Vegan Broccoli Salad – High in Protein, Low in Carbs, Ready in 12 mins
Want to Save This Post?
Enter your email & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Hurry the Food Up.
It’s a real surprise that in over two and a half years we’ve never been asked for a broccoli salad recipe. Well, even though you didn’t ask, here it is!
Broccoli is just too awesome to deny it any longer. Firstly it’s a nutritional powerhouse with many proven health benefits, and secondly, as veggies go it’s relatively high in proteins (2.8g/100g).
For that reason our vegan broccoli salad suddenly becomes attractive to any vegetarian (or vegan) who doesn’t want to skip the chance of grabbing a few more grams of proteins when they eat their veggies (me, for example).
I mean we all want to make our gym efforts count, don’t we?!
My after workout “snack” often consists of this broccoli salad with brown rice (or one of these yummy vegetarian post workout recipes!). It’s a really tasty way of restoring energy levels.
You can also prep the salad as a side to your regular lunch or dinner to make sure you get in enough veg for the day (aim for at least 5 servings of veg/fruit a day).
For some unknown and inexplicable reason, broccoli has a bad rep with children. Which is weird when you think about it, as broccoli are basically just little trees.
And we’re pretty sure kids love trees. Maybe this is because we’re normally just way too uninspired to make broccoli fun.
Yep, you read that right – I just used “broccoli” and “fun” in the same sentence. As this recipe is here to prove to you.
A few verbivores out there might rail and rally at us for claiming this is a salad even though the broccoli is fried/sauteed for a few minutes.
We’ve checked and the Oxford Dictionary states that a salad can consist of cooked veggies too. Therefore I’m right. Ha!
Apart from that, raw broccoli is hardly fun to eat anyway (I challenge you to show me a good raw broccoli salad recipe).
Health Benefits – Vegan Broccoli Salad
Guys, forget goji berries, acai berries and all that stuff. Broccoli is the real powerhouse!
One cup contains way more than 100% of your daily vitamin C and K needs, plus a whole host of other essential nutrients (1). That’s amazing!!
Also, due to its floret of nutrients (get it?) broccoli is considered to be anti-inflammatory, detox supporting and cancer preventing (2).
All in all, broccoli is a really cool veg that’s worth including in your diet regularly. There’s a reason your mother always told you to eat your greens.
Get a tasty broccoli salad recipe under your belt and you’ll be good to go. Maybe start with this one 😉
More Broccoli Recipe Ideas
If you don’t mind cheese and love crispy, salty broccoli, then please try out this parmesan roasted broccoli recipe! It’s wonderful! Just make sure to find rennet free parmesan or use a similar veggie friendly cheese.
Need a complete and comforting dish? Try our cheesy broccoli casserole. We also have a vegan version, check it out here!
Ingredients
- 3 cups broccoli (roughly one bunch)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (different oil is also fine)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 2 spring onions (sliced)
- 2-3 tbsp water
- Salt to taste
For the sauce
- ⅕ cup water
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (dark)
- 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 tbsp vinegar (lemon juice is also fine)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Cut the broccoli into small florets, then wash and rinse these fellas.
- Get a pan to medium/high heat. Pour in water, one finger thick. And in the broccoli goes. Lid on top. Cook for about three minutes.
- Whisk together the corn starch with a little bit of cold water. Slice up the green onions and peanuts
- Set the broccoli aside. Again pour in water into the pan, let it get hot. Add in soy sauce, olive oil, sweet chili sauce and vinegar. Finally pour in the corn starch. Mix well.
- Now throw back in the broccoli. Add sesame seeds, peanuts and green onions. Stir gently for another 30 seconds.
- Add salt to taste. Maybe some more vinegar.
- Done! Indulge immediately or when cold.
I just made this. Thank you so much for a new way to eat broccoli. It was great! The only alteration I made was substituting the sweet chili sauce. It has more sugar and carbs than I wanted to use (and I am a huge recovering sugar addict) so I used the same amount of Worcestershire sauce instead. I love this and will definitely made it again.
Hi Erica, really glad you enjoyed it so much! It’s a favourite here, too 🙂 That sounds great with the sub, it’s definitely worth changing things for the individual, as you know. Thanks for writing!
So I came across your website today while on the hunt for some tasty vegetarian recipes (I’m not a veg. but would like to try to eat less meat). Anyway, all the recipes that I have seen so far look amazingggg – including this broccoli salad.
Oh, and I will accept your challenge of showing you a good raw broccoli salad recipe. 🙂 If you google “buttermilk broccoli salad”, you will find a plethora of different versions, but here is the breakdown of the ingredients I use: broccoli and cauliflower florets, sunflower seeds, raisins, chopped red onion, (and if you ever decide to eat meat again, def throw some bacon crumbles in there, haha). The dressing consists of buttermilk, mayo, dried onion flakes, garlic powder, S&P, and dried parsley.
It is so delicious, that whenever I make it, it is gone too soon. I think the key is to let the broccoli marinate in the dressing and really soak it up (otherwise, raw broccoli just tastes like eating a literal tree).
Anyways, thanks for the yummy looking recipes. I’m excited to peruse through the rest of your blog and see what other deliciousness I can find. 🙂
Hahaha! Ok, well you’re the first person to take us up on the Challenge. We’ll check out your suggestions, thanks! Glad you like the look of the recipes, and thanks for writing. Enjoy, and good to have you with us!
Can you make this with frozen broccoli?
Hi Noreen, yes definitely. You’ll need to do one of two things though: let the broccoli defrost first (overnight for example) then dab away the excess water, or, add the broccoli to the pan on a low heat and cook for several minutes (instead of one minute at a medium heat for ‘regular’ broccoli). I hope that helps!
Do you have the nutritional content for this? Thanks
Yes, there is a big nutrition card in the blog post 🙂
Oh waw I could’nt believe myself finishing all he plate! I used to HATE broccoli! and after a weekend reading the blog, I decided to BUY broccoli for the first time ever! So thank you for this (so simple) recipe that made me love it 😀 😀
Nida! It’s all our pleasure to have supported you in liking broccoli 😀
What a great story that is, thanks for sharing!
What is a good example of a sweet chili sauce that works in this?
P.S. I read a rule once that if you start babies out having at least one vegetable at every meal, and rotate through many different kinds of vegetables, they’ll develop a palate for them. It certainly worked for us – broccoli is one of my son’s favorite foods, but he will eat any vegetable you put in front of him.
Hi Heather! Ha, I didn’t know, but makes sense to me. Thanks for the insights 😀
I used this type of sweet chili sauce: https://amzn.to/2hWRmUe
Usually I think the Thai style chili sauces work best. The broccoli sucks it up like a sponge, really enjoyable to eat!
I love the sound (not to mention look) of this salad. I’m going to try it … TODAY (big fan of broccoli)! 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration, guys! Xoxo
Thanks Cris! It’s amazing :). Broccoli + soy sauce = win! Happy running!