Broccoli Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing
Meet the easiest, most savory and tangy vegan broccoli salad you’ve ever seen! It is 100% dairy-free and comes together in less than an hour. It’s perfect for picnics, cookouts and more, and is a great make-ahead recipe.
If you are looking for more plant-based barbecue foods, try my Mushrooms Kebabs, No Mayo Potato Salad and my Healthy Pasta Salad too!
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
While I love cooked broccoli in so many different ways, like my Grilled Broccoli, this Steamed Broccoli and even mashed broccoli, I also love it raw in a salad in the summertime.
Though I love a good old-fashioned Broccoli Salad like my grandmother’s recipe, I also wanted to come up with a Vegan Broccoli Salad to be able to share with my vegan friends for picnics and potlucks this summer.
But since we’re talking raw broccoli here, I knew I had to somehow add more delicious flavor. So I came up with this sweet, tangy and savory combination with miso dressing and crispy Vegan Shiitake bacon.
This recipe is particularly wonderful as a side dish alongside your pick of protein, or even by itself as a main salad.
Recipe Highlights
- Can be made in less than an hour
- Great make-ahead for entertaining
- Under 200 calories per serving
- Mayo-free and vegan
Key Ingredients For Vegan Broccoli Salad
Shiitake mushrooms
Bacon is a common ingredient in broccoli salads, so for this recipe, I made vegan bacon using shiitake mushrooms. I love adding a little smoked paprika to them. This adds lots of flavor. They are crispy and chewy at the same time and very meaty tasting.
Red miso
Red miso is a fermented soybean paste. I have miso in my fridge always, and it keeps forever. There are all different kinds of miso (red, white, etc). Right now I have been using red, though they are all interesting and unique.
Broccoli
Since broccoli is the staple ingredient in this recipe, make sure your broccoli is nice and bright green. I would recommend buying whole broccoli heads, or crowns, but pre-cut florets are also fine. Once you wash your broccoli, cut it into bite-sized pieces. You can also rinse it in a salad spinner if you like.
Additional toppings
I added dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and red onion for some crunch, added flavor and a little extra sweetness.
Step-by-Step Instructions to Make This Vegan Broccoli Salad
Step 1: Preheat oven
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2: Make vegan shiitake bacon
Toss the shiitake mushrooms with 1 tablespoon oil, smoked paprika and salt in a medium bowl. Spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake, stirring and turning occasionally until the mushrooms are dried out and browned, 22 to 28 minutes. Let the mushrooms cool on the baking sheet.
Step 3: Make miso dressing
Whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, miso, vinegar and agave in a large bowl. Add the broccoli, cranberries, onion, sunflower seeds and shiitake mushrooms. Toss to coat the broccoli and other ingredients in the dressing.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Yes absolutely! Make it up to 1 week in advance. Make sure to store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before tossing with the salad.
Since the broccoli is raw, it makes for great leftovers. Store the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
Yes! Keep the shiitake bacon separately so that it stays crisp. Keep the dressing in a jar separately too. Make up to 1 day ahead and toss just before serving.
Variations To Try
- Instead of our sweet miso dressing, try mixing plant-based yogurt with vegan mayonnaise for a creamy version of the dressing
- Use sliced grapes instead of the cranberries
- Use almonds or chopped peanuts instead of sunflower seeds.
Additional Vegan Picnic Salad Recipes to Try
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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Broccoli Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
Description
Broccoli Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing. It is a delicious sweet and savory variation of broccoli salad and is vegan and gluten-free with roasted shiitake mushrooms, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries.
Ingredients
- 4 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
- 1/4 cup avocado oil or organic canola oil, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons red miso
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoons pure maple syrup, dark or amber, agave or honey
- 6 cups chopped raw broccoli
- 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
- 1/4 cup minced red onion
- 1/4 cup toasted unsalted sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toss shiitake mushrooms, 1 tablespoon oil, smoked paprika and salt in a medium bowl. Spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake, stirring and turning occasionally until the mushrooms are dried out and browned, 22 to 28 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet.
- Whisk the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, miso, vinegar and agave in a large bowl. Add broccoli, cranberries, onion, sunflower seeds and the shiitake mushrooms. Toss to coat.
Notes
Cooking Tip: Since the broccoli is raw, it makes for great leftovers. Store the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 193
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 366 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 4 g
This is such an amazingly delicious salad. Someone brought this salad to a pot luck at my house a couple of years ago. It has become my FAVORITE salad and go-to item to take and share with others. I ALWAYS get requests for the recipe!
The mushrooms roasted with smoky paprika were so unique and delicious. Loved this healthy salad!
Aren’t those the best?!! I put them on all sorts of stuff beyond this salad. They’re addictive!!
it’s such a gorgeous color. Normally when I have salad, I usually think of something greasy dripping in mayo. Love this healthier version!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you like the idea of this mayo-free broccoli salad. Have a great day.
Sometimes I eat roasted shiitake mushrooms by themselves. They are THAT good! I bet they are even better in this salad!
Me too! They are amazing!
You make the most amazing salads, Katie! Miso and shiitake mushrooms are such a great addition with the broccoli! BTW, how’s the pup?
Thank you Bill. Judy is okay, but she has a little GI thing going on. I am actually taking her into the vet this afternoon to make sure it isn’t anything serious. She is so cute though. I need to post some more recent photos. She hasn’t gotten that big, so I am hoping she’ll be a smaller lab. Our last one was 90 pounds, so a 50 pound dog sounds perfect to me!
Your photos are gorgeous Katie! I’ll have to look at the past salad recipes, yum!
Thanks so much Beth, I appreciate the compliment. Have a great day!
This is one of the most interesting salads I have seen in a while, and I can not wait to try it! I’m adding the ingredients to my shopping list this weekend, thanks!
I hope you like it Barbara and that you had a great weekend.
Katie! Just made this, and I couldnt wait to tell you how great it is! I didn’t have any cranberries, so subbed in some sliced almonds, although the cranberries would give it a hint of sweet that I’m sure would have been great as well. Roasting the mushrooms made such a difference, we loved them.
Yippee! I am so thrilled to hear you liked it. The mushrooms are amazing right? Try them on other salads too, or as a topping on other dishes. They are like vegan bacon!
I eat broccoli salad quite often, but yours sure is much more interesting and delicious with miso dressing! Must give it a try some time.
It sure is an unusual combo, but I love the way it came out! Glad you think it sounds good Angie!