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
Wally says
5 stars! Better than the stuff I've been buying from the grocery store deli. The cider vinegar is the perfect amount of tang, and everyone loved it.
Only subsitution is I used one packet of sucralose for the sweetener (supposedley equivalent to two teaspoons of sugar) and it was perfect.
Will be adding this recipe in to regular rotation!
Megan says
I have been doing Low Carb/Keto since November and was worried how I was going to get through this first summer. This salad has already saved me twice! I made it for the first time at for a Memorial Day party and then for a graduation party. Not only did it give me a side that I could enjoy it’s a hit with everyone who eats it. Thank you for sharing!
WholeLottaYum says
You're welcome, Megan! It's seriously the best party side dish for everyone. It's our family go to (since the 1970's!) as well. XO, Jen
Barb says
I made this over the weekend, using sprouted pumpkin seeds - that's what I had. Yum! My husband LOVES it and requested we add to our weekly rotation 🙂
Victoria says
Delicious! I was out of apple cider vinegar so substituted with red wine vinegar.
My entire family enjoyed this salad.
Becky says
This is so good! I used 2 of the 12oz broccoli/Cauli medley bags from Walmart. The red onion I bought was no good so I subbed in several tablespoons of dried chives, which worked fine. It's delicious freshly prepared so can't wait to taste again in a few hours!
Becky says
Made this a second time to take to a potluck. Everyone raved about it, in fact the one neighbor guy asked if he could take the leftover home "for the kids." 🙂
sv1 says
I just made this and omg! It taste so good and so healthy. Instead of bacon, I used baked chicken breast and it still taste delicious!! The sauce is a bonus!!
Kelly says
loved it
Lisa says
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;)
Jenn G says
Just finished putting this together. It tasted great immediately so I can hardly wait until it sits for a bit!
Michelle says
What is a serving size?
Michelle says
I am going shopping tomorrow and will be buying the ingredients! This recipe looks pretty yummy! My question is what is the serving size... 1 cup?
WholeLottaYum says
Roughly a cup but I've never measured it out. I'll do that next time we make it 🙂 Jen
Brianna says
Sounds amazing! I'm not really a fan of raw broccoli, can I blanch the broccoli a little?
WholeLottaYum says
I promise it's super good with raw broccoli! I never eat raw broccoli either unless it's this salad. But yes! You could blanch it, let it cool, and then proceed. 🙂
Jen says
This sounds amazing! Can Splenda be used, in place of erythritol?
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you, Jen! It seriously is so delish! You can use Splenda to taste, I'm not sure if it's a 1:1 equivalency but any sweetener of choice works great. I have lots of readers who leave the sweetener out and still rave about it 🙂 Enjoy!
Becky says
I used toasted pecans instead of sunflower seeds. It was very good. I love this recipe!
Hollie says
As I was combining the ingredients, I kept thinking there’s no way this is good. I just don’t get these ingredients working together and that’s a lot of mayo. And then I took the first bite and I stand corrected. It was perfect! Family approved also.