Broccoli Salad with Red Grapes, Bacon, and Sunflower Seeds Recipe

This recipe is jsut what I was looking for!! I had everything on hand and I also added the almonds and a handful of grated cheddar. Delish!! Thank you for submitting this & sharing!!

This is simple enough, yet “just right”! It’s the first time I’veI actually felt like I finally got it! A couple things I did were to add some small, diced pepperjack cheese & I added both raisins & the halved grapes. I loved the suggestion to hold aside the sunflower seeds & bacon till serving time, so they remain crunchy! I did put just a few bacon bits in with the sauce, so the flavors could meld. Also, I put the broccoli in a colander & poured boiling water over it to soften it — just ever so slightly — then plunged it into an ice bath so it wouldn’t “cook”. The bright green color looks nice! Another person once cautioned me about making sure to let the broccoli dry before adding the sauce & that makes a big difference as well! Cutting the broccoli into the bite-sized pieces is also an excellent tip. Really great recipe, thanks!!

I made this twice. The first time was a disaster and I ended up throwing a lot of it away but the second time was excellent. I don't know what I did the first time but the sauce was very runny. Instead of coating the broccoli, it collected at the bottom of the bowl. The broccoli was very bland. Take 2: I refrigerated the sauce overnight which resulted in a thicker consistency and I also only added enough sauce to coat the broccoli. Much better! Another change is that I didn't blanch the broccoli first. Ugh. Don't do that! The broccoli turned yellow overnight in the fridge and hmm, it just occurred to me that the extra moisture from cooking and rinsing the broccoli might have been what made the sauce runny. I also added a very small amount of red onion the second time around because IMO a little onion goes a long way in a cold dish like this. Lastly, despite my best efforts to wait until the last minute to buy grapes and carefully hide them in the fridge, it was not enough to prevent my children from laying waste to the entire bag in record time. So I substituted craisins instead. Grapes would probably be just fine but now I'm in love with the craisin version. It was amazing and I got lots of compliments. There it is. I hope someone else can learn from my mistakes!

The first time I made this I followed the directions exactly. The second time I diced the bacon before cooking it, Then I mixed everything together and put it in the fridge overnight. We all like it better this way. We all thought it had more flavor. I added a handful of chopped Walnuts too.

I had been looking for a great Broccoli Salad recipe and found it in this one. The only changes that I made were that I added some extra mayo (the apple cider vinegar flavor seemed stronger than expected) - and I added some golden grapes and some chopped pecans to fill things out a bit (since I had a little extra sauce). I also let it marinade overnight. It was perfect for our Mother's Day BBQ and will be a staple throughout our Summer cookouts for sure!

I first tasted a similar salad when I traveled to North Carolina. My friend made the salad with broccoli and grapes. We poured the sauce over it. This version is now one of my go to's at my house. I did change 2 items. I omitted the onion and sunflower seeds. I added sliced almonds instead and it's delicious. I adjust the ACV to taste. Some like it heavier and some very light. Love the bacon and almonds. Just the right crunch

So yummy and a lot like the one I love at the grocery store. What I love the most is you can sub or omit anything, except the broccoli, mayo, and vinegar, and it’s still great. I’ve made it with cranberries or raisins instead of grapes, sausage or pepperoni instead of bacon, and any kind of seeds or nuts I have on hand!

This is one of my favorite salads. One change I always make to it is rather than bacon, I chop up some hard-smoke salmon. I live in Alaska, so it's probably easier for me to find than people in the rest of the country, but it's a great substitution for people who don't eat pork.

Made it for the first time and it is very easy and tasty as heck. I used half of the large bag of pre-cut fresh broccoli, six slices of bacon instead of eight, used pecans instead of sunflower seeds and real mayo. Mixing the pecans in with the warm bacon, warms them up & mixes their flavors, so I would not recommend using store-bought bacon bits. I'm reading comments about skipping the red onion, but I would say to just cut them smaller...the red onion adds so much to the overall success of this dish. It was a hit and my picky-eater son polished off the left-overs for breakfast this morning. Next time I'll initially cut back on the sugar then add to taste, but I plan on making it again tonight!

Lovely, I substituted 3/4 C greek yogurt plus 1/2 c. mayo, since I used a little bit more broccoli, then I added about a TBSP of pomegranate balsalmic vinegar to punch it up a bit.Yummy!

My family and coworkers love this salad! To make it a little healthier, I double the broccoli and replace 1/2 the mayo with plain Greek yogurt. Fantastic:)

I use pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds. Love it! A family favorite. I use red grapes sometimes and a green apple balsamic once.

I’ve made this several times now, the worst thing is chopping the broccoli, as we like it chopped small. We all love it! Great recipe!

Love the recipe, doubled it for Easter.

Delight. I took out the onions and added chopped apples.

Even my dog looked impressed (probably).

So good, I’m hooked.

Great recipe. I used raisins instead of grapes as that’s what I had on hand. Added small cubes of cheddar cheese as well. We love this .. note make sure the broccoli is completely dry

I didn’t change a thing, and it came out perfect.

Made it, shared it, everyone impressed.