This Roasted Broccoli Salad is EVERYTHING! Bright lemon, crisped-up bacon, tangy feta, and it’s all built around a big bowl of roasted broccoli. A true hero of a meal!
Liz’s Roasted Broccoli Salad
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I made this with red/sweet yellow onion, added green beans from the farmer’s market and crumbled lemon pepper chevre, also from the market. Bacon took longer to crisp so I pulled the veggies off early. Amazing! Love it, will definitely make again – Thank you
Kris
Here’s the thing I want you to know about this roasted broccoli salad:
It’s quite possibly my favorite way I’ve ever eaten broccoli in my life.
My friend Liz introduced me to this salad, which was introduced to her by another friend, Amanda, and isn’t that just how the best recipes go? From one food-loving person to another, and onto another, and now here, to your screen, ready for you to devour in 5 seconds flat.
The ingredients here are humble and low-key, but together they make a FLAVOR BANG:
- shallot
- bacon
- feta
- lemon
- broccoli
- sourdough
Throw in some olive oil, salt, pepper, and you are ready to embark on a beautiful roasted broccoli journey.
This Has Everything You Could Want In a Salad
The flavors in this are just everything I want in all my meals ever: tangy, crunchy, slightly bitter and bright from the lemon zest, salty from the crisped-up bacon, and all built around a big bowl of roasted broccoli, which, in and of itself is a true hero.
Reasons I love this as an SOS meal:
- It’s incredibly delicious. Good food, good mood. Instant lift.
- The actual hands-on prep for this is so minimal. Basically everything happens on a sheet pan, leaving you plenty of time to… not be in the kitchen.
- This is super customizable. For example, if you wanted to really bulk it up you could add some rotisserie chicken or some more roasted veggies.
- It actually keeps really nicely as leftovers. The bread is the one tricky thing that can get soggy, so just keep those croutons nice and dry in a separate container. But truly, this salad can be eaten and enjoyed hot, cold, room temp – I know you’re going to question it but I have even eaten these leftovers for breakfast. Riding that SOS train all the way to the very last stop.
I don’t want you to be jealous, but as I write this, there is a sheet pan of broccoli, bacon, and shallots in my oven.
My house smells amazing, I will be eating this soon, and IT IS A GLORIOUS DAY.
Roasted Broccoli Salad: FAQs
I’m all out of bacon! What can I sub?
Pancetta would be delicious! Just dice it up into tiny cubes – or lots of grocery stores sell pancetta pre-cubed (SOS win!). Then fry it up in a pan for a few minutes and toss it on the salad.
How long do leftovers stay good?
If you can store the broccoli and other ingredients separate from the sourdough croutons, this will stay well for about 3-5 days in a sealed container in the fridge. If the croutons are mixed with the dressing and other ingredients, they might break down quicker and get soggy the next day. But, I mean, I’ve eaten it as slightly soggy leftovers, and it’s still very delicious. 🙂
This looks great! Is this a full meal?
This salad is incredibly filling! It has bread, bacon, cheese, and roasted broccoli (not to mention a nice coating of olive oil) but if you’d like to pair something else with it, these chicken meatballs or even a quick store-bought rotisserie chicken would be great.
Can I use frozen broccoli?
Absolutely! The main thing to note is that the frozen broccoli option takes a little longer to cook in the oven. So that your other ingredients don’t overcook, you can either remove the shallots from the pan after 20-30 minutes or start the broccoli first and add the shallots to the pan 10-15 minutes later.
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Liz’s Roasted Broccoli Salad
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-ish servings 1x
Description
This Roasted Broccoli Salad is EVERYTHING! Bright lemon, crisped-up bacon, tangy feta, and it’s all built around a big bowl of roasted broccoli. A true hero of a meal!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Roasted Broccoli
- 2 bags of broccoli florets (24 ounces total)
- olive oil
- salt
The Extras
- 12 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1–2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 4 ounces crumbled feta
- 3–4 thick slices sourdough, cut into cubes
- zest of 2 lemons
- lemon juice to taste
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- salt, pepper, olive oil to finish
Instructions
- Roast broccoli, bacon, and shallot: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place broccoli on a large sheet pan, on one side. Place bacon and shallots on the other side. (If you’re running out of room you can separate this onto two sheet pans.) Drizzle broccoli with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Roast everything for 20-30 minutes, until things are nice and browned. Transfer broccoli, bacon, and shallots to a bowl.
- Make sourdough croutons: Turn the oven temp down to 375 degrees. Drain off excess bacon fat if needed, and then add sourdough to the bacon pan and toss to coat in the bacon fat. Add more olive oil or butter as needed to get the croutons evenly coated. Bake for 5-7 minutes until crispy and lightly browned.
