Simple, creamy broccoli and blue cheese salad is loaded with crunchy bites of bacon. Make it for an easy side dish for family dinners, game days, and holidays. Let’s throw it together quickly.
Why this creamy broccoli and blue cheese salad is #1
- Easy to throw together for meal prep.
- Simple dinner side dish salad.
- Make it ahead for game day food.
- Packed with crunchy bacon.
- It lasts a few days in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this broccoli bacon and blue cheese salad.
- Bacon
- Broccoli florets (about 2 heads of broccoli)
- Onion (yellow or red onion)
- Red pepper
- Blue cheese dressing
- Salt and pepper
- Sunflower seeds
- Chives, fresh chopped
- Blue cheese crumbles
Note: I don’t find it necessary to add any olive oil, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice to this recipe – which you might find in other tasty broccoli salad recipes, because the blue cheese dressing comes prepared with all the right ingredients. It’s a shortcut to use pre-made dressing so you don’t need these other ingredients.
Serve it with something like this Instant Pot chicken noodle soup or smoked turkey breast.
How to make broccoli blue cheese salad
Here’s the step by step to whip it up.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add bacon to a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake bacon for ~10-15 minutes in the oven, until cooked through, to desired level of crispiness. Flip bacon once in the middle of baking if desired. Once done, pat dry with paper towel and chop bacon into bite-sized pieces.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove over high heat. Add broccoli and boil for 2 minutes. Drain broccoli immediately, and run cold water over broccoli florets to keep them from cooking.
- To a large bowl, add blanched broccoli, diced onion, and diced red pepper. Toss to combine.
- Add blue cheese dressing, salt, and pepper. Mix together to coat broccoli salad ingredients until fully coated with dressing.
- Top salad with sunflower seeds, chives, and blue cheese crumbles.
Check out my easy and healthy air fryer broccoli recipe.
FAQs
You can make other versions of broccoli and blue cheese salad recipes with diced ham, cilantro, pine nuts, turkey bacon, tomatoes, sliced almonds, bacon bits, cauliflower, or anything else you have on hand. To add a little something sweet, try dried cranberries, dried apricot pieces, or minced apple. However you customize it, it’ll be delicious!
This broccoli and blue cheese salad goes well with rice and chicken, and adds a gourmet touch to a steak dinner. It’s also an easy side for homemade pizza night.
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Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
See how to grill broccoli…
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, if you love this broccoli salad recipe, I have another you’ll enjoy.
See how to make my easy grilled chicken wings – they’re the perfect main dish for this tasty salad. Serve them with a potato side dish for a complete meal. Or as a football appetizer for some game day food everyone will love.
To get my latest and greatest creative recipes before they’re shared on the site, connect with me on Instagram @sipbitego. And for more deliciousness, subscribe to the Sip Bite Go channel.
To find more delicious recipes to try on your culinary journey, scroll through the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.
Broccoli And Blue Cheese Salad Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
- 4 pieces bacon
- 6 cups broccoli florets (about 2 heads of broccoli), trimmed to 2-3” segments
- ¼ cup onion diced
- ¼ cup red peppers diced
- ¼ cup blue cheese dressing
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper black
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp chives fresh chopped
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add bacon to a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake bacon for ~10-15 minutes in the oven, until cooked through, to desired level of crispiness. Flip bacon once in the middle of baking if desired. Once done, pat dry with paper towel and chop bacon into bite-sized pieces.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove over high heat. Add broccoli and boil for 2 minutes. Drain broccoli immediately, and run cold water over broccoli florets to keep them from cooking.
- To a large bowl, add blanched broccoli, diced onion, and diced red pepper. Toss to combine.
- Add blue cheese dressing, salt, and pepper. Mix together to coat broccoli salad ingredients until fully coated with dressing.
- Top salad with sunflower seeds, chives, and blue cheese crumbles.
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