A delicious salad, full of crisp vegetables and crunchy bacon. This keto broccoli salad makes a great low carb side dish or light meal! 7 NET CARBS PER SERVING
A Delicious Low Carb Broccoli Salad
Getting your veggies in on a keto diet can seem daunting! The carb requirements of a keto diet are very low, and if you add things like nuts and seeds, berries, small amounts of dark chocolate, or processed keto foods, that small allotment is quickly filled up.
However, our bodies need the phytonutrients in vegetables to stay healthy! The keto diet is healthy long term IF it’s based around quality meats and low carb vegetables. The other low carb additions should be added in after.
And if you struggle to keep that carb count low enough, stop counting the carbs in greens and veggies like broccoli and cauliflower. They are that important.
This healthy Keto Broccoli Salad has tons of plant goodness to celebrate!
You’ll love this salad because:
- BACON (right?!)
- It has a bright lemon tahini dressing, which gives it all the creaminess of the classic recipe, but with healthier fats.
- Great for meal prep. It’s easy to put together, and holds well refrigerated for days. Add an egg, or a piece of grilled meat or fish, for a satisfying meal anytime.
- It’s portable. Add these to meal prep containers and take a serving to work, to school, out while you’re running errands — you won’t feel sad pulling out your packed food when it’s this salad inside!
- Satiating!
How to Make a Keto Broccoli Salad
Step 1: Add all the ingredients for the Lemon Tahini Dressing to a small jar or into a blender, and shake or process to combine. I use the blender the most often because it makes the dressing extra creamy!
Step 2: Add the broccoli into a large bowl, and then top with the chopped vegetables, broccoli, cheese, bacon, and sunflower seeds. If you aren’t serving this salad right away, keep the bacon and sunflower seeds on the side, and top portions as you eat it, to keep them from getting soggy.
Step 4: Drizzle the salad with the dressing.
Step 5: Toss the salad to combine! Either serve this salad right away, or pack it away in individual portion containers, perfect for grabbing for healthy meals or even quick snacks.
Tips for Making this Salad Perfect for YOU!
Tip #1: Soften the broccoli
If you prefer your broccoli to be softer, you can gently steam the broccoli first. Not for long! We don’t want it to be mushy in your salad. Boil a couple of inches of water in the bottom of a pot with a steamer, add the broccoli, and steam it covered with a lid for about 2 minutes. That’s it! Remove it from heat immediately. You can blanch it in ice water if you’d like, or just spread it out on a plate or in a large bowl so it stops cooking, and chill it before adding it to the salad.
Tip #2: Mix up the Veggies
You can use a base of half broccoli and half cauliflower in this recipe if you’d like, try other veggies in place of the onions and peppers, such as chopped jicama, mushrooms, tomatoes, or radishes.
Tip #3: Meal Prep It
Toss the broccoli, vegetables, and cheese with the tahini dressing, but store the bacon and sunflower seeds separately. This will keep those ingredients fresh and crunchy so the salad is just as delicious packed in your lunch!
Tip #4: Make it Dairy Free
It’s okay to omit the cheese in this recipe! If you have a difficult time digesting dairy, you can also try buying raw cheddar cheese, that has more enzymes that aid with digestion. You can add shredded carrots in it’s place, or just omit the ingredient all together.
How Many Carbs are in Broccoli Salad?
This broccoli bacon salad is keto friendly. Remember, some carbs are essential, and aiming to add some veggies to every meal each day will result in the healthiest low carb diet (at least for people who do not have underlying health conditions that make digesting vegetable fiber difficult).
This salad has just 7 NET CARBS per heaping cup serving. And honestly, you’ll probably find you’re okay going over your carb allotment once in a while if the carbs are from fibrous, nutrient-dense veggies. So go on, indulge in this healthy and delicious salad!
Keto Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
Creamy Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Broccoli Salad
- 10 cups broccoli chopped small
- 10 slices bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds roasted and salted
- 1/4 cup red onion chopped
Instructions
For the tahini dressing:
- Add all of the dressing ingredients to a small jar with a lid or into a blender. Process or shake the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
For the broccoli salad:
- Add the broccoli to a bowl, and top it with the veggies, bacon, cheese, and sunflower seeds. See notes below if prepping this salad ahead of time.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and toss to evenly coat the broccoli in the dressing.
Sarah says
I’ve lost count how many times I have made this in the last two weeks. Perhaps 4 times? And each time I double, triple the recipe to ensure I have enough in my fridge at all times… I’m obsessed. I even ate the tahini dressing with a spoon…. help me I can’t stop!!
Michelle Miller says
There’s something so amazing about chopped broccoli! I am glad you love this as much as we do. You’ve inspired me to prep it for the week!