Memorial day weekend is coming up, which for me signifies the beginning of grilling season and summer get togethers with family and friends. Whether it’s a big Memorial day party or a small evening BBQ dinner with a few friends, this smoky and sweet broccoli chicken salad is the perfect side dish for all of your upcoming summer grilling festivities.
Sometimes coming up with interesting side dishes is difficult while following the Paleo diet. But we’ve got you covered here with this unique salad that is packed with flavor from only seven ingredients and a few seasonings. It takes only about 15 minutes to prepare and gets better over time after sitting in the fridge, how perfect is that? So you can make this salad a day or two before the big BBQ and know you have one less thing to worry about as it sits in the fridge and dares you not to sneak a few bites just to “taste test”.
Speaking of just that, this smoky and sweet broccoli and chicken salad tested our willpower for a few days as it sat in the fridge waiting patiently to be photographed for this blog post. We didn’t get to take any pictures of it the day I made it so we put it off until the next day when we had more time. Unfortunately, the next day and the day after that turned into rainy and ugly days for taking pictures. So we just had to let this tasty salad sit there in the fridge and not eat it for two whole days – torture!
Luckily, the sitting time in the fridge lets all of the flavors of this salad set in and blend together. I have to say it was well worth the wait. Smoky bacon and paprika, crunchy almond slivers and broccoli, creamy mayo and chicken, sweet grapes – Yum!!
Try out this smoky and sweet broccoli chicken salad, and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below and adding a rating. Also, take a picture and tag it on Instagram @realsimplegood so we can check it out!
Smoky and Sweet Broccoli Chicken Salad (Paleo + Whole30)
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon, - diced and cooked
- 6 cups broccoli, - chopped into small florets
- 1 medium shallot, - diced
- 1 cup grapes, - sliced in half
- 2 cups leftover chicken, (shredded, cubed or rotisserie will all work)
- 1/4 cup almond slivers
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 3-4 tbsp paleo mayo, - we use Primal Kitchen mayo
Instructions
- Start by dicing up your bacon and putting it in a medium pan over medium heat to cook. Cook for 5-6 minutes stirring occasionally, until the bacon is brown and starting to get crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to cool.
- Next, chop up your broccoli, shallot and grapes and add them to a medium bowl.
- Add in your chicken. We used leftover crockpot chicken. For the crockpot chicken you just put about a pound of chicken breasts or thighs in your crockpot with about a cup of bone broth or a jar of salsa and let it cook for 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high. After the chicken is done, take it on out and shred away. You could use a rotisserie chicken or other leftover chicken you have on hand as well.
- Finally, add in the almond slivers, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cooked bacon, and mayo. For the mayo, use the full 4 tbsp if you want a nice creamy salad or use less if you are looking for a little lighter salad.
- Mix everything together so all the ingredients are mixed up well and the mayo is spread evenly through the salad.
- Serve immediately or if time allows refrigerate for 24 hours to allow the flavors to set in and then serve.
Dressing is pretty bad as written. It is way too peppery and no balance of flavors. I added 1/2 teaspoon sugar and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar to improve it. It could still use some work even with those additions.
Thanks for the constructive feedback, hopefully you can adjust to suit your taste.
So the broccoli is not cooked in this recipe, right?
That is correct. It softens a bit from the mayo, especially if you let it sit for a while before you serve. Even more so the next day. If you prefer, you could steam the broccoli just a little before putting the salad together for softer and more easily digested broccoli. Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Ohhhh, this was tasty! I made it yesterday night, had it in the fridge till lunch today. Very nice! I could have been a little bolder with the seasoning, I was rather careful not to overdo it. Next time, then – this is definitely a keeper! Thank you! 🙂
Wonderful!!! So glad you loved it! That’s funny you mention being a little cautious with the seasoning. I am always a little cautious too, but Justin really goes for it, and he has taught me that it is usually a good choice for me to be a little bolder than I naturally want to be. Hope you will enjoy this one over and over!
Hi Justin & Erica – visiting in Ashland this weekend and wanted to share a story of this recipe. We had left over chicken kabobs that will lend themselves to this recipe too. In re-reading recipe after the bacon is cooked – it is not mentioned again or added to salad – may be an edit spot! Dave @ NWN
Good catch! Thanks! We just made this again yesterday for a little BBQ we had with some family visiting us. I just instinctively added the bacon in though, so thanks again! We’ve got it updated in step #4 now! Hope you all enjoy the salad! We didn’t have quite enough broccoli yesterday, so I added some cauliflower to supplement, and it was great! Have a great rest of the weekend in Ashland!