This simple and delicious Chicken Salad Chick Broccoli Salad copycat is easy to make with 7 simple ingredients, including fresh broccoli florets, two types of shredded cheese, crispy crumbled bacon, and a 3-ingredients sweet and creamy dressing. It’s the perfect side salad for any occasion!
The broccoli salad on the Chicken Salad Chick menu is listed under sides, but I could seriously eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s one of my all-time favorite side dishes, so naturally, I had to try making it at home.
If you’ve never had a Chicken Salad Chick Broccoli Salad, prepare yourself for a whole LOT of deliciousness in one dish. Imagine bright green and crunchy broccoli, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese tossed in a sweet and tangy mayo-based dressing with bacon crumbled on top.
This broccoli salad is super easy to whip up whenever you need a side dish everyone will love. Just be sure to let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, so the flavors have time to mingle. Better yet, it’s even better the second day, so toss the salad the night before you need it.
If you love chilled creamy salads, save my Red Pepper Egg Salad with Greek Yogurt, Blueberry Chicken Salad, and Southern Potato Salad for later, but first -let’s talk more about this creamy, bacony, cheesy broccoli salad!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- The delicious flavors and texture. It’s hard not to love the palatability of broccoli, sharp cheese, and crunchy bacon coated in a sweet and creamy dressing.
- Crowd-pleasing side dish. This Chicken Salad Chick copycat is a great way to get kids and kids at heart to eat their veggies.
- Broccoli and bacon belong together. I mean, everything's better with bacon. Who's with me?!
- This dish is seriously SO good. It replicates the signature broccoli salad from Chicken Salad Chick perfectly! Enjoy!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Bacon – Chopped small and cooked until crunchy.
- Broccoli – About 3 heads, chopped into bite-size florets, or grab bags of pre-chopped broccoli florets to make this salad even easier. You may want to pick through the pre-chopped florets, however, and chop the huge florets into smaller pieces.
- Mayonnaise – For traditional Southern flavor, there’s nothing like Duke's Real Mayonnaise, which is sugar-free. To cut calories, go with light mayo or avocado oil mayonnaise for a healthier alternative.
- Apple cider vinegar – Adds pleasantly tangy flavor to the dressing.
- Sugar – Adds the right amount of sweetness to the dressing.
- Cheddar cheese – Shredded from the block. If you have issues with lactose, go with a lactose-free brand of cheese. Cabot cheese is a personal favorite, and many of their cheeses are naturally lactose-free. It's one of the few kinds of cheese I tolerate, and it's absolutely delicious.
- Mozzarella cheese – Again, shredded directly from the block is best here. Pre-shredded bagged cheese is never as flavorful and creamy as freshly shredded cheese.
- Coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper – To taste.
How To Make A Chicken Salad Chick Broccoli Salad
Step 1: Cook bacon. Chop the bacon and cook it in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Remember to save the grease from the pan for cooking brussels sprouts!
Step 2: Blanch broccoli. Bring a large pot of salted water to a full boil. Add the broccoli florets and blanch for no more than 60 seconds, then quickly drain and immediately submerge the florets in an ice bath. At this point, the florets will be a beautiful bright green color.
Step 3: Dry broccoli. Dry the florets in a salad spinner, then spread them out on a baking sheet and pat dry with paper towels to remove any remaining water.
Step 4: Make dressing and toss. Whisk the mayo, sugar, and vinegar in a large bowl until smooth. Add the broccoli to the bowl and toss until coated, then stir in the shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
Step 5: Chill. Cover and set the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Step 6: Add bacon and serve. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the top right before serving, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Blanch no longer than 60 seconds – If the broccoli is left in the simmering water any longer than a minute, it will quickly lose its crisp-tender *snap* and begin to taste like soggy, boiled broccoli.
- Blanched vs. raw broccoli – You can skip the blanching step and make this with raw broccoli florets. However, blanching the broccoli makes it easier to digest, neutralizes bitter flavors, and gives it a nice clean, crisp bite.
- Dry the broccoli thoroughly – If you don’t dry the florets completely, you’ll end up with floppy broccoli and a soggy salad. If you aren’t in a rush, you can spread the blanched florets on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and set it in the fridge to help dry out the moisture.
- Don’t skip the chill time – As tempting as it may be to dig in, it’s important that you let the salad chill for at least an hour so the dimensional flavors can wake up and bind together and the dressing has time to seep into every nook of the broccoli florets.
