Cold Broccoli Salad
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This cold broccoli salad has lots of fresh broccoli, golden raisins, onion and roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s tossed in an amazingly tangy and delicious tarragon dressing that’s even better the next day!
Cold Broccoli Salad
I was first introduced to this salad from my mother-in-law several years ago and have since embellished upon it with a couple ingredients, but the initial salad of cold, uncooked broccoli was what I loved surprisingly. I had never had it before and the tangy dressing was fantastic.
Broccoli is great steamed with grated lemon zest, or with sharp cheddar cheese melted over the top, but there came a time when a cold, uncooked broccoli salad opened my eyes to another way to enjoy broccoli.
Ingredient notes
Super simple ingredients in this salad.
Broccoli florets, quick pickled red onions, pumpkin seeds and golden raisins, The salad dressing is easy to make, too.
Dried tarragon adds a nice herbal note.
I have used dried cranberries in the past, but prefer the golden raisins. For a little extra crunch, I include roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds without the shell), a house favorite in salads.
One of the ingredients is quick pickled red onions. I like to keep this mixture on hand in my refrigerator for different salads and as a garnish on Mexican dishes.
How to Make Tarragon Salad Dressing
In a mixing bowl add the mayonnaise, rice wine vinegar, honey, mustard, tarragon, salt and pepper, whisk thoroughly.
Video: Making Cold Broccoli Salad
You can watch the video in the recipe card to see exactly how this delicious salad is to make.
Instructions
- Chop the broccoli into florets, trim and chop the stalks as well if you like into bite size pieces.
- Place the chopped broccoli in a mixing bowl and add the marinated red onions, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and golden raisins.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and mix to completely coat the vegetables.
- Chill for 20 minutes prior to serving.
This broccoli salad is perfect as a side dish for outdoor parties, BBQs and potlucks.
Cold broccoli salad is fantastic served with baby back ribs or rib eye steak, and of course, you can’t have a summer picnic without it!
This post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking Nov 13, 2013, was last updated with new content on Aug 19, 2021.
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Cold Broccoli Salad + Video
Ingredients
- For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp dry tarragon
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the Salad:
- 4 cups crowns and stalks of broccoli
- 1/2 medium red onion , sliced thin
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup pepitas (toasted, salted pumpkin seeds)
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
Instructions
- In a bowl add the sliced red onions and 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar or enough to cover. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes or overnight.
- In a mixing bowl add the mayonnaise, rice wine vinegar, honey, mustard, tarragon, salt and pepper, whisk thoroughly.
- Chop the broccoli into florets and trim and chop the stalks as well if you like into bite size pieces. Place in a mixing bowl and add the marinated red onions, pepitas and golden raisins.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and mix to completely coat the vegetables and chill for 20 minutes prior to serving.
Video
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I have all of these ingredients! Love the dressing. Can’t wait to try it.
Good stuff indeed Sally! 🙂