This is a famous Broccoli Salad from the New York Times. Seeing all the amazing reviews, I tried it once, had a nibble, and wasn’t convinced. But then I kept nibbling and couldn’t stop. I’m now convinced. (And I’ve made it countless times since!)
Famous NY Times Broccoli Salad with cumin, garlic and sesame
Welcome to Day 2 of the RecipeTin Eats 30 Day Holiday Salad Marathon, a day where I’m bringing you something simple yet intriguing and little bit different!
It’s a wildly popular raw Broccoli Salad by Melissa Clark of New York Times Cooking. Red wine vinegar lightly “cooks” the raw broccoli, then it’s marinated in an intensely flavoured mix of cumin, garlic, sesame and olive oil.
It is so unexpectedly tasty, unique, and I keep making it over and over so I wanted to share the recipe with you!
Not a fan of raw broccoli? This may not be the dish to quite convert you. Try this one instead, where the creamy dressing really rounds out the crunchiness like a coleslaw. Otherwise, lightly steam the broccoli instead – it’s worth making just for the dressing!
What you need for the NY Times Broccoli Salad
Here’s what you need for this broccoli salad. Part of the appeal and is how few ingredients are called for to make such an interesting salad, though I do forewarn you that there is marinating time involved.
Regular readers will be unsurprised to hear that I tweaked the ingredient quantities a bit… here’s what I changed from the source recipe (and why):
- (Far) less oil – I reduced the original 3/4 cup (185 ml) olive oil which to me – and many hundreds of commenters on the recipe – is an obscenely excessive amount of oil. We don’t need our broccoli swimming in oil! I’ve cut it down to 1/3 cup which is still on the generous side by my usual standards, but the right amount to bring the required richness and mouthfeel. You can go as low as 1/4 cup however;
- Less salt – Similarly, I reduced from 1 tsp to 3/4 tsp because it was a tad salty for my taste. You could reduce even further to 1/2 tsp. (NB. Make sure you use kosher/cooking salt, not table salt which is much finer. If you use table salt you would need to reduce to just under 1/2 tsp); and
- Doubled red wine vinegar from 1 1/2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon. 1 1/2 teaspoons is such a small amount it did nothing from what I could tell. I increased it to cut through the richness of the oil and also to “cook” the broccoli a bit better.
How to make the NY Times Broccoli Salad
The making part is straightforward but a bit unique, calling for a light “pickling” of the broccoli before marinating in a heavily flavoured garlic-cumin-sesame olive oil dressing:
- Light pickle – Toss the broccoli salad in the red wine vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes. It has the effect of slightly softening the surface, sort of like Ceviche. But more importantly, we get vinegar tang into the broccoli before dousing with the garlicky olive oil;
- Infuse oil – Infuse the olive oil with garlic, cumin and sesame flavours, by frying until golden brown. This literally takes 30 seconds;
- Toss – Pour over the broccoli and toss well. Love those crispy golden garlic bits!
- Marinate – Mix and leave for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days, to “marinate”. This is when the flavour magic happens and the garlic/cumin/sesame flavours penetrates the broccoli. It’s one of those rare salads that gets better with time!
Cooked broccoli option – For those of you wary of or dead-set adverse to raw broccoli, just steam the florets lightly before proceeding with the recipe. Please don’t boil, it will make the florets watery and dilute the flavour!
I didn’t even realise how much I liked it …
I first made this recipe out of sheer curiosity, wondering why people rated it so highly. With the first bite freshly made, without letting it sit and soak in the marinade, I wasn’t convinced at all.
Post-marinating for 1 hour, I had my second bite, and thought it was fine but I still didn’t understand the rave reviews.
Then I just kept picking at it, eating more and more, and…….wait! I realised I literally could not stop eating it. It’s bizarrely addictive. I still don’t quite rave about it to friends because it’s not everyone’s thing. But I am quietly addicted to it, and you might just become so too.
So I want to share it, quietly, with you, my internet friends. 😇
Love to know what you think if you try it! – Nagi x
PS. Remember, raw broccoli haters, steam your broccoli first. This is not the recipe to try to convert you into a raw broccoli lover! Use this Creamy Raw Broccoli Salad with Bacon instead. You will like that one, I promise!
What is the Holiday Salad Marathon?
This is my inaugural Christmas recipe countdown where I am sharing 30 salad recipes in a row until Christmas Eve – something completely different to people’s usual baking countdowns!
These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine??
Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date, or sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new salad! 🙂
Watch how to make it
Captioning typo alert! The liquid I pour over the broccoli at 10 seconds is the red wine vinegar, not sesame oil! 🙂
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New York Times Famous Broccoli Salad – with Cumin, Garlic and Sesame
Ingredients
- 500g/1lb broccoli florets , large florets halved or cut into thirds (3 medium or 2 large broccoli heads, 1kg/2lb in total)
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, cider vinegar)
- 3/4 tsp salt, cooking/kosher (if table salt: 1/2 tsp)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves , finely minced using knife (not crusher)
- 2 tsp cumin seeds (whole, not powder)
- 2 tsp sesame oil , roasted (Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes / chilli fakes (optional)
Instructions
- "Cook" raw broccoli: Toss broccoli in red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Set aside 10 minutes – it will lightly pickle, almost "ceviche" the broccoli.