Variations
If you’re after a broccoli salad that tastes just like the one from Chicken Salad Chick, stick with the listed ingredients. Otherwise, of course, you can customize it with tasty add-ins! Here’s some inspiration:
- Dried fruit – There’s no dried fruit in the Chicken Salad Chick recipe, but golden raisins, regular raisins, or dried cranberries definitely add a nice sweet dimension to complement the savory flavors.
- Nuts and seeds – If you’re craving more crunch, sunflower seeds are always a good idea in broccoli salad. Chopped pistachios would also be amazing.
- Onion – Add enough finely chopped red onion to add a pleasantly zesty bite without overpowering it. For a milder onion flavor, try chopped chives here instead.
- Chicken – This creamy broccoli salad would be great with tender chopped or shredded chicken added to the mix for a protein boost.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this broccoli salad with just about anything, but I think it pairs particularly well with these yummy main courses:
- Juicy Hamburgers or our favorite Smash burgers
- Pulled Pork BBQ
- Grilled Bourbon Pork Tenderloin
- Smoked Beef Brisket
Storing
Keep leftover Chicken Salad Chick broccoli salad stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. I wouldn’t recommend freezing this one, unfortunately.
Recipe FAQs
You can get a head start and make the dressing, blanch the broccoli, and cook the bacon earlier in the day. Keep the dressing and broccoli covered in the fridge and the bacon at room temperature (so it stays crispy); then, all you have to do is toss everything together and set it in the fridge to chill for an hour before serving.
As a rule of thumb, mayo-based fresh salads can safely be left out at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Apart from the shredded cheese, the ingredients in this broccoli salad are naturally dairy free, so you can either omit the shredded cheese altogether or use your favorite plant-based cheddar and mozzarella cheese alternatives instead.
More Copycat Recipes
- Copycat Olive Garden Salad
- Copycat Sturkey’s House Salad
- Copycat Chicken Salad Chick Grape Salad
- Copycat Starbucks Protein Bistro Box
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Chicken Salad Chick Broccoli Salad
Equipment
- large pot
Ingredients
- 8 oz bacon
- 32 oz broccoli florets about 3 heads, chopped into bite-size florets
- salt
- 1 cup mayonnaise Duke's mayo recommended for traditional southern flavor. You can cut calories and go with light mayo or avocado oil mayonnaise for a healthier alternative
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded from block
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese shredded from block
- coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- Optional classic add-ins: raisins (or dried cranberries), sunflower seeds (chopped pistachios are also amazing here), and finely chopped onion
Instructions
- Chop the bacon into bite-size pieces and cook in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate (save the grease for cooking brussels sprouts!) and set aside.
- Add salt to a large pot of water and bring it to a full boil.
- Add the broccoli florets and blanch for 60 seconds (see notes)
- Quickly drain and immediately transfer the florets to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. I add ice and cold water to a large bowl until chilled and drain again. Florets will be a beautiful bright green color.
- Place the florets into a salad spinner and spin dry. Spread the florets out on a baking sheet and pat them dry with paper towels to remove any remaining water.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mayo, sugar, and vinegar until smooth.
- Add the broccoli and toss well to coat.
- Stir in the shredded cheese, cover and chill for at least an hour.
- Top with crumbled bacon right before serving.
Notes
-
- Blanch no longer than 60 seconds – If the broccoli is left in the simmering water any longer than a minute, it will quickly lose its crisp-tender *snap* and begin to taste like soggy, boiled broccoli.
-
- Blanched vs. raw broccoli – You can skip the blanching step and make this with raw broccoli florets. However, blanching the broccoli makes it easier to digest, neutralizes bitter flavors, and gives it a nice clean, crisp bite.
-
- Dry the broccoli thoroughly – If you don’t dry the florets completely, you’ll end up with floppy broccoli and a soggy salad. If you aren’t in a rush, you can spread the blanched florets on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and set it in the fridge to help dry out the moisture.
-
- Don’t skip the chill time – As tempting as it may be to dig in, it’s important that you let the salad chill for at least an hour so the dimensional flavors can wake up and bind together and the dressing has time to seep into every nook of the broccoli florets.
Nutrition
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Ann from Sumptuous Spoonfuls
This sounds fantastic Amy! and it's so pretty too