Roasted Broccoli Salad
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I’ve been making this roasted broccoli salad for years. My family loves it, and when I serve it to friends, they always ask for the recipe. What makes this recipe special is that it is made with both roasted and raw broccoli, toasted almonds, sweet cranberries, and tiny pieces of tart lemon. It’s delicious!
This beauty in a bowl is what happens when broccoli salad, broccoli slaw, and crispy roasted broccoli come together for a salad party like no other. You’ll also find some crispy almonds, sweet cranberries, and tart little lemon slices in the mix just for some extra delicious fun times.
With each bite you take, you’ll get a little bit of crunchiness, crispness, sweetness, and tanginess. What more could you possibly ask for?
Ingredients needed
- Broccoli – the star of the show gets cut into bite-sized pieces and tossed in olive oil and sea salt before a roast in the oven.
- Almonds – they get roasted alongside the broccoli so they’re wonderfully fragrant.
- Cranberries – you could use raisins if you have them on hand. Or use your favorite dried fruit.
- Fresh dill – just a tablespoon brings so much fresh flavor to the salad.
- Lemon – sliced super thin and into tiny little pieces for the occasional, wonderfully bright pop of flavor.
- Lemony dressing – we make a dressing that is very similar to my popular lemon salad dressing and it just brings it all together.
About the lemon
We need to talk to you about the little lemon slices in here. They’re so tiny that you might not think they would be of much use, but every time one finds its way onto your fork, your mouth will explode with the most beautiful, fresh, lemony taste. They make the salad.
Or, some of us think they make the salad. One of our taste testers asked for fewer lemon slices on his second helping, which didn’t make any sense to the rest of us, who fully believed that they were the best part of this roasted broccoli salad.
So here’s the thing, I want to know your opinion. What do you think of the lemon slices in here?
Roasted Broccoli Salad Recipe
Ingredients
The lemony dressing
- ¼ cup lemon juice (fresh is best!)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey (sub maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove garlic (grated on a Microplane or very finely minced)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to broil. Place an oven rack on the second to top shelf.
- Roughly chop the broccoli, making sure to include the sweet broccoli stems. You should have around 9 cups. Place 2 cups of broccoli in a large bowl and the rest on the baking sheet. Drizzle the broccoli on the baking sheet with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Mix it around so that all of the broccoli is coated with oil. Pop it in your oven and let it roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the florets are dark brown. Remove them from the oven and put them in the bowl with the raw broccoli.2 heads broccoli, 2 teaspoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Put the almonds in a small baking dish and roast them in the oven along with the broccoli until they are fragrant and light brown, about 8 minutes. Remove them from the oven and roughly chop them once they are cool enough to handle. Add the chopped almonds, cranberries, dill and lemon slices to the bowl with the broccoli.½ cup almonds, ¼ cup dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, 4 very thin slices of lemon
- In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Pour it over the broccoli and toss to coat.¼ cup lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 clove garlic, 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- Serve immediately, or let it stand for up to 20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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More delicious salads
For more inspiration, check out all of our broccoli recipes!
Delicious … as I didn’t have cranberries at home I added prunes 🙂 thank you very much for the recipe. It goes into my collection ?
You’re very welcome!
I made this salad tonight and it was delicious! I wouldn’t change anything other than next time I will add even more lemon slices. Really tasty, thanks for sharing!!
So happy to hear you also love the lemon!
Loved it! And loved the lemons! I wasn’t sure about eating the lemons rind and all without roasting but it was great. I think I’ll add even more next time! Thank you!!
SO happy to hear that you love those little bits of lemon, too!
Absolutely love your recipes!!! I would love to purchase your cookbooks!!!
That’s wonderful to hear. Thanks, Catherine!
I totally agree, the lemon slices MAKE the salad!! Thank you for your persuasive words in your post because I thought it was a little weird and honestly almost left them out but OMG they are so good! I always get asked to bring broccoli salad to Thanksgiving and was tired of the traditional sweet mayonnaise dressing broccoli salad. Now this one is a favorite among my family as well!
Yay! I’m so happy that you like the little lemon slices, too!
I have made this in the past and it was awesome. Going to make it again for the 4th of July barbecue.
That’s so great to hear! Happy 4th of July!
