We enjoy this broccoli salad year round, but it’s especially great in summer for cookouts and BBQs. With tender cooked broccoli florets, plump raisins, salty bacon and crunchy pumpkin seeds, it’s a flavor and texture explosion you’ll love. A creamy but lightened up dressing features Dijon mustard and just a hint of sweetness that results in something so much more delicious than any store-bought option.

A bowl of broccoli salad with bacon pieces, and raisins sits next to a stack of plates and a small bowl of pumpkin seeds.

I grew eight broccoli plants this year. EIGHT. It was one of the first starter plants available in the nurseries around here and since I didn’t grow anything from seed while I was hiding out in Florida over the winter, I got overly ambitious and bought enough to take up an entire raised bed planter.

This was all well and good until every single plant was ready to eat at the same time and it was a mad rush to harvest the broccoli and eat it before it turned to seed. However, there’s only two of us in this house so it took some ingenuity and dedication to get through it all.

This broccoli raisin salad was one of the recipe highlights from the broccoli extravaganza of 2024 and I’m excited to share it with you.

A Broccoli Raisin Salad You’ll Love

I do not enjoy raw broccoli at all. It’s just too much in every way possible. Too crunchy, too much of a jaw workout, too “cruciferciousy” and too harsh on my stomach.

This broccoli salad cooks the florets (check out our how to easily cut broccoli guide for the best tips) until just tender then plunges them into an ice bath with the raisins. This simultaneously stops the cooking process of the broccoli while also plumping up the raisins — something most broccoli raisin salad recipes don’t do. Plumped up, reconstituted raisins are so much more enjoyable in the salad.

The recipe also includes cooked crumbled bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds for both taste and texture. The dressing is light and creamy with just a hint of sweetness. It’s broccoli salad perfection in every way and puts to shame any premade, store-bought options I’ve ever seen.

The Ingredients You’ll Need

Broccoli — When you’re roasting or air frying broccoli, you can always use frozen florets. However, fresh is best for this salad for texture purposes.

Raisins — I know raisins are polarizing so you can always swap them out for dried cranberries or cherries in this broccoli salad if you prefer.

Bacon — The cooked bacon crumbles into the salad offering a salty, satisfying bite in contrast with the vegetables and sweet flavor from the raisins. If you’re vegetarian, feel free to leave it out.

Pumpkin seeds — Toasted pepitas are a wonderful crunchy contrast to all the other salad ingredients. Pine nuts or another nut can also be used.

Steamed broccoli florets in a metal colander inside a beige pot with copper handles on a light countertop.

The Dressing

We’ve all eaten a lot of bad premade dressings on prepared salads before. This is not one of them. I love the creaminess that comes from the combination of mayonnaise and Greek yogurt in this recipe without overpowering the broccoli and other main ingredients. It uses a touch of maple syrup or honey for sweetness and Dijon mustard for extra flavor.

A gray frying pan with a pink handle containing a single layer of roasted pumpkin seeds on a white marble surface.

My Pro Tips

Recipe Tips

Don’t skip the ice bath step. Plunging the cooked broccoli into the cold water halts the cooking process and will keep the vegetable nice and bright in color instead of letting it yellow.
Similarly, reconstituting the raisins in water is a simple tip that brings big reward. They’re just so much more enjoyable as a plump bite rather than in their hard, dried and crystallized state.

Substitutions and Variations

I gave some ideas above in the ingredients section but other options include:

Add your favorite protein such as cooked shredded or chopped chicken to the broccoli raisin salad to make it a full meal. This would be great for a packed lunch.
If you do raw onion, thinly sliced red onions would add nice flavor. Pickled red onions would also go well.
As the recipe card below offers, toasted panko breadcrumbs are a nice crunchy topping option, especially if you’re not using the pumpkin seeds or another nut.

A bowl of broccoli salad with raisins, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, and a creamy dressing, accompanied by a white spoon. Three bowls are partially visible in the background.

Making in Advance

Not all salads are good when prepped in advance, but this broccoli salad is one of the few that does well with that. There are two options for making this ahead of time:

Make the entire salad and let it sit in the fridge for a day or so before serving. Much like chili, the flavors will meld together with time and the salad actually tastes a bit better.
Prep the salad ingredients and keep them covered and refrigerated in a bowl. Prep the dressing in a separate bowl and store in the refrigerator as well. Toss everything together before serving.

More Vegetable Salads To Try

Our creamy cucumber salad is a summer-time staple and like this broccoli raisin salad, it’s a healthier, lighter and refreshing take on the classic recipe.

If you love crunch, this kohlrabi noodle salad has plenty of it! It’s another great summer-time option for something a little more non-traditional.

Mediterranean carrot salad is another creamy vegetable salad option. Using tahini and yogurt for the dressing gives it a surprising taste anyone who loves Mediterranean flavors will enjoy. It also features plump raisins like this broccoli salad as one of the star ingredients.