This Cauliflower Potato Salad has all the flavors of our favorite loaded potato salad, but it’s made with cauliflower to keep things low carb. This summer side dish is perfect along with anything off the grill! No one will even miss the potatoes!
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My grandma made the best potato salad. Pretty sure it was just the recipe off the Hellman’s jar, but she made it best. <3
These days, we don’t eat potato salad, but that doesn’t stop the craving and, believe it or not, cauliflower really does a good job on this one!
We’ve turned cauliflower into plenty of things (like cauliflower mac and cheese!), and while it’s never the SAME, in this case it really is close. The flavor in our cauliflower potato salad is pretty spot on, but the texture is of course different.
When it comes to cook outs, we need cold salads to serve up. My mom makes this fabulous keto coleslaw and we’re basically obsessed with my keto broccoli salad, but a good old keto potato salad is also necessary!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
Family-Friendly: While this keto potato salad isn’t made with actual potatoes, it tastes similar enough that everyone (even the carb lovers) will enjoy it! It’s a universal hit!
Easy: Stir together the dressing while the cauliflower steams and then just stir everything together. Easy peasy!
Bacon: This cauliflower potato salad has bacon (and cheddar!) which makes it an instant hit with just about everyone we know!
Serve this cauliflower potato salad up next to our ranch grilled chicken, keto ribs, or air fryer steak kabobs.
For dessert, we recommend our keto blackberry cobbler or keto-apple-crisp!
Ingredient Notes:
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Cauliflower – Lightly steam the cauliflower until it’s the texture you’d prefer. We like it to be tender, but with a bit of bite to it.
Dressing – Mayo, mustard, dill, salt, and pepper make the creamy base for this salad.
Mix Ins – Crisp bacon, shredded cheddar, diced onion, and chopped boiled egg add texture and flavor to this cauliflower potato salad.
“My husband and I tried this cauliflower recipe tonight. It was so yummy. My husband looked at me and said” Is this potato salad?” I smiled and said “No, It is cauliflower salad made like potato salad”. We both loved it. Thanks for the recipe.” – Reg
How To:
- Steam the Cauliflower – This low carb cauliflower recipe starts with a head of cauliflower. Chop it into bite-sized chunks and steam until they are as tender as you’d like. I like them with a little bit of a crunch! When the cauliflower is finished steaming place it in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool for a couple of hours before moving on.
- Mix – When the cauliflower has cooled off you can add it to a mixing bowl to get tossed with some good stuff! Add in all of the remaining ingredients including your mayonnaise, mustard, boiled eggs, and some crispy bacon and grated cheddar. Once you’ve got all those in the mixing bowl go ahead and toss them together until they are well mixed.
- Serve – When you’ve finished mixing the salad together that’s about all there is to it! Serve it up or pop it back in the fridge until ready.
Recipe FAQs:
Any brand of mayonnaise that you like will work well here. Hellman’s, Dukes, and Kraft are our favorites, but use what you like. Be sure not to use Miracle Whip.
You can use raw cauliflower in this cauliflower potato salad, but the texture won’t be nearly as similar to traditional potato salad. We like to steam the cauliflower and then cool it so that the texture is more soft and tender.
This cauliflower potato salad should keep well in the fridge for about three days. Cauliflower tends to have an odor, so while it may not smell the best, it should still taste great.
MORE CAULIFLOWER RECIPES!
Cheddar Bacon Cauliflower Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- ½ cup shredded cheddar
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 6 slices fried bacon diced
- 2 large hard boiled eggs peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon dill
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and place in a steamer basket.
- Steam for 3-5 minutes or until tender-crisp.
- Add the cauliflower to a large mixing bowl and place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl of cauliflower and stir well to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Ramona says
Stop with the reference to “potato” when using cauliflower. The taste and texture are not the same. Just say cauliflower salad and let it be what it is. It may taste great in whatever form you make it but stick with what it is not what it replaces. grumpy on this subject sorry!
Karly Campbell says
We’ll describe food the way we think it tastes and this reminds us of potato salad. 🙂
Christa says
I have never been able to make cauliflower taste like potatoes. But, I’m gonna give it a try with this recipe.
Karly Campbell says
I hope it’s a good swap for you! We love this one! 🙂
LAURA says
OMG! Never had Duke’s before. I was upset because I thought they only sold it in the south. I went to my grocery store here in Ohio and they had it! Duke’s it is from now on. Amazing. The salad recipe is amazing as well. But I agree you need to double the sauce recipe. So good though!!
Robert Richman says
Mayo, Mayo, mayo…ok, I get it—it’s important, although I’d just as soon make my own (so easy) using extra virgin olive oil instead of some nasty canola or other cheap a** oil they used for store bought brands . Then I see the word ‘mustard’ and think; Well, what kinda of mustard? Certainly not that neon yellow French’s mustard goo—not in my tater salad! P ersonally, I prefer a good Dijon mustard, although can definitely see where a whole seed deli mustard – so often used for making German potato salads with bacon – would match up well. Regardless, thanks for this recipe; I can’t wait to make my first Cauliflower Salad!