Delicious, made it 2x in 3 days. My favourite at the moment. Thank you for sharing ❤️
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit!
Yum!!! All of the flavours shine! Thank you.
You’re so welcome! I’m so happy you like it!!
Sounds delicious. As a matter of interest have you tried roasting the lemons in this salad?
Roughly chop the broccoli, making sure to include the sweet broccoli stems. You should have around 9 cups. Place 2 cups of the broccoli in a large bowl and the rest on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle the broccoli on the baking sheet with the olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Mix it around so that all the broccoli is coated with oil. Pop it in your oven and let it roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the florets are dark brown. Remove them from the oven and put them in the bowl with the raw broccoli.
Put the almonds in a small baking dish and roast them in the oven along with the broccoli?? The Broccoli is already roasted???
What I meant to say is that you can roast the almonds at the same time as the broccoli. No need to wait for the broccoli to come out of the oven before you put the almonds in. Sorry if it was confusing!
This looks delicious but it is NOT vegan. Please correct.
If honey is not a part of your diet, simply replace it with maple syrup. 🙂
Hi Kristen,
I made this dish and it is beyond amazing! the dill really adds great flavour.
On a side note, if you are claiming that its vegan ” This roasted broccoli salad has both roasted and raw broccoli, toasted almonds, cranberries and tiny pieces of tart lemon. It’s paleo, vegan and delicious!” then you need to add a note next to honey saying omit if you are vegan. This just stops any confusion.
Also, as a vegan when I go to other peoples houses for dinner they often make something for me to eat going off a recipe from the internet. If the recipe says vegan than they will think its vegan as they don’t know the ins and outs of the diet. Therefore its best not to claim your recipe is vegan if it isn’t – or at least make note of where any animal products that are used can be omitted to make it vegan.
Thanks again for the recipe – i sure will be making it again (without the honey of course 😉
Hi Chloe!
I’m really happy you brought up the point about going to other people’s houses. The reason I always place recipes with honey in them in the vegan category is because I know quite a few people who eat vegan do eat honey, and I always assume those who don’t know to replace the honey with maple syrup or omit it. I never thought of what would happen if someone who is vegan goes out to dinner and their host prepares a meal with honey. I’ll keep this in mind for future recipes and make a note in this one!
OMG! In Kristen’s defence, if you can’t figure out that you replace honey with something else to make it vegan…… i don’t even want to finish that.
Amazing salad, Kristen! and entirely adaptable! Thank you!
This was absolutely DELISH! I am sick of letting veggies go to waste and needed a change from plain old roasted broccoli. This fit the bill and I LOVED THE LEMONS!
The lemons are the best, aren’t they?!!
This was phenomenal! My husband LOVES lemons (he can sit and eat half a lemon on its own), and we love this. A keeper! Thanks so much!
Wow … my cheeks are puckering at the thought of eating a half a lemon! So happy you like the recipe!!
Trying this recipe tonight sounds amazing! I was wondering can you eat it cold? I was going to pre make it. Or do you suggest to heat it back up?
It can definitely be eaten cold! One of the things I really like about this salad is that it keeps well for several days. 🙂
If making this ahead and eating cold/room temp; would you recommend waiting to toss with the dressing before serving or just put it all together at once?
That depends how far ahead you plan on making it. If it’s longer than a couple of hours, I would wait and toss it just before serving. 🙂
Tried it twice : it’S a great recipe!
We actually mixed it with pasta and feta cheese to turn it into a meal: délicious!
Thank you so much, Stephanie! Love that you’ve added feta …. yum!
I was reading the recipe – getting ready to make for supper this evening and noticed that I cannot find where or when to put the lemon slices in. I’m sure its just a matter of mixing them in but I want to be sure to do it properly Thanks
Hi Marj,
The lemon slices go in after the broccoli is roasted … you’ll see it at the end of step 3 in the recipe instructions.
Hope you like the salad. It’s one of my favs 🙂
Kristen,
I have been meaning to tell you, this broccoli salad has changed my life. I have made it 4 times now and each time, I think about how I need to tell you how incredibly grateful I am for it. I’m eating it right now and I just have to say thank you for posting such a gem.
Melissa
Thank you so much for your feedback, Melissa! I’m so so happy to hear how much you like the salad!!