this vegan broccoli salad to the next level. You'll probably want to make a double batch and enjoy the other half as a snack...they're SO good!
- Storage: this vegan broccoli salad will keep well in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
- Be sure to store in an airtight container. Disclaimer: raw broccoli salad does NOT smell very good if left uncovered in your fridge. There's really nothing worse than opening your fridge to a blast of cruciferous vegetables. Keep it covered and keep the family happy! (And don't worry, even if it smells funky, we promise it still tastes great!)
- Not vegan? Feel free to sub vegan mayo and yogurt with regular versions. NOTE: if using regular mayo, do not leave this salad out at room temperature for more than an hour or two.
Since the broccoli is going to be raw, you just want to use the florets and buds, not the woody stem.
Start by slicing right where the florets start to branch off. You can keep some of the stem on (see photos for reference), but discard the rest. You'll end up with some very large florets, so you'll want to slice those in half or quarters until each piece is bite-sized.
To be honest, I wouldn't. Raw cauliflower is much tougher than broccoli, so not only will it be harder to eat, but it also won't soak up nearly as much of the delicious dressing.
If you really want to add in cauliflower, I would suggest using cauliflower rice (or very finely chopped cauliflower) so it's easier to eat.
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Vegan Broccoli Salad
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is not your average vegan broccoli salad! It's packed with flavorful ingredients like dried cranberries, cheesy roasted sunflower seeds and a delicious tahini mayo yogurt dressing. It's the perfect side dish for summer entertaining and can be made a few days ahead of time!
Ingredients
Salad:
- 4 well packed cups small broccoli pieces, stems removed (~2 small-medium heads of broccoli)
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- ½ cup dried cranberries
Dressing:
- ½ cup plain nondairy yogurt
- ¼ cup vegan mayo
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 1 ½ tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp white miso
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¾ tsp fine grain kosher salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Cheesy Roasted Sunflower Seeds:
- ½ cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250˚F/120˚C.
- Toss ½ cup of sunflower seeds with 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Spread on a parchment lined tray and bake on the middle rack for 25 minutes, making sure to stir every 6-7 minutes.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients. That includes ½ cup plain dairy-free yogurt, ¼ cup vegan mayo (or more yogurt if vegan mayo isn't your thing), 3 tablespoon tahini, 1 ½ tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 2 teaspoon mild white miso, 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, ¾ teaspoon fine grain kosher salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
- (5) Chop or break broccoli florets into 4 cups worth of small, bite-sized pieces, removing most of the stem. Add to a salad bowl with 1 cup of thinly sliced celery, 1 cup of shredded carrots, ½ cup of dried cranberries and cheesy sunflower seeds.
- Pour the dressing over and toss well to coat.
- Refrigerate the salad for 1-2 hours before serving (optional), stirring occasionally, to let the broccoli soak up the dressing. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
Notes
Broccoli: We've found that 4 cups of florets is roughly equal to two full small-medium heads of broccoli. Be sure to chop the broccoli into pretty small, bite-sized pieces. Nobody wants to chew on a massive hunk of raw broccoli! The smaller the florets, the more they'll soak up the dressing.
Cheesy sunflower seeds: these add a ton of flavor to this vegan broccoli salad, but if you're short on time, you can sub with store-bought pre-roasted and salted sunflower seeds.
Storage: this vegan broccoli salad will keep well in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Be sure to store in a sealed container to prevent it from stinking up your fridge!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Method: No cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 195
- Sugar: 11.3 g
- Sodium: 353.3 mg
- Fat: 11.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.4 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 5.2 g
April says
Delicious. Beautiful. Easy. Dressing seemed like a lot but it was the perfect amount. I used coco aminos (soy free here) instead because of miso and rosemary roasted pistachios since I couldn’t find my nutritional yeast to save my life. This is now my go to broccoli salad.
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed!
Sarah says
Just made this and it is delicious. I had a hard time putting it into the fridge for the recommended 1-2 hours. The only change that I made was omitting the mayo and replacing it with additional yogurt. The sunflower seeds are a really nice addition and are well worth the time to make/bake. Thanks for a great recipe!
Lexi says
Thanks so much, Sarah! So glad you enjoyed.