Our broccoli cauliflower salad is a crisp and creamy recipe that is excellent as a refreshing side dish for a special holiday meal, potlucks, and get-togethers.
You’ll love the combination of textures and flavors. The crispy veggies meet a velvety, smooth, and tangy dressing with mayo and yogurt.
The salad is enriched with crunchy almonds, dried cranberries, tangy red onion, and savory sun-dried tomatoes.
Table of Contents
Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet.
Broccoli cauliflower salad is easy to make with a few ingredients, and you don’t even need to cook the veggies.
We think you’ll love the taste and texture of raw broccoli and cauliflower florets marinated in our finger-licking dressing with mayonnaise (we use our vegan mayo recipe), Greek-style yogurt, a hint of sugar, and apple cider vinegar.
The acidity in the dressing is enough to marinate and slightly “cook” the vegetables, packing them with flavor.
And the added ingredients – especially the sun-dried tomatoes – do the rest to transform boring broccoli and cauliflower into one of the most flavor-packed salads.
Broccoli cauliflower salad video
Ingredients & Substitutions
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Broccoli & Cauliflower
Use fresh broccoli and cauliflower, preferably the florets and only part of the stems.
Cut them into small pieces to become more flavorful and less intimidating for people not used to eating raw vegetables.
You can make a delicious broccoli soup or cauliflower mashed potatoes with the leftover stems.
Sun-dried tomatoes
Sun-dried tomatoes in oil (not the dry ones) are crucial because they have a bold, savory flavor that adds richness and umami to every bite.
We use them to replace bacon bits, and we think you’ll love them.
Almonds & seeds
Go for a mix of almonds and sunflower seeds. Toast them on a pan for a couple of minutes before chopping them and adding them to the broccoli cauliflower salad.
Substitute walnuts, hazelnuts, cashew nuts, or pecans for almonds. Substitute pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds.
Red onion
Red onion adds a tangy and sharp flavor that’s delicious with the creamy dressing and the crunchy veggies.
Substitute spring onions for red onion.
Dried cranberries
Dried cranberries add some sweetness.
Substitute raisins or other dried fruit (like chopped dates or dried apricots) for dried cranberries.
Dressing
- Mayonnaise: you can use regular store-bought mayonnaise or our quick and delicious vegan mayo. That’s what we use here and in all our recipes that call for mayo. It’s thick, light, and easy to make.
- Yogurt: your recommendation is to use either plain Greek yogurt or an unsweetened non-dairy yogurt. You can substitute yogurt with sour cream or vegan sour cream.
- Apple cider vinegar: substitute white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or lemon juice for apple cider vinegar.
- Sugar: you can use white or brown sugar or replace it with maple syrup, agave syrup, or honey.
- Salt and black pepper.
How to make broccoli cauliflower salad
US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
1. Make the dressing
Here’s the recipe for vegan mayo if you are interested.
In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 of a teaspoon of black pepper. Set aside.
2. Prep the veggies
You’ll need a small broccoli head and a small cauliflower head to make the salad.
In total, they should weigh about 1.4 pounds.
Rinse, dry, and cut the broccoli and cauliflower into small florets.
Toast 1/4 cup of almonds and 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds in a small pan for a few minutes, then chop them into smaller pieces.
Chop 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes into small bits, and finely chop a small red onion.
Tip: You can use some of the stem, but I wouldn’t use all of it. With the leftovers, you can make broccoli soup or cauliflower mashed potatoes.
3. Mix the salad
To a large bowl, add raw broccoli florets and raw cauliflower florets, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped onion, almonds and seeds, and dried cranberries.
Pour in the dressing and toss until well combined.
You can serve the salad immediately, but we recommend letting it sit in the fridge for at least one hour for the best result.
Serving suggestions
Broccoli cauliflower salad is excellent as a side, for example, for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Try it next to:
- Mushroom Wellington
- Lentil loaf (coming soon)
- Stuffed butternut squash
- Fried tofu and BBQ Tofu
- Mushroom tofu cutlets
It’s also perfect to bring to picnics, potlucks, and cookouts. For example, you can pair it with:
Variations
Blanched broccoli cauliflower salad
Not a big fan of raw veggies? While we assure you that this salad is delicious raw (the crunch is out of this world), you can definitely blanch the veggies if you prefer.
To do so, cut the broccoli and cauliflower into florets, then boil them in a large pot of salted boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes.
Drain them and put them in a bowl with iced water, or cool them down under cold running water, then use as per our recipe.
Broccoli salad
This easy broccoli salad is similar to our broccoli and cauliflower salad but without the cauliflower.
This delicious side dish will make you fall in love with broccoli!
Check out our broccoli salad recipe.
Tips
Small florets
Cut the broccoli and the cauliflower into smaller-than-you-think florets so that each piece gets more flavorful and the salad is easier to eat.
Storage & Make Ahead
Make ahead: broccoli cauliflower salad is an excellent recipe for meal prep and for making up to 2 days ahead. The second day is even more flavorful as the dressing marinates the veggies.
Refrigerator: keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Take out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before eating.
Freezer: this recipe is not suitable for freezing.
More creamy salads
Love salads? We do, too, and we have many for you to choose from. Try:
More cauliflower ideas
If you love cooking with cauliflower, try these delicious and easy-to-make recipes:
For many more salad ideas, check out our salads category page.
Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients
- 1 small broccoli about ¾ pound or 340 grams
- 1 small cauliflower about ¾ pound or 340 grams
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- ¾ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained from the oil and chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup almonds toasted and chopped
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
FOR THE DRESSING
- ½ cup vegan mayo or your favorite mayo
- ½ cup Greek-style yogurt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar or maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- DRESSING: In a small bowl, whisk ½ cup vegan mayo, ½ cup Greek-style yogurt, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Set aside.
- NUTS & SEEDS: Toast ¼ cup almonds and 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds in a small skillet for a couple of minutes. Chop the almonds into smaller pieces.
- VEGGIES: Rinse, drain, and shake the water off 1 small broccoli and 1 small cauliflower, then cut them into small florets.
- To a large mixing bowl, add broccoli and cauliflower florets, 1 small red onion (chopped), ¾ cup sun-dried tomatoes (chopped), ½ cup dried cranberries, the almonds and seeds.
- Pour the dressing over the salad then toss until well combined.Let it sit in the fridge for at least one hour for the best result.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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