Healthy Vegan Broccoli Salad

While it may not sound like much, this vegan broccoli salad is a fresh and easy to make side dish that is chock full of flavor. With a simple almond and orange based dressing, this recipe is healthy, crisp and ready in 15 minutes!

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but broccoli is my favorite vegetable. I love it in salads like this one, air fried, roasted, steamed and even in smoothies. Broccoli salad is a traditionally not so healthy salad with lots of mayo, sometimes sugar and cheese.

It can be pretty heavy and dairy-filled, but this vegan broccoli salad is totally the opposite! The flavors are similar to my edamame crunch salad, but with a few key twists.

It’s fresh and crisp with an incredibly flavorful almond and orange based dressing. Plus, it only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish and keeps in the fridge for about 3 days.

Key ingredients

Broccoli. You need about 2 small heads of fresh raw broccoli for this recipe. I like to chop it really small to make for a better eating experience!

Purple cabbage. I like to finely shred the cabbage either in my food processor or using a mandolin to get very thin pieces.

Golden raisins. Regular raisins are also a great option, but I’ve always preferred the taste and texture of the golden variety!

Almonds. I like using sliced almonds in this recipe, but slivered almonds, chopped almonds or even walnuts would be delicious.

Green onion & cilantro. I’ve made this vegan broccoli salad with both green and red onion, but generally prefer it with the green. It’s a bit more mild and I find the flavor of red is a bit too strong. You can try using a mix if you like though!

Almond dressing. We’ll be using a homemade almond based dressing that features creamy almond butter, orange juice, soy sauce/tamari, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. I used honey to sweeten, but maple syrup will work if you follow a strict vegan diet.

You can leave out the almonds in the salad and sub the almond butter with sunflower seed butter for a nut free option. Tahini would be ok as well, but the flavor of sunflower butter would be best.

Instructions

Add all of the salad dressing ingredients to a bottle and shake well to combine. You can also stir it up in a bowl, but I find shaking is easiest. Taste and adjust flavors as desired.

Add all salad ingredients to a bowl. My preferred method of chopping broccoli for a salad is to make it really really small. I don’t keep it in larger florets, rather I like bite sized/shaved pieces.

Toss the salad with half of the dressing and let sit for about 10-15 minutes to marinate.

Toss with the rest of the dressing and serve. Enjoy!

Do you cook broccoli for broccoli salad?

Nope! Well, I suppose you could if you wanted to, but broccoli is generally raw in salad and I suggest keeping it that way for this vegan broccoli salad!

The dressing will soften the broccoli over time so it won’t be quite as tough, and it helps to chop it up very small for a better eating experience.

If you are going to cook the broccoli, I suggest blanching it for just 1 minute, then letting it cool. It will still be crisp and bright green, but will be a bit easier to chew/digest.

Storage tips

Because broccoli is such a tough vegetable, it holds up well and won’t get soggy like some other salads. You can safely prep this salad in advance and it’ll keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

Try these salads next!

• Edamame Crunch Salad
• Thai Quinoa Salad
• Vegan Pasta Salad

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