No Waste Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing

A raw broccoli salad with peanut dressing that uses the entire broccoli plant – florets, stalks, and leaves. It’s finished with dried tart cherries and fresh mint.

Broccoli salad is such a good side dish for dinner, lunch, cookouts, parties…you name it. And there’s so much you can do to it to spice it up!

I always enjoy making a new variety of broccoli salad during the summertime (hence, my Healthy Greek Yogurt Broccoli Salad from this time last year), and the inspiration for this one came to me when I was browsing Pinterest a couple of months ago.

I saw a pin from Bon Appetit for a broccoli salad recipe with dried tart cherries and a peanut dressing. This sounded like an amazing flavor combination, and I knew that I could put my own twist on it!

So that’s how this No Waste Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing came to be. It incorporates the same main ingredients as the Bon Appetit one: broccoli, peanut, and cherries, but I included broccoli stalks and leaves in addition to florets, changed up the dressing, and added fresh mint.

Using florets, stalks, and leaves adds a variety of textures and shapes to the salad, which makes for a beautiful presentation. And the savory flavors in the dressing pair well with the cherries and mint.

I highly recommend it for Father’s Day this weekend. (See what I did there?!)

How to Make Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing

Since you keep the broccoli raw for this salad, the process is a breeze:

1. Remove the leaves from the head of broccoli. Slice off the stalk, and pull off the florets. Use a swivel peeler to shave the stalk or slice it into small pieces with a knife.
2. Whisk together creamy peanut butter, rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, water, garlic, and honey. To make the recipe vegan, use maple syrup or sugar instead of honey.
3. Pour this over the broccoli, add some mint and dried cherries, and mix it up.

You can even prep the sauce in advance if you’re crunched for time! The finished salad can last in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

If you make this recipe, be sure to rate and review it in the comments below, and don’t forget to tag @its_a_vegworld_afterall on Instagram! Looking for something totally different? Browse the recipe library.

For other easy veggie salads/side dishes, check out:

No Waste Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing

Raw broccoli salad using the florets, stalks, and leaves. Coated in a creamy peanut dressing, and finished with dried cherries and fresh mint.

Servings 4 people, as a side

Author Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN

Ingredients

• 2 heads broccoli ~4 cups florets, leaves, and stalks
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup fresh mint roughly chopped

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter creamy
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tbsp water more as needed for smoothness
• 1 clove garlic minced or pressed

Instructions

1. Wash the broccoli. Slice off the stalks and pull/slice off the florets. Add the florets and leaves to a large mixing bowl. Use a swivel peeler or sharp knife to shave or dice the stalk (for a variety of shapes/textures). Add the stalk pieces, dried cherries, and roughly chopped mint to the bowl.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the creamy peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, water, and garlic. If the dressing is not smooth, add water in tiny amounts until it gets to the consistency you want.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and mix until well coated. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

This can keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. To make this vegan: sub maple syrup or sugar for the honey.

Remember to pin this No Waste Broccoli Salad now to make later!

Happy hump day!

Lizziee