Broccoli Cauliflower Salad combines fresh broccoli and cauliflower florets and shredded cheddar cheese in a creamy and flavorful dressing. Bacon, pecans and dried cranberries bring additional crunch and texture to this delicious salad!
This Broccoli Cauliflower Salad has been on regular rotation at our house for a couple of months now. It’s such a time-saver to mix up a big, delicious, vegetable salad at dinnertime – then enjoy leftovers for the next few days with steak tips or a roasted chicken.
This Broccoli Cauliflower Salad is also a delicious option for cookouts and parties. And when you can make it ahead of time, the flavors really meld nicely together as the salad chills.
How do you make Broccoli Cauliflower Salad?
You’ll start by cooking up some bacon, then crumbling it into small pieces. (Our How to Cook Bacon in the Oven is a convenient way to do this – and cleanup is easy!)
Next, trim fresh broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and blanch them in some salted, boiling water – just long enough to take the rawness out of the vegetables. Cool in an ice bath, then drain the vegetables completely.
While the broccoli and cauliflower drain, toast some pecans in a small saute pan. Set aside to cool.
Now – you’re ready to assemble your salad! In a large bowl, combine the bacon crumbles, broccoli and cauliflower, pecans, thinly-sliced red onion, dried cranberries, and shredded cheddar cheese.
Pour a creamy mayonnaise and sour cream dressing over the top – then stir to combine. Chill until you are ready to serve.
What do I serve with Broccoli Cauliflower Salad?
We love this salad with a nice Pan-Seared Steak, or our Marinated Grilled Chicken. It’s also delicious with Crumb-Crusted Pork Chopss or Parmesan Chicken Cutlets.
You may enjoy these other Salad recipes:
- Broccoli and Bacon Salad
- Classic Egg Salad
- Macaroni Salad
- Broccoli Carrot Salad
- Cara Cara Beet Salad
Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
Broccoli Cauliflower Salad combines fresh broccoli and cauliflower florets and shredded cheddar cheese in a creamy and flavorful dressing. Bacon, pecans and dried cranberries bring additional crunch and texture to this delicious salad!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: salad
- Method: blanch, toast
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 pound bacon
1 pound broccoli crowns (5 cups after trimming florets)
2 pounds cauliflower (6 cups after trimming florets)
1 teaspoon kosher salt to salt water
1 cup whole pecans
1/2 cup red onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup dried cranberries
8 ounce block yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook bacon to crisp, then crumble and set aside.
- Remove broccoli and cauliflower florets from their cores.
- Heat a large pot of water to boil, add the teaspoon of kosher salt and add broccoli and cauliflower florets. Once the pot begins to boil again, pour into a colander to drain then plunge vegetables into an ice water bath to cool quickly.
- Drain cooled vegetables back into the colander and pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
- Toast pecans in a small dry saute pan.
- Place bacon, broccoli, cauliflower, pecans, onion, cranberries and cheese into a large bowl and toss.
- In a small bowl, whisk all dressing ingredients then pour into the big bowl with the other ingredients and toss to combine.
- Let sit refrigerated 30 minutes to blend flavors and serve.
