Quinoa Broccoli Slaw with Honey-Mustard Dressing
Healthy broccoli slaw recipe with quinoa, toasted almonds and basil tossed in a tangy honey-mustard dressing (no mayo)! This slaw will be a hit at potlucks.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
Confession: I wanted to include this tangy broccoli slaw recipe in my epic salads roundup (it deserves to be in it), but the photos were so green and unappetizing that I couldn’t do it. All I could think when I looked at the post was, “Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!”
Today, I’m re-sharing it with better photos and pushing it to the top of the blog in case you have overlooked it the past couple of years. Ribbit!
Even with a pop of complementary color (the coral napkin), the slaw is undeniably very green as written. I’ve heard from some commenters who have added some color with dried cranberries or chopped apple, which sound like delicious additions to me.
This broccoli slaw was roughly inspired by an awesome mayo-free broccoli and potato salad that my friend Sarah brought to a spring potluck two years ago. It’s not too far off from my Greek broccoli salad and colorful beet and quinoa salad, but it was just too good to keep to myself.
Shredded broccoli florets form the foundation for this slaw, which you can easily make yourself in a food processor (or you can skip a step and buy pre-shredded broccoli slaw).
Cooked quinoa blends right in, thanks to its similar texture and complementary flavor. Add toasty almonds, a tangy honey-mustard dressing and chopped basil for little bursts of freshness flavor, and you have one fantastic mayo-free broccoli slaw.
Watch How to Make Perfectly Fluffy Quinoa
Quinoa Broccoli Slaw with Honey-Mustard Dressing
Mayo-free, healthy broccoli slaw recipe with quinoa, toasted almonds and basil tossed in a tangy honey-mustard dressing! This gluten-free slaw will be a hit at potlucks and packs well for lunch, too. For best flavor, plan on letting the slaw rest for 20 minutes or more before serving. Recipe yields about 4 servings.
Ingredients
Slaw
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ cup slivered or sliced almonds
- 1 ½ pounds broccoli (about 2 large or 3 medium heads) or 16 ounces shredded broccoli slaw
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh basil
Honey-mustard dressing
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or more lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Red pepper flakes, optional (for heat)
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa: First, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander under running water. In a medium-sized pot, combine the rinsed quinoa and 1 ½ cups water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer the quinoa until it has absorbed all of the water. Remove the quinoa from heat, cover the pot and let it rest for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set it aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, toast the almonds: In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the almonds, stirring frequently, until they are fragrant and starting to turn golden on the edges, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl to cool.
- To prepare the broccoli (if you’re not using prepared broccoli slaw), trim off any brown bits from the florets and stems, then slice the florets off the stems into manageable pieces. Use a paring knife to peel off the tough, woody perimeter of the broccoli stems and then discard those pieces. Now you can feed the broccoli florets through your food processor using the slicing blade, then switch to the grating blade to shred the stems. Alternatively, you can shred the broccoli with a mandoline or by hand with a sharp knife.
- Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a liquid measuring cup and whisk until emulsified. The dressing should be pleasantly tangy and pack a punch. If it’s overwhelmingly acidic, add a little more honey to balance out the flavors. If it needs more kick, add a bit more mustard or lemon juice.
- Add the shredded broccoli slaw, cooked quinoa and chopped basil to your large serving bowl. Pour the dressing over the mixture and toss until well mixed. Let the slaw rest for about 20 minutes to let the flavors meld.
Notes
Make it vegan: Substitute maple syrup for the honey.
Make it nut free: I bet sunflower seeds would be a great alternative to the almonds.
Storage suggestions: This salad keeps well overnight. Brighten up leftovers with a squeeze of lemon juice and maybe an extra drizzle of olive oil and dash of salt, too.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi Kate, LOVE this recipe! I’ve tried a few different broccoli slaw recipes out and about, but none of them really did it for me. However I love quinoa and I love honey mustard, so you hit the nail on the head here :) Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Lindsay! Hope you love it!
That looks like a bowl of Spring! Fabulous!
What a beautiful slaw! And I love that you made the dressing without mayo – sounds delicious.
I LOVE broccoli salads–mm mm goooood!
That looks delicious! I really like broccoli and I’m definitely gonna try this out!
Perfect! I have everything on hand, so i will make this tonight. I am sure the hubster buster will enjoy it. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, PL! How did it turn out?
It was delicious, REALLY! I love the honey mustard dressing. I made it for lunch while waiting at our terminal at LAX instead of eating airport food. It hit the spot. :-) You truly have great salad recipes among other dishes I have made from your blog website. Just know that an R.D. approves of your food choices.
