Creamy Vegan Broccoli Salad (Mayo-Free!)

This salad is so amazing. And 100% worth making if not just get coconut bacon into your life. That stuff is so delicious. I added a little lime and tamari to the dressing, just because. You cannot go wrong with this. I will be making this aaallllll summer long. Thanks for the recipe- another home run!

I made this tonight and it is absolutely fantastic even without the coconut bacon. I added a few vegetarian bacon bits as a substitute, but the salad truly doesn’t need them. The flavours are scrumptious! Thank you for the great recipe.

Really delicious I didn’t have or make the coconut bacon and added some grapes. This is a fresh and bright side dish that travels well if you need to bring something to a get together. The cashew butter was expensive and I considered substituting it but I’m glad I didn’t. (Although I do think tahini or vegan mayo would work in a pinch). Yum!

YUM! This was so so good. I was a little skeptical as I was making it and trying to get my cashew butter to mix in, but WOW! I served this on the side of our lentil sloppy joes for a balanced and easy dinner.

So hearty and delicious! I’m not a big salad person, and when I do eat them, I want them to feel like a meal. This definitely does! I love the smoky coconut flavour!

Switched out the sunflower seeds for pumpkin seeds, added some sliced honeycrisp apple, and it was a delicious salad! My family loved it!

I’m new to plant based way of eating & was looking for a broccoli salad recipe without mayo. I had to buy the cashew butter and didn’t make the coconut bacon (who knew such a thing existed). I added apples and peanuts instead of sunflower seeds. It was awesome!! I’ll make this again and again!! Thank you for sharing your creativity!

This recipe was amazing! I had a lot of broccoli and I love broccoli salad. I did use regular bacon bits but I definitely want to try the vegan “bacon”. I love all your recipes.

5 STAR RECIPE AS USUAL!!! I was looking for something that required little to no cooking, as it is so ridiculously hot out. To make into main entree & increase protein, I added 16 ounces of chickpea pasta and increased dressing by half. Subbed halved red grapes and dried apricots for fruit. I’ve made it twice: once with the coconut bacon and once without, and prefer without. Very quick and easy to put together, and between fiber from broccoli and chickpea pasta it’s extremely filling! Thank you so much for doing what you do.

This was so delicious! I didn’t have cashew butter, so I used some almond butter and soaked cashews along with the other dressing ingredients.

So so good! Better than the traditional broccoli salad with mayo/sugar/vinegar. I used real bacon and almond butter, mix of grapes and dried cranberries. I also blanched my broccoli so it wasn’t as bitter as I often think raw broccoli is.
I do plan on trying the coconut bacon soon!
The dressing is just delish!

Yes yes yes!
This salad is delicious, i had a couple of broccoli heads yellowing in the fridge and wanted to find a nice meal for them, not just them “toss in anything else you’re making” and I knew minimalist baker would be the place to come!
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I swapped the maple syrup for honey and halved the amount. It still delivers enough sweetness for my taste (and I love sweet!).
I also used only half the amount of nut butter for cost efficiency.

I can’t believe I had never tried that coconut bacon before, what a treat that brings the whole meal to another level!

Thanks Dana, vegetarianism without you would have been a lot blander for me!!

This is so good! Probably my new favorite salad and I didn’t even have the coconut bacon (excited to try another time!). Thanks for another great recipe.

I was looking for a way to jazz up a serving of broccoli, and am so glad I found this recipe! I love the dressing. I blanched the broccoli florets in a tiny bit of water with a scant teaspoon of baking soda to help them retain their color. I was out of dried cranberries (it’s all about making do these covid quarantine days), and so used a mix of raisins and goji berries, with lightly salted sunflower seeds and pepitas. Skipped the coconut bacon this time, but I’ll give that a try, too. Served this warm with a butternut squash soup and bread. The cold leftovers were delicious, too. Thank you!

