Amish cooking offers a broad array of tasty and surprisingly rich meals. After all, these powerful people spend most of their days working, so they need something that fills them up. This broccoli salad should do the trick indeed!
This raw broccoli recipe is also a bacon salad, and one of my most popular potluck sides ever! The creamy salad dressing combines with the bacon, broccoli, and other ingredients to produce an unforgettable dish that has never failed to satisfy my family.
As a pretty big fan of salads, there’s just something so satisfying and refreshing about a good one. Since they are usually very healthy, they can be tailored to meet your taste needs. This dish is no different, and I think that you’re really going to love it.
Best of all? It works well not only as a side but as a main course! In fact, I’ve seen a lot of people eating only this at my parties, proving just how useful it is as a meal.
Looking for something a bit more traditional? Our Waldorf Salad blends a myriad of tasty ingredients into a surprisingly luscious and decadent salad that is still really good for your health. We call that winning!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A diverse range of uses for this broccoli salad (a side or main dish)
- Few ingredients (which makes this raw broccoli recipe pretty easy to make)
- A creamy salad dressing that will bring out a huge flavor explosion in your bacon salad
- An Amish cooking favorite that expands your potluck sides to some new, exciting places
- Easy-to-store design that should give you a few days of tasty meals
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Broccoli: It’s hard to imagine broccoli salad without this ingredient! In fact, this raw broccoli recipe is really not much if you cut it out. That said, you can also use green beans or even spinach, which dramatically changes their taste and texture.
Cauliflower: Broccoli’s less popular cousin will brighten your bacon salad and make it one of your favorite potluck sides ever! Zucchini or cabbage may also work well, but honestly, I’d keep this one if I were you.
Bacon: While broccoli is the main deal here, there’s a reason why you could also call this a bacon salad! This sweet meat brings real protein crunch to your recipe. You could replace it with tempeh or mushrooms for a healthier flavor.
Cheddar Cheese: Cheddar, as the saying goes, makes everything better! Sprinkle a little on your salad, and you’ll find everyone eating it as fast as they can! Monterey Jack works as a nice alternative, though I’d avoid vegan cheese in your Amish cooking.
Sour Cream: There’s just something about sour cream that makes it one of the best extras of all time! Its creamy flavor will really make your salad sing! You could try Greek yogurt or cottage cheese with this salad for a healthier meal.
Tips for Success
- Prep your dressing the day before or a few hours in advance to give it time to chill
- Always cook your bacon to a crispy state with this salad (it adds texture)
- Make sure your broccoli and cauliflower are cut into bite-sized chunks
- Let everything sit for a while (not too long) to really soak in the flavor
- Serve before the veggies become soggy (which can be hard for some to enjoy)
Storage & Reheating
Typically, you don’t want to leave this broccoli salad out on the counter for too long. After all, your raw broccoli recipe needs to be cooled, especially its creamy salad dressing. This bacon salad should last in the fridge in an airtight container for up to five days. I wouldn’t freeze it because the ingredients don’t settle well.
Furthermore, I wouldn’t even try to warm it up since this is basically a cold dish. Instead, I’d just serve it chilled straight from the fridge. You can even add a little more dressing to your Amish cooking when reheating it, along with other popular potluck sides.
Serving Suggestions
- Barbecue meats go amazingly well with this broccoli salad
- Bread works well as a soaking food for creamy salad dressing with this raw broccoli recipe
- Add your raw broccoli recipe on top of sandwiches or wraps for a really nice blend
- Pair with pierogies and other Amish cooking dishes when prepping potluck sides
- Drink lemonade or sweet tea with this tasty bacon salad
Notes
The first time I made this broccoli salad, I was honestly kind of panicking and mostly improvising! Here’s the story. I was tasked with bringing in a good side dish for our company’s Fourth of July celebration. It was sprung on me last minute because they knew I was a good cook.
I racked my brain and tried to come up with a raw broccoli recipe that I thought everyone would love. After looking through my pantry, fridge, and freezer, I saw what ingredients I had and came up with a plan. The result was a huge hit at parties, especially with the creamy salad dressing.
I think that everyone in your family will enjoy this when you add it to your potluck sides. While I’m not part of the church, Amish cooking is eerily close to this bacon salad.
A Fantastic Creamy Broccoli & Bacon Salad From Cheeky Kitchen
Ingredients
- 2 large heads of fresh broccoli cut into bite-sized florets (about 6 cups)
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon cooked extra crispy and crumbled
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- ½ cup red onion finely diced
- ½ cup chewy raisins or dried cranberries
- ½ cup sunflower seed kernels toasted
- 1 cup real mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Wash your broccoli thoroughly and pat the heads completely dry with a clean kitchen towel. Ensuring the florets are totally dry is an essential step, as any leftover surface water will thin out the dressing and prevent it from clinging to the vegetable walls.
- Chop the broccoli into small, uniform, bite-sized florets. Peel the tough outer layer off the remaining stems, dice the tender interior stems, and toss them right into a large serving bowl along with the florets.
- Add the crumbled crispy bacon, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, finely diced red onion, and raisins to the large bowl with the broccoli matrix. Toss the mix-ins gently together until they are evenly distributed.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, granulated white sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Whisk the ingredients firmly together for 1 to 2 minutes until the sugar crystals dissolve completely and the mixture emulsifies into a perfectly smooth, velvety dressing baseline.
- Pour the creamy sweet-and-tangy dressing baseline directly over the broccoli and toppings mixture.
- Use a wide rubber spatula or two large wooden spoons to fold the salad together from the bottom up, ensuring every single floret is completely and uniformly coated in the dressing.
- Scatter the toasted sunflower seed kernels into the salad at the very end. Folding them in last preserves their toasted texture and prevents them from softening too quickly in the dressing.
- Cover the serving bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour before serving. This cooling window is critical, as it gives the sugar and vinegar time to break down the raw bite of the broccoli and allows the flavors to marry beautifully. Stir gently right before serving cold.