- Garlic, spice and oil mix: Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, cumin seeds and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until garlic is light golden.
- Toss broccoli: Immediately pour oil mix over broccoli. Toss very well using a rubber spatula to scrape up all the oil from the side of the bowl.
- Marinate: Leave on the counter for at least 1 hour to marinate, or refrigerate for up to 48 hrs (it gets better with time).
- Serve at room temp, not cold, for best flavour!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
He was licking his lips until he got close enough to realise what it was….
Forgot the 5-star rating, too excited by my taste buds, lol
You had me at Broccoli, Sesame seeds and Sesame oil; I believe Sesame seeds and oil should be their own food group, but that’s just me.
So I LIGHTLY steamed the Broccoli and used Rice vinegar, added the oil, garlic, seeds and everything else and tossed for a good couple of minutes. First taste test: WOW.
Second taste test an hour later: OMfG, this is sooooo good! I eat a lot of Broccoli and this will be near the top of my list to serve it. The very top of the list is very LIGHTLY steamed Broccoli with Japanese Goma/Sesame Dressing. Mmmmhhhmmmmm yummmmmmm.
To get Dozer to eat Broccoli try chopping the rough skin off the stalk and cube the innards of the stalk – my dog LOVES it! If I drop any bit of Broccoli or other Cruciferae on the floor while cooking he’s off with his version of Doggie caviar. It takes all kinds!
Thanks for the recipe, I’m soo grateful!
Irini
Here is a hint for those who don’ like raw broccoli. Cover it with boiled water for a few minutes. It’s easier to control the “cooking” time.
Raw broccoli is a very American thing
Cant wait to give this a try, but I’m struggling to think of what to serve it with? My family of carnivores will need something alongside to satiate them and I’m unsure as to what that should be haha
Hi Ciara, any type of protein will work perfectly here!! Chicken, Steak, fish… N x
I didn’t have quite enough broccoli, but I had a bit of cauliflower to use up, so I had a mixed salad. The cauliflower worked out very well!
Hi Nagi, could I use ground cumin?
It doesn’t have quite the same effect Annie, but you could sub with 1/2 teaspoon of ground if you want the flavour there. N x
Have you tried this with broccoli slaw?
Hi Donna, as in shredded broccoli? It would be amazing!! N x
I had a cat that loved steamed broccoli.
Oh really Iona?! Too cute!! 😸
Hi. Your video and recipe do not correspond. The video shows you marinating in sesame oil and not vinegar
it should be good got most of things I would give quick steam and would add walnuts and got wood smoke pumpkin seeds. Many Thank you. Dozer is funny, heee. Ok Ciao until next salad.
Yum! Love the sound of your version of this!! N x
Can’t wait to try this salad. All your recipes are fantastic- tasty AND easy to find the ingredients.
Congrats on “The age” centre fold & I’m looking forward to the Christmas issue as well!
Thanks so much Deirdre!! N x
Have loved broccoli ‘forever’ tho’ do usually apply some heat to it 🙂 ! No, no – shall make it how you have put it down . . .I mean when the next line combines cumin, garlic and sesame . . . how can one not . . . cannot wait !!
Let me know what you think Eha, I’ll patiently wait for feedback!!! N x
That looks amazing – I LOVE broccoli and am always looking for different ways to prepare it. I do think I’m going to try it lightly steamed first though 🙂
I don’t blame you! Good to be cautious if you’re wary of raw broccoli. The cumin and garlic in this is the key here – the flavour is incredible! N x
Hello Nagi,
I have watched the video three times now and cannot see where you added the vinegar.
Should the liquid at 10 seconds in be vinegar, rather than sesame oil?
PS I look forward to making the pomegranate salad.
Oops! Thank you for picking that up Andrea, must fix it! Yes it is vinegar at 10 seconds! N x
Weird question – how big are your tablespoons? I be learners that Australian tablespoons are 20ml, while US (and most places) is 15ml!
Not weird at all Tom! 20 ml tablespoons was the standard and traditionalists still deem it to be, and most of our cookbooks are 20 ml. But nowadays there’s probably an equal split of 15ml and 20 ml tablespoons sold at the stores, from what I see (and I am ALWAYS in kitchen stores, can’t help it, it’s my candy shop!). It’s why I don’t share loads of baking recipes – because they are an darn PAIN to test with different tablespoons and cups!! Savoury is much easier because the tablespoon difference isn’t enough to affect outcome, or I can work around it and say (for example) 3 teaspoon instead, or 1/4 cup instead of 3 tbsp etc. 🙂 N x
Thanks!
Hi Nagi, can l replace red wine vinegar with apple cider vinegar?
You sure can Charlotte! Let me pop that in the notes 🙂 N x
I was just thinking that same thing because that is all I have in the house.