No, a classic broccoli salad is not vegan because it contains bacon and mayonnaise as a dressing. However, you can make a delicious vegan broccoli salad with no mayo or meat but still full of flavors and proteins.
Ingredients and Substitutions
You only need a few simple ingredients and just 15 minutes to make this chickpea broccoli salad vegan recipe. For the salad you need:
Broccoli Florets – Remove the broccoli feet and cut the broccoli florets into small tiny pieces. Red Onion – Finely chopped or sliced based on your preference. Pecans or Walnuts – Depending on taste, but pecans marry very well with broccoli, so it’s our recommendation. Sunflower Seeds or pumpkin seeds. Dried Cranberries – or dried raising.
For the roasted chickpeas, you will need:
Canned Chickpeas – One can of drained, rinsed chickpeas. You can also soak raw chickpeas and cook following your packaging instructions if you like. Olive oil or Avocado Oil to roast the chickpeas in a frying pan. Smoked Paprika or regular paprika powder if you can’t find the smoked version. Garlic Powder – or fresh crushed garlic.
For the tahini dressing – this is a healthy replacement for vegan mayo – you need:
Tahini – It’s sesame paste! Maple Syrup – or any other liquid sweetener like coconut sugar or agave syrup. Lemon Juice or apple cider vinegar – Any acidic ingredient like this works. Dijon Mustard – or American mustard for a milder taste. Garlic Powder – or fresh crushed garlic. Onion Powder – or fresh onion chopped very finely.
How To Make Vegan Broccoli Salad
It’s the easiest vegan salad recipe for lunch or as a side dish to summer BBQ.
Serving Suggestion
I love this recipe as a light lunch or side for a summer BBQ table. It also tastes great, wrapped in coconut flour flatbread, 2-Ingredient Flatbread, or Spinach Tortillas to make a fresh, crunchy veggie wrap. You can also add my Miso Tahini Dressing on top of the salad, it’s delicious! You can serve this salad on the side of my Tempeh Meatballs, TVP Meatballs, or Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower.
Substitutions And Swaps
This vegan broccoli salad is versatile, and you can swap and substitute many ingredients to make it more appropriate to your taste or diet. For example, you can swap:
Tomatoes – Swap for grated carrots, grated beetroots, or chopped red bell pepper. Chickpeas – Slice mushrooms thinly and stir fry. This is a great option for making a low-carb keto vegan broccoli salad. Nuts and Seeds – Any kind of nuts and seeds taste amazing in this salad, including sliced almonds, walnuts, hemp seeds, or pumpkin seeds. Tahini – If you don’t like the slightly bitter taste of tahini, swap for almond butter or peanut butter. Both options make a tasty vegan salad dressing that goes well with broccoli and packs the salad with proteins.
More Vegan Salad Recipes
I have other great recipes for healthy salad on the blog. Check them out!