I’ve made about 20 of the recipes on this website in the last 2 weeks (the lockdown has some benefits!), most have been 7* and are already on the “must make again” list, this one sits in the top 3. It’s so easy to make and so rich in flavour. The coconut bacon is now a staple in the pantry and I sprinkle some on top of everything!

Delicious, thank you!

I love this recipe! Love this broccoli salad from the deli counter at the grocery store and was happy to see a vegan version. So good, plan to big batches often to eat for lunch during the week.

Made the coconut bacon. Got the broccoli out. Debating steaming it for a minute..Decided to try your way (raw)first. Used currants, shallots and toasted and salted my (raw) sunflower seeds. My cashew butter was so thick that I got out my immersion blender when fork and whisk were useless. And then, put it everything together and…wanted to eat ALL OF IT IMMEDIATELY. This combination is SOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING. Thank you. Thank you!

So easy !!!! Thank uuuu

I used peanut butter instead of cashew butter

Perfect substitute

I made this with store-bought vegan bacon, minced shallot, currants and almond butter (because I didn’t have cashew butter). Yummy! Hubby says, “It’s a keeper.” :O)

Sorry I didn’t rate the recipe before – I’m not used to commenting on recipes! But this one turned out so well that I had to share what I thought of the dish. This is definitely a keeper!

Perfection! I enjoy this waaaaay more than the mayo version (and that was just from tasting it without letting the flavors marinate). Made my own cashew butter because I couldn’t find it at the store and it turned out great.

This was unbelievably delicious and even better than the traditional mayo-based broccoli salad yet still captured all the flavors! I wasn’t entirely convinced when I tasted the dressing on its own, but once mixed with all the other components, it was perfection. And the coconut bacon totally blew my mind – it seriously tastes like bacon. Everyone went back for seconds and thirds, including the carnivores! Only thing I did differently was to steam the florets for three minutes and then shock and drain well. So good, can’t wait to eat it again.

This is literally one of the best salads I have ever eaten! And the coconut bacon…highly addictive and wildly authentic! CRAZY delicious!

Wow this was so delicious, perfect blend of sweet and savory, I loved it

You my dear are a wizard! And you don’t know how much I love your style and your recipes! Happy new year–to my absolute favorite blog. Would add more stars******** if I could*

I made this to the tee except substituted with almond butter as what was in frig and Loved it!
Also only had regular size Trader Joe’s organic coconut flakes, which is a little bigger than most flakes and pretty substantial. Blended in beautifully and look forward to using this “bacon” in Mac and Cheeze ! ?

This is delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe. I used to love the mayo-based broccoli salad that was a family tradition but had never found a good vegan substitute. This will be going in our regular rotation now. It’s fabulous!

I just made this and it is delicious. I did not have cashew butter so I put raw cashews in my Bullet with a touch of olive oil. I subbed pumpkin seeds for the sunflower seeds. I loved the sweet and tangy flavor of the dressing and the crunch from the seeds and the coconut bacon. This is a great dish to take to a potluck.

Forgot to add that I omitted the liquid smoke (my husband doesn’t like it) and the faux bacon was still yummy.

Merry Christmas to me! I haven’t had much time to make dishes from scratch lately, but had the time today and made this for our Christmas Eve dinner. It is delicious! I made it as written (used raisins for the dried fruit) and I believe it is going to be a hit tonight.
Decades ago I worked for an organization who served the traditional version of this–packed with mayo and bacon and I always went “ham” on it. (This is long before I considered eating a plant-based diet.) :) Thanks for bringing back good memories and for introducing me to a healthier dish.
Merry Christmas Dana and team!

Fabulous recipe!!! i used unsweetened salted sunflower seed butter instead of cashew butter because of the difference in price point and it ended up being a wonderful substitution!!! probably a bit nuttier than it would have been with cashew butter. fun and flavorful vegan holiday dish- cant wait to share it with the omnivores in my family!

My boyfriend said this is the best salad he’s ever eaten hahaha It was incredible! I skipped the coconut bacon and only added 1tbsp of maple syrup and it was still amazing.