Hooray, thanks PL! I polished off some of my leftovers at SFO yesterday. So glad you approve of my recipes! :)
Oo this sounds absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!!!
Your honey mustard brussels sprouts slaw is a hit in my fam, this looks equally good… possibly better! Yummy, can’t wait to try!
I almost forgot about that slaw! Hope you all enjoy this one just as much.
My mouth is watering from just looking at your photos. This – plus the broccoli wasabi slaw that I can’t get enough of – is going to make for many meals this summer!
Wasabi slaw, that sounds interesting! Hope you love this one, Eliza.
Mustard and broccoli seem like such a great flavor combination. I don’t know why I have never tried it myself! This looks so delicious :)
I have been on a broccoli buying frenzy lately ($2 a kilo!) and while I love it steamed and plain, or with cheese, (oh and I made it into soup) I have been craving something bright, light, and delicious to bring broccoli into my lunchbox. Now I know exactly what I’ll be whipping up with my next bunch of ‘little trees’. Thanks Kate!
Broccoli is cheap, isn’t it?! All the more reason to buy some. I bet your soup was marvelous!
such a perfect combination!!! love it
I think this is my favorite recipe ever!! I really love broccoli!! Can’t wait to try it with this sauce!! xx
Kate, this slaw looks fantastic! I love broccoli and I’m always looking for new ways to fix quinoa. I’m definitely going to try this!
I love salads that aren’t coated in mayo! Mustard + apple cider vinegar + honey is my go to combo for the start of any dressing these days. Can’t wait to try this one out :)
And also – I saw someone mention how cheap broccoli is. I buy frozen organic broccoli in one lb bags at costco for way cheaper than the normal grocery store and it roasts/steams/grills great. I keep a big stock at all times – it’s so easy to prepare and tastes wonderful!
That’s a great tip! Thanks, Lis! Hope you love this slaw.
Yum! I’ll definitely be making this for my roommate and I…we can’t get enough honey mustard!
My dad ended up making this for my graduation party…the only adaptation he made is that he roasted the broccoli before assembling the final salad. It was DELISH! I passed the recipe off to quite a few party attendees, too!
Alexa, I’m obsessed with the idea of roasting the broccoli first! Give your dad a high five for me. So glad you all enjoyed it.
This looks delicious! I’m hoping to serve it on Mother’s Day alongside quinoa veggie burgers. To avoid being repetitive with quinoa, do you think this would be ok with just broccoli? I could add more slivered almonds or some roasted chickpeas?
Karin, I’m so sorry for my delay. Yes, you could definitely just skip the quinoa! You’ll have a more classic broccoli slaw. Just be careful with the dressing, you probably won’t need all of it. Dried cranberries would add a pop of color if you want to make it more interesting. Roasted chickpeas could be great, too!
Gorgeous salad here, Kate! I rarely make a honey mustard-style dressing but think you’ve inspired me to give it a shot this weekend!
We made this for dinner last night and loved it and will be making it many more times this summer. The only thing I changed was to toss in some dried cranberries, too. They really popped against all that beautiful green. Thanks for another great recipe, Kate.
Thank you, Susan! Delighted to hear that you enjoyed the slaw!
This slaw looks great, can’t wait to try it!
This looks very interesting, thanks for posting. Most of the broccoli salad/slaw recipes I come into contact with here in the Upper Midwest tend to be heavy on the mayo, it’s nice to see one with a lighter base like mustard/honey/olive oil/vinegar. I’m excited to try this out!
This was a fantastic dish, creative, beautiful and delicious. I am planning to share the recipe with my Italian friends!
Thank you, Susan! I appreciate it!
Great recipe! I typically don’t like raw broccoli, but the dressing and letting it marinate some really did the trick! I added some chickpeas to the dish as well to make it more of a work day lunch than a side.
Thanks, Carrie! So glad you enjoyed this one, raw broccoli and all. Great idea to add chickpeas.
Yum! I love the idea of putting basil in there! And the dressing sounds delish. Thanks, will definitely try!
Delicious! I threw in come dried cranberries with it. The salad is enough for a light dinner on its own, and I think it would pair well with salmon (for those who it eat it ;) for a more substantial meal.
Thanks, Aviva! So glad you enjoyed it.
PS Forgot to thank you for the broccoli shredding instructions. Never did that before!
I love broccoli slaw and like others have commented have never thought to pair it with honey mustard dressing. This one is going on the menu for next week for sure. I love roasted broccoli too. Another way I’ve had/made broccoli slaw with a non mayo dressing was with a sesame and ginger vinaigrette.
Hope you love this slaw, Jen! Your sesame-ginger slaw sounds fantastic.
