Keto broccoli salad isn’t much different than a regular broccoli salad! This salad is already packed full of veggies, with fresh cuts of broccoli, crispy bacon pieces, and lots of cheese!
What makes this broccoli salad really stands out is I eliminated the addition of white sugar for a keto friendly substitute that has nearly no taste differential.
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Keto Broccoli Salad
In this broccoli salad, I used a sweetener substitute in the dressing. If you do not need to worry about a few extra carbs, then you can change that back to white sugar.
- 24 oz Frozen Cut Broccoli, thawed and drained
- 1/2 tablespoon Monkfruit Sweetener
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3/4 cup Red Onion, Chopped
- 6-8 slices bacon, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 2/3 cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese
Serves 12
Fresh or Frozen Broccoli?
I think one of the biggest complaints with broccoli salad is that raw broccoli can be very tough, no matter if you cut the florets way down or not. Its hard to fine people that adore raw broccoli in and of itself, so there are two choices.
You can either buy heads of fresh, raw broccoli and blanch them so they are tender and green. This leaves the broccoli much less hard to chew. Or, what I like to do, is buy frozen cut broccoli (be careful not to buy the stem only cuts) and defrost. These are traditionally much softer broccoli. Just make sure you drain any additional water out of the broccoli before you pour into a bowl.
Do I have to steam my broccoli first? Its a great question with frozen broccoli, but you can leave the bag in the fridge overnight and let it thaw naturally and then drain the water out.
That being said, if you want super soft broccoli, you CAN steam it, then drain and cool it completely before making your salad. Just pop it in the fridge for an hour or so.
Make Keto Friendly Broccoli Salad Dressing
In many broccoli salads, there is an addition of sugar. I personally do not believe sugar is a requirement in broccoli salad at all, but in this case, to keep the salad KETO FRIENDLY, its easy to add a sugar substitute like Monkfruit Sweetener.
Combine your vinegar, sweetener, mayo, and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk well until combined. Set your dressing aside.
Assemble the Salad
- Combine: Combine your chopped up bacon, shredded cheese, red onion and broccoli into a bowl. Stir well.
- Mix: Mix your dressing and salad bowl together, making sure all the broccoli is completely covered.
Serve and Store Broccoli Salad
Chill for approx 1 hour, stir well and serve. Store in an air tight container for 2 days. I never suggest storing assembled salads much longer as the dressing can get watery.
Keto or non-Keto Broccoli Salad
Because this salad is keto and uses a keto sweetener, I haven’t added any salad ingredients that could break that. If you do not need a keto friendly or low carb salad, you could substitute your keto sweetener for regular white sugar and add 1/2 tablespoon to the dressing.
Variations
Please note that changing the salad ingredients could change its nutritional content, but here are some delicious suggestions.
- Half Cauliflower, Half Broccoli – Instead of full broccoli, change the salad up with one bag of frozen broccoli and one bag of frozen cauliflower pieces.
- Cut up Apple -Chop half a cup of red apple.
- Seedless Grapes – Cut 1 cup of seedless grapes, red or purple, into 1/2 pieces to add
- Almond Slivers – Nuts are always a great crunch to a salad, add 1/4th cup sliced or slivered almonds. Candied Walnuts would be great too!
- Squares of Cheese: Instead of shredded cheese, substitute for squares of cheese.
Keto Dishes – need a few more keto friendly recipes?
Salad Recipes
- Grape Tomatoes and Cucumber Salad
- Green Bean Salad with Feta
- Cherry Tomato Salad with Balsamic
- Shrimp Salad
- Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Keto Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Cheddar Cheese
Ingredients
- 24 oz Frozen Cut Broccoli thawed and drained
- 3/4 cup Red Onion Chopped
- 6-8 slices bacon chopped
- 1 1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese
- salt and pepper
Keto Salad Dressing
- 1/2 tablespoon Monkfruit Sweetener
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 2/3 cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
Instructions
- Combine: Combine your chopped up bacon, shredded cheese, red onion and broccoli into a bowl. Stir well.
- Whisk your dressing ingredients together well
- Mix: Mix your dressing and salad bowl together, making sure all the broccoli salad is completely covered.
- Serve and Store Broccoli Salad
- Chill for approx 1 hour, stir well and serve. Store in an air tight container for 2 days. I never suggest storing assembled salads much longer as the dressing can get watery.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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