Oil Free Apricot Broccoli Chopped Salad! When you want a fancy, feel good salad without any of the fuss, look no further than this showstopper!
This Oil Free Apricot Broccoli Chopped Salad is deliciously fresh and vibrant. It’s full of healthy ingredients and coated in a creamy dreamy hummus-based dressing. Punches of savory flavors coupled with sweet dried apricots and toasty almond slices make for a filling and tasty salad that will have you wanting to make it every week!
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
Not sure if you figured it out or not, but Mom and I are on a chopped salad kick. We absolutely love, love, love chopped salads.
We have a huge salad every day for lunch. We never get tired of them as we try to come up with delicious and creative ways to eat salad along with dreaming up yummy salad dressings to go along with them.
Trust us, you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s so tasty! We licked our salad bowls dry including Yasmeen LOL. You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This salad is delicious, all the fresh garden ingredient come through. Because we use no oil, the flavors are not weighed down and come through beautifully.
- Broccoli Slaw/Kale/Cabbage: You can accent your favorite ingredient here by adding more of one and using less of others or leaving one out. The key is to use a total of 7 cups of greens (broccoli slaw, kale, cabbage).
- Broccoli Slaw: You can typically find broccoli slaw in most major grocery stores in the bagged salad section. It is typically made up of grated broccoli stems, with a few accents of purple/red cabbage, and carrots. If you can’t find it, then you can take some fresh broccoli stems and grate them yourself or skip the broccoli altogether and add more chopped kale or cabbage.
- Dried Apricots: We suggest using dried apricots that are not overly dried out. They make the texture of the salad more delightful and add a lovely sweetness. If you can’t find dried apricots, you can substitute with golden raisins or leave them out altogether.
- Toasted Almond Slices: To toast the almond slices, simply place the almonds into a hot, dry skillet and stir occasionally until lightly toasted. Watch them carefully as they burn easily.
- Almond Substitutions: If you wish you can substitute the almonds with your favorite toasted nut, or you can leave them out completely.
- Chopped Green Onions: Be sure to use a good portion of the green part of the green onions as well.
- Dried Savory Leaves: The dried savory adds a beautiful “savory” flavor element to the salad dressing. It is also called ‘Summer Savory’. It is made of dried savory leaves which are somewhat peppery and reminiscent of thyme. It has beautiful flavor. If you can’t find it, you can leave it out or add a pinch of the following: rosemary, thyme, and sage. Add more after taste testing to determine which herb suits your preferences and then ramp up accordingly.
- Base Salad Ingredient Amounts: We suggest not using more than the indicated amounts or you could end up with a dry salad.
- Kale Dicing: This salad almost “dip like” meaning that the ingredients should be finely chopped. We suggest slicing the kale thinly, then chopping the thin strips into fine pieces.
- Hummus: We used our hummus recipe – The Best Hummus. Please feel free to use your favorite hummus recipe or store-bought hummus.
- Taste Testing Salad Dressings: There is an art to arriving at the salad dressing that perfectly suits your tastes. The best way to test salad dressings is to place a few leaves of lettuce (or other greens) in a tiny bowl, put a tiny bit of the salad dressing over top and mix really well, then taste test. Some salad dressings taste amazing before you dress the salad, then once dressing the salad, they fall flat. That is because the salad dressing has to cover all the salad ingredients and it flattens the flavor. Additionally, some salad dressings taste really tangy or overly strong before dressing the salad, but once you dress the salad, it coats all the ingredients and tastes amazing.
- Dressing the Salad: We strongly suggest adding the dressing only to the portion of the salad that you plan to consume in one sitting as the salad ingredients tend to really soak up the dressing and mellow it out the flavor over time. Dressed and refrigerated leftovers flavor will not be as vibrant. You may need to add a splash of vinegar to liven it up again.
- Salad Dressing: Makes one cup.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.
This chopped salad cannot be frozen.
Pantry Products Used:
- Dijon Mustard: We used Koops Dijon Mustard. Feel free to use your favorite Dijon mustard.
- Dried Savory Leaves: We used Penzeys Savory Leaves.
Kitchen Products Used:
- Whisk (or fork)
We certainly hope you give this deliciousness a try.
If you try this tasty salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
PrintOil Free Apricot Broccoli Chopped Salad
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Total Time: 20 Minutes
- Yield: 3-4 Servings 1x
- Category: Salads
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Healthy and easy, this Oil Free Apricot Broccoli Chopped Salad is brimming with deliciously fresh and vibrant plant based ingredients.
Ingredients
Base Salad Ingredients:
- 2 cups broccoli slaw *
- 3 cups finely chopped kale *
- 2 cups grated green cabbage *
- 6 to 8 green onions, thinly sliced (+/-)
- 2 celery ribs, diced (optional)
- ¾ cup finely chopped dried apricots (+/-) *
- ¾ cup toasted sliced almonds (optional) (+/-) *
Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ cup hummus *
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (+/-)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried savory leaves (+/-) *
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (+/-) *
- ½ to 1/8 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
Instructions
- Place all the Salad Base Ingredients into a large bowl, mix well, set aside.
- Add the Dressing Ingredients into a bowl, whisk well until emulsified.
- Taste test for the dressing flavor, add more ingredients to reach the flavor you desire.
- Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, mix well to completely coat the salad ingredients. Taste test and add more seasonings as needed.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Servings: 3 to 4
Nutrition Information: Does not include the optional ingredient of toasted sliced almonds. Adding toasted sliced almonds will increase the amount of fat content.
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It’s gorgeous- clear blue skies and 70 degrees today. My husband and I went for a walk and then made this recipe for a fresh lunch afterwards. The crunch and combo of flavors is spectacular. I ended up grating the broccoli stem and just chopped the head up finely and threw it in so it wouldn’t go to waste. Absolutely would make again.
Hi there Michelle,
YAYYYYY!!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! We are thrilled that you plan to make it again. Thank you so much for taking time to write an awesome review! We appreciate it!
-Ameera and Robin
Thank you for this yummy recipe! It was a hit even for a VERY picky eater! Will never throw broccoli stems in the bin again.
Hi there Astrid,
YAYYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe and it was a hit for the very picky eater as well! Thank you so much for the awesome review of this recipe!
-Ameera and Robin
Delicious! Prior to changing my diet to WFPB, I would have never tried something like this because mixing fruit and vegetables was something I did not like. Boy have my taste buds definitely changed! This was absolutely delicious and had an excellent mix of savory and sweet. I should have doubled the recipe. Might just have to make another batch today. 😋
Hi there Heather,
YAYYYY!!! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us an awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
Love this salad. Making it again and taking it to a picnic this week. Great combination of flavor and texture. Whoever says “healthy” food can’t taste good, has NOT eaten this salad. A salad everyone will enjoy.
Hi there Jody,
YAYYYY!!! We are so happy that you love this salad and are planning to take to a picnic. We appreciate you taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin
I reduced the maple syrup a bit and used zaatar seasoning blend in place of the savory. Will be making this on repeat!
Hi there Julia,
WOOO HOO!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the review.
-Ameera and Robin