Skip the traditional broccoli salad that's packed with sugar! This Keto Broccoli Salad with crispy bacon, cheese, topped with a keto friendly dressing and sunflower seeds, will be the goto side dish recipe for all your family events! Only 4 net carbs!
Love the traditional broccoli salad but not all of the sugar that comes with it? Now I'm happy to share with you this traditional side dish, with a keto friendly twist! This keto Broccoli Salad uses blanched broccoli so it's not raw crunchy broccoli, but it still has that bright green beautiful color. Topped with crispy bacon and crunchy sunflower seeds for so much added flavor.
Your family and friends will have no idea that this flavorful broccoli salad is low carb friendly too! Who knew the keto diet could be so delicious!
Ingredients needed
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for this keto broccoli salad recipe, what each one does in the recipe, and substitutions. For a printable recipe, see the recipe card below.
½ pound Bacon, cooked and crumbled
5 cups small fresh broccoli florets - you want small pieces so they are easier to eat.
½ Red onion, sliced thin - this is optional. If you are not a fan of red onion, please leave them out.
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes - omit the cheese and this will be completely dairy-free (mayo is not dairy FYI)
½ cup Sunflower seed hearts - you could use any nuts or seeds you like such as pumpkin seeds, pecans, or almonds for added texture.
1 cup Mayonnaise - for a lighter keto broccoli salad, you could try Greek Yogurt instead of mayo to cut calories but it will still be nice and creamy.
2 Tablespoons Apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
How to make keto broccoli salad
This section explains how to make this low-carb broccoli salad recipe, step by step. For a full printable recipe, see the recipe card below.
Blanche the Broccoli
Fill a large pot half full with salted water and bring to boil. You want the water to taste salty.
Have a large bowl half full of cold ice water standing by.
Cook the broccoli in the boiling water for 1 minute.
Then, immediately remove the broccoli from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and put in the cold water to stop the cooking.
Now remove the broccoli from the cold water to drain on paper towels.
Make the keto broccoli salad dressing
Whisk together the mayo and the apple cider vinegar in a small mixing bowl.
Assemble the salad
In a large mixing bowl, combine the blanched broccoli, bacon, red onion, cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds, and broccoli salad dressing.
Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve
Pro tip:
- Make sure your broccoli florets are chopped into small pieces so this keto broccoli salad is easier to eat. Also, you could use raw broccoli in your salad but some people find that hard to digest.
Storing low carb broccoli salad
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1-2 days.
- If you want to keep this salad for longer than 2 days, I would make the dressing separate and store it in the refrigerator separately from the rest of the salad. Otherwise the ingredients will start to get soggy.
- Mix in cooked, chopped chicken breast for an even heartier dish!
What to serve this with to make it a complete meal
This salad has only 4 total carbs!
broccoli salad will keep for 1 to 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Keto Broccoli Salad
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Tip: Hitting your 20–30g protein per meal goal helps you stay full and supports muscle.
Ingredients
- ½ pound Bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 5 cups small broccoli florets
- ½ Red onion, sliced thin
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
- ½ cup Sunflower seed hearts
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons Apple cider vinegar
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Blanche the Broccoli
- Fill a large pot half full with salted water and bring to boil. You want the water to taste salty.
- Have a large bowl half full of cold ice water standing by.
- Cook the broccoli in the boiling water for 1 minute.
- Then, immediately remove the broccoli from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and put in the cold water to stop the cooking.
- Now remove the broccoli from the cold water to drain on paper towels.
Assemble the Cold Broccoli Salad
- In a small mixing bowl whisk together the mayo and apple cider vinegar to make the dressing.In a large mixing bowl, combine the blanched broccoli, bacon, red onion, cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds, dressing.
- Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve
Notes
- I cook my bacon on a sheet pan in the oven at 375F until crisp and then cutting it into bite size pieces. You could also cut the bacon into pieces and cook in a skillet until crisp.
- If you want to lighten this up, you could try using greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1-2 days.
- Mix in cooked, chopped chicken breast for an even heartier dish.
- If you want to keep this salad for longer than 2 days, I would make the dressing separate and store it in the refrigerator separately from the rest of the salad. Otherwise the ingredients will start to get soggy.
Peaches says
Super Delicious! I love this just as much as the one that has sugar. I ;love that you didn't add any other sweetener, because its simply perfection! Only question is what is the serving size?