I've made this for several occasions and everyone loves it, even those who don't have much love for regualar broccoli. This makes a lot of dressing so I use more like three heads of broccoli. I tried a shortcut by using store bought real bacon bits but they just did not have the flavor that freshly made bacon does, so it's worth it to take the time to cook the bacon yourself.

Good basic recipe. I found it to be somewhat 'wet'. I ended up adding extra broccoli. Next time I would cut the dressing amount almost in half. Other than that it was excellent.

This is the recipe I have been looking for. My mother in law makes this and it is fantastic! I'm so happy you shared. We also like to change out the raisins for dried cranberries for a bit of a twist.

This recipe is what I was looking for!! I love every ingredient this salad contains. I did not put bacon but still tasted great!! I will make it again for sure.

This is a great salad! I have made it for years and it always get great reviews! I do use craisins instead of raisins. and use more sugar than this recipe calls for (about 1/2 cup instead of 2 TB) and only 2 TB white vinegar. I always make this up the night before and it is perfect! I did omit the seeds and we didn't have any, but usually add those right before serving.

Thanks for a great recipe. Even some of my guests who are not avid broccoli eaters loved this. After reading many of the reviews I cut the dressing recipe in half and used half the amount of sugar. How many heads of broccoli you use depends on their size. At my local grocery store that would be about 4 heads. I'm looking forward to making this again...

Amazing!!! I don't even like mayo or most forms of broccoli - but now I found a great way to eat it.

Excellent salad. Go easy on the amount of red onion, though; it's rather strong.

I really liked this. I only had green onions so used that instead of red onion. I may have used a little extra vinegar because I don't like to taste the mayo and thought the amount of sugar was just right. Thanks for the great recipe!

I really loved this salad. What a great dish to bring to a summer bbq/potluck. I am always looking to lighten things up so here is what I did differently. This recipe makes a lot of dressing. You need at least 2 heads of broccoli or just cut the amount of dressing in half. I used 1/4 cup light mayo, 1/4 cup light sour cream, 1 Tbsp. vinegar, and 1 Tbsp. sugar. This cuts a whole lot of the fat out of it and it was plenty of dressing for a large head of broccoli. I would definitely double the amount of broccoli (at least) for a larger group. I mixed everything (except bacon and seeds) together early in the day and then just before serving mixed in the bacon and sunflower seeds so they wouldn't get soggy. I used craisins for the pretty color and their tartness compliments the dish well. I will make again. Thanks!

This is always goood. Sweet, but the bacon adds a nice saltiness. Along with the tang of the wine vinegar, yum!

Really different. I had never made or tried anything like it. And I couldn't stop eating it. Perfect balance of sweet and salty.

Wonderful salad! I have made this recipe 3 times now but can't seem to get any leftovers out of it. My husband took that as a "dish to pass" to his office luncheon and still has people stopping by his desk asking for the recipe. It is very good! I left off the raisins and sunflower seeds.

Very Good! I did change a couple of things. I used 3 medium heads of broccoli and still had tons of dressing, too much in my opinion. I used craisins instead of raisins. Very tasty though. I liked the white wine vinegar in there instead of plain vinegar.

So good! My family just loves this recipe! I make it more calorie friendly I used light mayo, with splenda. I also don't ever have white wine vinegar so I just used apple cider vinegar and you can't tell much of a difference. Also make sure you chill it properly before serving I go at least 2 hours, 4 is better. Gives the broccoli more time to soak up the flavor. Makes a big difference!

Fabulous -- and this from a long-standing broccoli hater! :) Instead of raisins, please use halved seedless red grapes. Have tried both and the grapes are so much better (to us, at least)...in fact, I always add extra. I recommend making this the night before in order for the flavors to meld. You may want to add half the bacon when you make the salad and the rest just before serving so that the salad picks up the bacon flavor but you still get a bit of crunch from the other half of bacon. I use Splenda for the dressing and you can't tell the difference. We did not care for the sunflower seeds. Thanks for the delicious recipe! *UPDATE* Feb 2008 -- Wanted to pass along that I tried using FROZEN baby broccoli florets. Worked great! Bring a pot of water to boil and drop the florets in. Remove as soon as water returns to a boil so the broccoli doesn't lose its crispy texture, then immediately submerge in ice water. Simply just thawing or microwaving for a short time might work even better if you want to retain more crunch. I prefer a little less crunch while hubby likes it very crunchy...I try to find a happy medium. :) If you catch the frozen pkgs when they're buy one get one, could save a little money as well...fresh broccoli can be very expensive. Just be sure to use a quality brand if you try frozen. I used two 1 lb pkgs and made 2x times the dressing (also used extra grapes, onion and bacon). We LOVE this recipe! :-)

Served this at a potluck and I wasn't able to have any because it was gone so quickly! I did use grapes instead of raisins as an earlier reviewer suggested, and omitted the sunflower seeds to adjust to a younger (preschool age) crowd. Also substituted miracle whip for the mayo and it turned out great- I did get to taste it before I brought it to the potluck. Definitely a crowd pleaser.

I love this recipe, I only change it by substituting chopped cashews for the sunflower seeds, yummy!!!!!

This was so good! I don't even really like broccoli, I kind of force my self to eat it. This time I went back for seconds! I just used white vinegar because that's what I had and golden raisins. I probably added only a 1/4 C of sunflower seeds. Have leftovers in the fridge and I think I'm going to go eat some right now for breakfast! (Next time I'm going to try making it with turkey bacon, I don't think it'll make much of a difference.)

Delicious - definately make in advance