This Vegan Green Goddess Broccoli Salad is about to turn your everyday salad on its head. Piled high with vitamin-rich broccoli, sweet roasted beets, crunchy cucumbers and handfuls of fresh herbs, all this healthy lunch needs is a drizzle of plant-based Green Goddess Dressing (which you might start making on repeat for the rest of the summer!).

What Is Vegan Green Goddess Dressing?

The highlight of this dish, beyond the vibrant summer colors (hello deep purple and about 20 shades of green) is the creamy vegan Green Goddess Dressing. Green Goddess is a classic salad topping featuring fresh herbs whipped into a thick but pourable consistency.

My plant-based version keeps everything you love about the dressing: chives, tarragon, parsley, lots of lemon and garlic. I then bring a serious creamy factor with high-quality olive oil, a dollop of your favorite vegan mayo, and coconut cream to really send this dressing over the top. The result is not just packed with fresh summertime flavors, it’s incredibly satisfying.

And the best part? This recipe makes extra. Don’t let it go to waste! Use your vegan Green Goddess as a dip for crudite, a sandwich spread, or to bring an extra punch of flavor to any of your next meals. It stays fresh for up to a week in the fridge, so why not pack a jar of Green Goddess Dressing to bring your desk lunches up a few notches?

Vegan Green Goddess Broccoli Salad

Yield: Serves 4

Just looking at this salad will make you crave healthy greens. It’s perfect as a side for any day of the week and offers a great way to incorporate broccoli, an excellent source of vitamins K and C, a good source of folate (folic acid) and it also provides potassium and fiber. Tip: If you want to amp up the protein and enjoy it more as a main for lunch on the go, add half an avocado and some pickled onions. If you have a nut allergy, omit the pistachios and add some pickled cucumbers and turnips (see quick pickled vegetable recipe in this series). Lastly, you’ll have extra dressing. Enjoy it : ). Add as much or as little as you like and use the leftovers as a sandwich spread or dip for any and everything.

Ingredients

1 large broccoli head, trimmed and cut into florets
3 medium roasted beets, quartered lengthwise
1 ½ cups (or 2 large handfuls / 142 grams / 5 ounces) sugar snap peas, sliced lengthwise
15 grams (⅓ cup) fresh mint, trimmed, rinsed and coarsely chopped
18 grams (½ cup) fresh parsley, trimmed, rinsed and coarsely chopped
3-4 small english cucumbers, rinsed and chopped
1 handful microgreens, any variety
Optional: ⅓ cup raw, shelled pistachios
Flakey sea salt, to taste
Green goddess dressing (recipe below)

Green Goddess Dressing

Makes 16 ounces22 grams (½ cup) Chives
10 grams (½ cup) Tarragon
18 grams (½ cup) Parsley
1 tablespoon meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced (roasted is even better)
½ teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
106 grams (½ cup) vegan mayo (like this)
118 grams (¼ cup) full fat coconut cream or 1 whole avocado

Instructions

Prepare Dressing

Place herbs, lemon, oil, garlic, 2 tablespoons of water and salt in a small blender. Puree until smooth, scraping at least once and blending at least twice.
In a small bowl, stir the mayo and cream (or avocado) together.
Add mixture back to blender and puree until rich and creamy. Adjust consistency if you like by adding a splash more of water to thin. Store in airtight jar for up to around 1 week.

Prepare beets and salad

Start by preparing roasted beets. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse beets. Cut off each end. Peel and quarter.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle very lightly with sea salt.
Place in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes or until soft when pierced with a fork. Remove and allow it to cool to room temperature.
Add the broccoli florets to a food processor fitted with the base attachment and pulse to obtain a grain - like texture. Remove and place in a bowl.
In a large salad bowl, toss the first 7 ingredients, holding the nuts, dressing and salt.
Next, add dressing (quantity to your preference), toss and season with salt to taste. Add to the salad bowl. Top with nuts. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Assembling Beet-Broccoli Salad

Once you have a fluffy jar of vegan Green Goddess by your side, assembling this healthy broccoli and beet salad is a breeze. Roasted beets bring delicious caramelized flavor. Tip: roast up some extras and turn them into a vibrant spread for pizza with ricotta and thyme!

Other than popping the beets into the oven, there’s no cooking necessary for this recipe. You’ll pulse fresh broccoli so it becomes almost like a crunchy vitamin-packed grain to beef up your salad. Toss on crunchy cucumbers and a handful of pistachios for healthy fats and protein, and you’ve got a complete meal. Feel free to make this salad your own with any other veggies or summer fruit you have on hand. Tomatoes, fresh peaches, cherries or berries would all work!

I have more delicious recipes featuring summer produce coming soon! Check out this stunning roasted beet pizza, and stay tuned for two more recipes in this series on Instagram (say hi!), or be the first to know by signing up for my newsletter.