- Toss and serve: Toss broccoli, bacon, and shallot with feta (add it while everything is hot so it melts a little bit! so yum), lemon zest and lemon juice, and sourdough croutons. Finish with a clove of freshly grated garlic, if you can handle the bite, which I most definitely can! Also: salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste. You can eat this hot or cold or room temp, and it will be so delicious all of the above ways.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: broccoli recipe, broccoli salad, salad recipe
More Incredible Broccoli Recipes We Love
- Super Clean Broccoli Salad with Creamy Almond Dressing (a totally vegan win!)
- Sesame Beef and Broccoli (this sauce is sooooo good)
- Sheet Pan Garlic Ginger Chicken and Broccoli (perfect for quick and delicious meal prep)
- 5-Ingredient Green Curry (packed with lots of veggies and a delicious green curry sauce)
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our completely delicious broccoli recipes page. Check it out!
Time To Show You Off!
Filed Under: All Recipes Bacon Broccoli Dinner Lemon Lunch Main Dishes Meat and Chicken Quick and Easy Salads Sheet Pan SOS Series Sugar-Free Summer
August 20, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Do you think subbing in cauliflower for the broccoli would work? This recipe sounds great, btw.
And extra thanks for the nutrition info…very important, helpful and appreciated.
I’d like to know a sub too since I am sensitive to broccoli. Looks so good!
Try it and find out!! I have had a salad with a variety of roasted root veggies and winter squash which included broccoli and cauliflower and it was amazing, so I bet it would be great!!
Absolutely, Patricia! Let us know how it goes!
My grocery store only had mixed cauliflower/broccoli florets, so that’s what I used and it turned out great!
Glad to hear it, Aileen!
Wow! I saw this posted on IG while I was out and declared it my dinner after making a stop at Trader Joe’s for the ingredients.
And it was SO worth it!
Made it exactly as instructed (except I halved it) and the only tweak I’d make is how high I had the temperature up. Burnt some of the shallots (though I may have sliced them too thin too! Haha).
But it was SO good. If my mom didn’t hate the smell of cooking broccoli so much I’d make this at least once every week… but I literally may take that chance of fighting her for that weekly opportunity. 😂
LOVE that it’s a sheet dinner of course!
And the roasted broccoli is just sweet enough for this dish! Everything came together creamy, tangy, sweet, and salty and I adored it!
Would make again (and again, and again)! 10/10 would recommend! (Also yay for me being the first reviewer?! I was so surprised to see the comment section empty! Didn’t look at the post date, aha.)
I never thought about using ROASTED broccoli in a salad but I love roasted brussel sprouts, so I cannot wait to give this a try! Please forgive me but Im going to gild the lily and add some dried cranberries, too…maybe a few chopped toasted walnuts or pecans?
Your roasted broccoli salad has set me to dreaming!
The type of croutons has got me thinking! My mama made the flat out best sourdough bread and so sourdough croutons is a great choice. What about raisin bread or challah or pumpernickel, rye or my favourite homemade bread, Swedish limpa with its touch of orange zest? What about fried polenta cubes? The idea of polenta and chopped pancetta is divine! Thank you SO much for this recipe.
@Georgia Peach! These ideas are stunning! Came to see what else people have said and I think I also wanna try and see how the sweet potato falafels by Pinch of Yum taste in this salad too! Your ideas of challah (or maybe even brioche?!) has my mind spinning too!
What could I use as a substitute for the bacon that is not meat? I’d like to make this vegetarian if possible.
Here are some great ideas!
I use tempeh that I marinate with balsamic, soy sauce, smoked paprika, etc. I think it works really great in this recipe!
Those are great additions!
Thanks so much for the review, Cierra! We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Thank you!
THANK YOU for the nutritional info! Very much appreciated. I am always looking for great veggie recipes. This one sounds soooo yummy!
We hope you enjoy it, Kathleen!
I made this with red/sweet yellow onion, added green beans from the farmer’s market and crumbled lemon pepper chevre, also from the market. Bacon took longer to crisp so I pulled the veggies off early. Amazing! Love it, will definitely make again – Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it, Kris!
I made this, using broccoli and cauliflower, and it was excellent! I roasted everything at 375° and added unpeeled garlic cloves to roast as well.
Thinking of adding shrimp to this next time….
Love the roasted garlic idea!
Made this and loved it! Wondering if you think it would work with brussels sprouts instead of broccoli?
Yes, they’d be a wonderful substitute!
Can’t wait to make this tomorrow!! I’m thinking a fried egg on top as protein. 🙂 LOVE all your recipes!
Excellent idea, Michelle! Enjoy!
The type of croutons has got me thinking! My mama made the flat out best sourdough bread and so sourdough croutons is a great choice. What about raisin bread or challah or pumpernickel, rye or my favourite homemade bread, Swedish limpa with its touch of orange zest? What about fried polenta cubes? The idea of polenta and chopped pancetta is divine! Thank you SO much for this recipe.
You’ve listed so many wonderful options! Let us know if you try any!