Jessica says
Are you using fresh dill for this or dried?
Karly Campbell says
We use either, but at 1 tablespoon we do fresh. We’d do closer to 1 teaspoon dried.
Marlene says
Can this be made the day before serving?
Karly Campbell says
Yep! Cauliflower does tend to have a smell after it’s been cooked and sat for a bit, so just be prepared for that, but it’s still totally safe to eat and tastes great. 🙂
Lea says
This was delicious! Brought this to a summer BBQ and it was a huge hit! We had real Greek potato salad and mine had a good dent with family going back for seconds and thirds . Next time I would likely omit the eggs (I tried it before adding it & much preferred it) and cook the cauliflower less so it’s more al dente. I followed the recipe to a T and I used 2 bags of 12 oz cauliflower and steamed it right in the bag in the microwave. I calculated it to be 8 servings but next time I will weigh it by oz/g so I can be more precise with the measurements. Also recommend not over mixing it because the cauliflower did start to mush(would likely be solved by cooking it al Dente) Absolutely will make again. 10/10
peggy says
I am from the N.E.. we always used Hellman’s. Moved to the south 30 y/ago, found Duke’s. OMG, the very best. Will never go back.
Sharon says
This was really good. I used a 12 oz bag of frozen cauliflower that I steamed in the bag. It’s really good, one of the better ones I’ve tried, however, it was a little too salty for me and way too much dill (and I even reduced the dill by 1 tsp). Not enough mayo and mustard. Next time I would reduce salt to 1/4 tsp and reduce dill to 1 tsp. Increase mayo to 1/2 cup and increase mustard to 2 tsp. I will definitely make this again. I tend to not like a lot of salt so I think it is just a personal preference since no one else commented it was too much for them.
Angela Sexton says
Love this recipe and I and a DUKES Mayo girl…all the way!!!
Rita L Thomas says
Amen! I grew up on Hellmans & while I still think it’s good, but once I had Dukes, I knew I could never go back! Now I won’t say it’s the “BEST” because taste is like beauty…it’s in the eye of the beholder (mouth of the be-eater??? LOL) and to each, his own. But I am definitely a DUKES girl, too. 🙂
Deborah says
8-29-2020 Just made this and is so good. There is no way a 1/3 cup of mayo is enough to make this good. I added 2 times that amount and a a third cup sour cream and doubled the mustard. I also added more cheese. Cooking the cauliflower for just a few minutes makes a huge difference!
Suzy Allegra says
I make my own mayo… It literally takes 2 minutes, and I use ONLY AVOCADO OIL, so it’s healthier than ANY mayo on the market, except the Primal Kitchen one, which is outrageously expensive, and not as good as mine. Here’s a link to the recipe (except that they use Canola oil, which isn’t good for you.):
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonnaise.html
The only thing you NEED is an emersion blender; then you’re all set. Enjoy!
Cathy Schmidt says
I was wondering if anyone has tried this with frozen cauliflower? If so, did you still cook it for a bit or just defrost it?
Karly Campbell says
I would not recommend frozen cauliflower here. It won’t have the same texture as fresh.
Joan says
Helmanns Mayo is the best . They changed the recipe in kraft about 10 yrs ago and it was never the same . Helmanns is always thick and continues to be the same always . Absolutely love it
Alisha says
Hello, I am making this now (Christmas Eve night), just wondering since reading a previous review, if this will be still as good for Christmas Lunch? I am taking to a gathering where I want to impress everyone who a not keto with a ‘potatoe’ salad.
Thank you
Karly Campbell says
Hi Alisha! This should be fine overnight. Merry Christmas!
briona says
hi just wondering about how much a serving is? a cup? 1/2 a cup? tried this last night and it was delicious
Karly Campbell says
Hi Briona! I didn’t measure this by volume, just divided it out into 6 servings.
Nunya says
Wow….That is a LOT of carbs!!!!
Karly Campbell says
5 net carbs for a veggie dish seems pretty reasonable to me.
Steven M Bohne says
Not compared to potato salad!
Anony Mouse says
Are you demented?
No…no it’s not.
Olga says
5 carbs is definitely not a lot of carbs!!! I am diabetic and I can guarantee that this is an excellent low carb meal.
Debra Combs says
I wonder if this could be served warm? My husband grew up eating warm potato salad and basically refuses to eat cold potato salad when he has some. He started the keto diet to lose weight. I joined in once we were living together and as a carbaholic this has been rough! Though once a year for his birthday he does get the potato salad he grew up with, thanks to his mom. We do carb cheat days and birthdays always get a pass. If this could be served warm, we might be able to satisfy his warm potato salad craving without going off-script.
Karly Campbell says
I think you could serve it warm! You could use his mom’s potato salad recipe as well and just sub out the potatoes for cauliflower and see if that goes over well too. 🙂
Angela Hoffman says
Awesome idea we totally tried it and it is great! I had a habit of pouring red wine vinegar over hot potatoes and I kept that with the cauliflower. Yum.