I love broccoli! This is therefore, like, the best salad ever!!!
Ok so I used a 12oz bag of slaw and eliminated the quinoa. I halved the sauce ingredients but I subbed maple syrup for the honey. I tossed in some dried apricots. So yummy!!!!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, Vicki!
I made this this morning and had a serving for supper tonight. To make it more of a main dish I topped it with a sliced hard boiled egg. It was awesome. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks, Jen! So glad you enjoyed it!
I served this for a dinner party I hosted and it was a hit! It paired well with salmon and tuna.
Hi Karen! That’s great to hear! Hope you’re well.
wow! This was a fantastic food.
I’m rarely in the mood for any kind of mustard, but I tried making this salad because I liked how green it looked and I was not disappointed! The dressing is the perfect flavor and tang! I didn’t have quinoa or almonds, so I left those out, but I could taste that those would have really made the salad complete. Even without them though, this was a very tasty treat! Thank you! =)
Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to comment, Viktoriya!
Delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I replaced the quinoa with barley and it is so yummy.
Thanks, Madeline! Great idea!
Love it. I really liked the dressing. I added grilled steak, blue mini potatoes, chopped Swiss chard and kale. I reduced the amount of broccoli rab. It became a one-pot meal….yum!
Love this! I’ve made it three times for different groups of friends using red quinoa. I like to add a chopped apple for even a little more crunch! Thanks for a new family favorite.
Thanks, Margo! I never would have thought to add apple, but that sounds like a great idea!
love the flavors and had a hard time waiting the 20 mins for them to mellow. Love that I can eat a large portion and not feel guilty. Definitely will be making a double batch next time around
Thank you, Karen! Really glad to hear it!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! I’ve gotten broccoli in my CSA share for the past 2 weeks and will again next week and was looking for something different to make with it and this was just delicious!!! I think it would be great to take to a BBQ. I added chickpeas like one of the other reviewers said and got 3 meal-sized servings out of it.
Thank you, Lacey! Glad to hear it!
Three of us polished off this recipe in one sitting. It was wonderful! Tangy, sweet and crunchy, thanks to the almonds. It was also so easy to make. Thank you!
Yay! Thanks, Leah!
This is such a great lunch time meal. I had it with grilled chicken breast and it’s a perfect lunch. I’ve been eating leftovers for breakfast with two scrambled eggs and half an avocado all mixed together. Now that’s a breakfast that stays with you! I accidentally left out the honey the first time around ( I know, HONEY mustard dressing, duh) but I didn’t miss it and left it out on purpose the second time.It was super quick too. I used the food processor for the broccoli, then the whole raw almonds I toasted, then I flipped the dressing ingredients in to really emulsify them. Easy peasy clean up too. Love it!
Thanks, Susan! Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this for my family last night and all loved it. Very easy to make & exceptionally tasty! Thank you.
Thank you, Brittany!
Hi, I just came across this delicious sounding recipe. May I ask how much 1 pound of broccoli is? I tried to google it but everyone gives a different amount. How many full broccoli heads (including stalks) would that be, about 2?
Thanks! :)
Hi Emma! One pound will vary, but about three full broccoli heads should be about right.
Hi,
First off, I LOVE this recipe! Easy, delicious and healthy! A winning combination. How long does it stay fresh in the fridge? I’m trying to make it last 3-4 days, is that okay?
Hi Morgan! Yes, I think 3 to 4 days will be great. Any longer than that and it probably won’t taste very fresh.
This is so insanely good! I’ve made it numerous times, bot for just us and for friends and family and I’m always asked for the recipe – so I send them here =D
Thank you so very much for sharing! <3
Thank you, Maria! Really happy to hear that. :)
Do you boil the broccoli?
The salad looks beautiful!
Melanie
Just made this for dinner and it made a perfect fresh accompaniment to a crispy skinned chicken thigh. I also threw in some raisins to add another texture – looking forward to the leftovers and can see this becoming a staple breakfast/lunch/dinner recipe in our house :)
I’m going to try this without the quinoa (not a huge fan), hopefully it still comes out as delicious as these pics!
Hope you like it! You won’t need to use all the dressing if you’re not replacing the quinoa with something else that will absorb liquid.
I made this tonight for dinner, and it was easy and delicious! I increased the quinoa to broccoli ratio so that it was more like quinoa topped with broccoli slaw, and it made an excellent, filling dinner. The honey-mustard dressing is AMAZING.
Great flavor and crunch! This came together incredibly quickly and was a big hit with all members of my household.
hi Kate, I made this salad 2 weekends in a row because it is so delicious, best way of eating broccoli that I know of and so fast and easy to make, anybody can do it.