You'll obsess over our viral keto broccoli salad with fried bacon, cheese, and sunflower seeds. Top off the salad with a keto-friendly sweet dressing that'll be the star of your next potluck, holiday table, or your work lunch room. Just 5 net carbs per serving!
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"This is so delicious! I just made it and couldn't stop eating it. Thank you for an amazing recipe! I've been looking for salads to meal prep and this is perfect!" ~ T
"Wow! Since starting low carb, I’ve been looking for a good broccoli salad recipe… this one is amazing!! I like it just as well or even better than the standard recipe;)" ~ Lisa
Our broccoli salad keto recipe is the best!
Raw broccoli bacon salad has been a classic since the 1970's, this is a keto adaption of our family favorite that I've been making for decades. This salad will seriously rave reviews from your friends and family and no one would ever guess it's low carb and sugar free.
The traditional broccoli salad recipe calls for lots of sugar, lemon juice, and sweetened cranberries or raisins. We've taken out the sugar and swapped the lemon for apple cider vinegar, which adds a nice kick and makes the salad taste even better. You won't even miss the dried fruit with that sweet tangy dressing!
Our version holds its shape and doesn't get soggy, it'll keep for many days in the fridge, which also makes it great for lunch meal prep. This is also a simple recipe to customize by changing the protein, the type of cheese, or you can use a different kind of nuts.
We originally wrote this in 2018, it was updated and rewritten with new photos added in 2024. It's the same great recipe!
Ingredients you'll need
- broccoli-tops only - You can either buy broccoli crowns or buy whole broccoli and cut the stalks off. Swapping half of the broccoli for cauliflower is a great variation!
- well cooked and chopped bacon - bake or air fry your own or buy a bag of pre-cooked bacon from Costco. You could also use diced ham, roasted chicken, or turkey.
- diced red onion - green onions taste good eaten raw too
- shredded cheddar cheese - any shredded cheese will work here, to keep it as low carb as possible we recommend shredding cheese from a block instead of using cheddar from a bag that adds potato starch (and hidden carbs)
- salted sunflower seeds - pecans, macadamia nuts, and pine nuts are great too
- mayonnaise - Use a sugar free mayo. You can also swap half of the mayo for sour cream or Greek yogurt.
- apple cider vinegar (or fresh lemon juice) - we prefer to make this a keto broccoli salad with apple cider vinegar since it's easy and lower in carbs than lemon juice.
- granulated monk fruit to add a touch of sweetness. Or use stevia to taste (it's much stronger than monk fruit).
This is just an overview of what you need and how to make it, get the full instructions and quantities down in the recipe card at the bottom.
Variations
- Change the dressing. Instead of making the dressing you can swap it for a low carb Ranch dressing, or another creamy favorite.
- Cook the broccoli by parboiling it or roasting it.
- Add low carb fruit like blueberries
- Make it vegetarian by leaving out the bacon. Add more nuts, roasted chickpeas, or another plant based salty substitute.
How to make low carb bacon broccoli salad
Make the dressing. Mix the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and monk fruit in a small bowl and set it aside.
Prep the veggies. You're just using chopped broccoli crowns here, not the stalk. I don't worry if I get little bits of stem pieces in the salad, but most of the broccoli should just be the heads. Chop it into very small pieces and add to a large bowl.
Don't toss the stalks!
While our broccoli salad recipe just uses the broccoli crowns, if you have leftover stalks, use them to make broccoli rice!
Add remaining ingredients. Add the chopped onion, shredded cheddar, chopped bacon, and sunflower seeds to the large bowl.
Add the dressing and combine it with the broccoli salad ingredients. We recommend letting the salad rest in the fridge for at least an hour or two before serving to blend the flavors. Enjoy!
Recipe tips
- You can definitely serve the salad right after assembling, yet it has an even better flavor if you let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or even overnight.
- We mix the dressing in with salad but you can serve it on the side too!
- To keep the carbs as low as possible, shred the cheese from a block, and use mayo and bacon that don't add sugar.
- Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in the fridge.
More keto broccoli recipes
- Broccoli Cakes
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Roasted Broccoli Recipe
- Homemade Cheddar Sauce
- Chicken Divan Casserole
If you loved our recipe, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and leave us a comment too! Connect with us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube!
Recipe
Keto Broccoli Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 heads of broccoli tops only
- 8 slices well cooked and chopped bacon
- 1 cup red onion diced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese shred it from a block
- ½ cup salted and roasted sunflower seeds
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoon monk fruit or erythritol
Instructions
- Make the broccoli salad dressing by mixing the mayo, apple cider vinegar, and monk fruit (or erythritol) in a small bowl. Set it aside.
- Add the chopped broccoli, crumbled bacon, red onion, cheddar cheese, and sunflower seeds to a large bowl. Combine.
- Mix in the salad dressing. Enjoy! Chill for 1+ hours before serving to blend the flavors.
Notes
- Leftovers will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- Easy adaptions include swapping the bacon for ham or roasted chicken, using different cheese or nuts, or even mixing in low carb fruit like blueberries.
- The nutritional information is an estimate and does not subtract erythritol from the net carb count. This recipe roughly has 3 net carbs per serving after subtracting the fiber and erythritol. People following a keto diet subtract both of these from the carb count since they have zero impact on blood sugar. We highly recommend calculating the nutrition yourself also since all brands can vary.
Nutrition
CDC says
I only used a tablespoon of finely diced white onion, added 1/2 cup raisins & omitted the cheese.
Lisa says
Love this recipe sooo much! Make it often and it's always a hit. Thank you for putting this one out there.
Diane says
Do you use real mayo or miracle whip?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Diane, my go-to brand is usually Best Foods. Just use whatever brand you like! Jen
Jessica says
How long does this keep refrigerated once made?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Jessica, Up to 5 days! It's great to eat off of all week. Jen
Deb says
This salad is great and very forgiving! I soaked our red onion in water for a few minutes and then drained it (we can't do too much raw allium over here) and substituted celery for the sunflower seeds (we have tons of celery and no sunflower seeds) and added a little lemon pepper seasoning to the dressing instead of erythritol (we've never had the original sweetened salad and so we didn't miss the sweetness.) Thank you so much for sharing this!
J Ehlers says
Delicious! Thank you for sharing. Next time I will only use 1/2 cup red onion but other than that, no changes!
Pam says
Is a serving size roughly a cup?
Pam says
This broccoli salad is very good. Was easy to make and definitely will be making me again! Thank you for sharing!
Maria Demiter says
What is a serving size amount
Vicki says
This was a great salad! People asked me for the recipe at my event! Made it as written - delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Karen T. says
Made it and loved it. I made a few changes but I’m sure it’s fabulous as written. I omitted the cheese and used about 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds instead of the sunflower seeds. For the dressing, I used 1/2 cup light Mayo, one small package Splenda, 1 T. Apple cider vinegar and then about 1/2 cup or so of Bolthouse farms ranch salad dressing. I’m not keto and follow Weight Watchers so this helped with the calories.
Rebecca says
I made this last night minus the sunflower seeds and it is AMAZING!!! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Sara Miller says
I have made this 3-4 times after the first time. I use a bag of fresh broccoli florets (12 oz) and scaled everything back. It’s so good and quick to throw together. I think I’m gonna make this every weekend cookout this summer, at this rate.
Joanna says
Do we use raw broccoli or should we steam it first? Thank you!
WholeLottaYum says
Raw broccoli! Thanks for checking 🙂
denise says
I used monk fruit to sweeten. I found it a bit salty. I added too much cheese. The seeds I used were raw so they were not saltened.