Lightened Up Broccoli Pasta Salad

Sweet Broccoli Salad gets a makeover by adding tender pasta and a lightened up Greek Yogurt dressing. It’s the perfect cold side dish for any time of the year!

Have you tried Joan’s Broccoli Madness Salad from Costco? It’s a make-at-home version of the famous Broccoli Salad from Souplantation and it’s delicious! Crunchy broccoli, cashews, bacon, onion and a sweet and creamy dressing. We picked up a package on our last big Costco trip and devoured it at dinner time.

Looking at the ingredients (just mayo, sugar and vinegar – yikes!) it was obvious that if I wanted to keep on enjoying this salad I was going to need to come up with a lighter version.

Greek yogurt based dressings are my go-to when I’m trying to lighten things up, like this Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or this Crunchy Chicken Asian Style Salad. For this broccoli salad I knew I needed the creaminess of the mayo so I chose to replace just half of it with the Greek yogurt. Instead of sugar I used honey, and the kept the apple cider vinegar for a little acid.

While the broccoli salad is great on it’s own I wanted to make it a heartier salad so I added some grapes and bowtie pasta. The grapes also help to give a little more sweetness since you’re leaving out the sugar. My son is allergic to cashews so I swapped them out for some dry roasted sunflower seeds but you could use any nuts you like. They really do give a nice added crunch. You could also add a little chopped up bacon if you miss that flavor.

This was really a fun and deliciously different salad and a nice detour from our regular green dinner salad. It’s great for summer picnics or barbecues, or potlucks and parties any time of the year.

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Lightened Up Broccoli Pasta Salad

Kristin Maxwell

Prep Time 10 mins

Total Time 10 mins

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Servings 6 -8

Ingredients

  

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!Salad

• ½ - 3/4 pound broccoli about 2 small heads, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup red grapes sliced in half
• 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped onions
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups dry farfalle butterfly pasta, cooked according to package directions

!Dressing

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions

 

• Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
• Stir together remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over broccoli mix and stir until completely coated.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with sunflower seeds if desired.

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For more delicious sides and salads, here are some favorites:

Favorite Potato Salad

Lightened Up Egg Salad

Teriyaki Chicken Salad (Red Robin Copycat)

For all salads go HERE, for all side dishes go HERE and for the Recipe Index go HERE.