This was delicious in spite of the fact that I incinerated the bacon and shallots by forgetting to set the timer. I will definitely try this again, and maybe throw in some Brussels sprouts.
Great idea, April! Let us know how it goes!
I guess I’m confused about the sourdough croutons… They don’t get soggy? I read through a lot of the comments and I didn’t see that there was a problem with sogginess, but if you’re planning to serve it cold, do you wait to add croutons until just before serving? Soggy croutons are gross IMO, but I want to trust the recipe!
Oh man…this was SO GOOD. My husband called it “the gateway to Brussels sprouts” haha. My toddlers loved it!
I used frozen broccoli because it was what I had on hand. I missed the crunch of fresh broccoli but it was still delicious! If you’re using frozen broccoli, I’d recommend starting it before the bacon/shallot mix and up temp to 435. I ended up roasting mine for about 45ish minutes.
Amazing–will definitely make again!!!
So glad it was a hit with your family! Thanks for the comment!
This was outstanding. I follow the recipe to the letter. I can’t wait to make this again.
For those of us who can’t eat the bread, do you think it would be good without it?
Absolutely!
Just got done putting everything together. This will definitely be part of the regular rotation!
Awesome! Glad to hear it, Jen!
I was missing half the ingredients but I had beets and cauliflower I needed to use up. Roasted with the bacon and shallots then toped with gorgonzola instead of feta and the croutons, it was delicious! I paired it with some steak… will definitely do this again!
Great substitutions, Rebecca! Sounds amazing!
Made this last week and it was delicious. I’m dairy free, so subbed a cashew-garlic “parmesan” for the feta. Still amazing!
So glad you could make this dairy free!
This is FANTASTIC! Next time, I might drain the bacon to lighten things up a bit. Also used a gluten free baguette, which was great! Thank you 🆘 team!
You’re so welcome, Nadine!
Yum! Just had this for lunch and it was a treat! Next time I’ll go for 2 shallots instead of 1 as some stayed behind on the pan. Yes, as another reviewer said they get pretty dark but I liked them that way. I didn’t cut the bacon before roasting (pretty SOS-y over here) and it needed an extra 5 minutes to get crispy after the broccoli was done. Next time I’ll probably cut back a bit on the bacon (maybe 8 pieces)- not because it wasn’t delicious. The broccoli shrinks and I think I’d still love it with a bigger broccoli ratio.
Thanks so much, Janine! Loved that you made the recipe more SOS-y by not slicing the bacon 😂 You can also increase the amount of broccoli next time to bulk it up!
Great idea Krista- thank you!
Just made this last night and it was AMAZING! I think my boyfriend was hesitant, but he LOVED it! I made it almost exactly as written (I did buy a rotisserie chicken to add chunks to the mixture. BUT I also tossed the bread in the juices from the bottom of the container before toasting! YUM!) We also added a spoonful of black rice (cooked in chicken stock) to the finished product for a complete meal. We WILL be making again!! THANK U!!!
Another winner! And I don’t love broccoli, but this prep really makes it yummy. Who knew that lemon zest would bring all those flavors together so well? Next time might serve atop bed of spinach, just to get more greens.
Great idea, Nan! So glad you enjoyed the salad!
I made this for friends and Wowza! The lemon made it amaaazing I didn’t know how it would be with the bacon but it was beautiful. Especially with the crunchy croutons. I happened to have half a loaf of homemade sourdough bread leftover and it was perfect. Ten stars!
So glad you enjoyed the salad! Thanks for the comment!
That was superb!! I think I will reduce the amount of lemon slightly next time, but everything else is absolutely perfect.
Glad to hear it, Katie!
Made this last week and loved it! Will definitely make it again. I used fresh broccoli with lemon olive oil and real greek feta and ate it with some leftover chicken.
Sounds like a lovely meal, Annemarie! Thanks so much for the comment!
I am obsessed! Second time making this in the past week! So easy, so freakin delicious. I’ve been serving it with a fried egg on top and it’s the savory breakfast for dinner of my dreams. Thank you!
We love hearing this, Nielle! So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe!
Delish! Thanks team 🙂
You’re welcome, Hope!
I made one revision to my recipe- I roasted 3 cloves of garlic in some aluminum foil and before putting it in the salad and it puts this over the top. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Oooh I love that twist! Thanks so much for sharing!
This recipe is INCREDIBLE! My husband isn’t a fan of broccoli, and he went back for thirds on this one! Then requested that it goes into our weekly recipe rotation. Needless to say, I’ll be making it again =) I subbed out the feta for goat cheese (personal preference) and loved it. Thank you so much for this delicious share!
So glad it was a hit, Jessica!
I’ve made this every week, I love it! I don’t eat pork so I use fakeon (haven’t tried turkey bacon, but honestly, I like the fake stuff). because it doesn’t have fat like bacon, I add some. I also added sumac to the shallots/fakeon, zataar to the broccoli, and crushed red pepper over everything 🙂