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. 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.

More Salads We Love

• Favorite Potato Salad
• Lightened Up Egg Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Teriyaki Chicken Salad
• Zesty Italian Pasta Salad

Recipe

Lightened Up Broccoli Pasta Salad

5

Kristin Maxwell

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!

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Servings 6 servings

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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

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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.

Notes

Greek yogurt lightens up the dish but you can also use sour cream.

Keyword broccoli pasta salad, greek yogurt pasta salad, pasta salad

Nutrition

Calories: 259kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 7gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 119mgPotassium: 442mgFiber: 4gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 616IUVitamin C: 85mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.

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