Do you love potato salad, but hate all the carbs and calories that come with it? How about trying this Cauliflower Potato Salad Recipe? It has all the flavors of the traditional potato salad, but it has no potato, is low carb, and healthier!
It has everything you want in a potato salad, but without the potato. Made with hard boiled eggs, easy mayo, it comes together super fast!
A few days ago, I was thinking what to do for lunch. I opened my fridge and I noticed I had a cauliflower head there waiting for me to eat.
Looking for more cauliflower salads? Just check these ones: Cauliflower “Rice” Tabbouleh Salad Recipe, Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad, Creamy Avocado Cauliflower Salad, and Roasted Butternut Squash Cauliflower Salad.
I guess I took time to try this recipe because I was a little skeptical of people saying Cauliflower Potato Salad tastes as good as the classic potato salad. And I have to say that it DOES. Of course, cauliflower and potatoes are not the same vegetables, but they have similar consistencies and texture — just like this Whole30 Mashed Cauliflower Recipe!
On top of that, what brings the real potato flavor to this Cauliflower Potato Salad is the typical seasonings used for potato salad.
Cauliflower is a blank slate when it come to cooking, because it takes well to whatever flavors you put with it, like potatoes do, but without all those carbs. But cauliflower is way more versatile than that.
This salad is ready for your picnics, barbecues (bbq) and parties. It might remind you of a deviled egg, because of the hard boiled eggs and paprika, but the red onion, celery and scallions take it to the next level.
I didn’t add bacon or dill pickles to this salad, but if you prefer you can add them too. I also replaced fresh dill for fresh parsley but you can also use chives instead.
How do you Boil Cauliflower for “potato salad”?
The instructions to boil cauliflower are pretty easy as you can see below:
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
- Add the chopped cauliflower florets (it’s a good idea to try to cut them into small, bite-size pieces), cover the pot, and cook the cauliflower for about 5 minutes or until they’re tender.
- Drain the cauliflower in a large colander and rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process.
How to Make this Cauliflower Potato Salad
Assembling this recipe is a snap. For easy meal prep, you can make the hard boiled eggs a day or so ahead of time if you like. I explain how to do that in my Easy Deviled Eggs recipe.
- In a large bowl, add the cooked cauliflower florets and all the ingredients for the salad. Mix all well and set aside.
- Then, make the dressing. The dressing requires mayo and comes together fast by combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and whipping everything together well.
- Pour it on top of the salad and mix all together to combine.
- The salad itself is garnished with thinly sliced scallions and ready to go.
What Kind of Mayo To Use
I love using a homemade mayo, and my 1-Minute Homemade Mayonnaise makes it hard to resist. It’s foolproof and fast.
Once you make it, you’ll wonder why you never tried it before. It’s fresh, and you know what’s in it because you made it yourself.
However, if you have a good quality, store-bought mayo in the fridge, go ahead and use it. It will still be delicious, and it’ll still be a low-carb, keto, gluten-free potato salad.
If you don’t have mayo or if you can’t eat mayo, you can replace it for Greek yogurt.
Serving and Storing
- Eggs: You can make them a couple days ahead of time. Just keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
- Cauliflower: You can steam this veggie ahead of time and store in the fridge, covered, for a day.
- Dressing: Yes! Noticing a trend? You can make the mayo ahead of time, as it will keep for a couple of days.
If you’re not making and eating the salad immediately and would rather prep ahead, prep the components separately and store them separately. Then, when it’s time to assemble, put them all in a bowl and go for it. This also prevents the salad from getting too soggy.
This salad tastes good at room temperature, but can also be chilled, once dressed, for a short bit right before serving. You’ll love this creamy dressing made with cup mayonnaise, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and salt and black pepper. Optional: you can add a little bit of olive oil, if you prefer.
All these ingredients together make this Cauliflower Potato Salad tastes as good as the traditional potato salad, without all the carbs and the calories. Enjoy!
More Cauliflower Recipes to Try:
I thought, “What I should make with this cauliflower?” I have already made lots of different recipes such as cauliflower pizza dough, cauliflower tots, mashed cauliflower, garlic parmesan roasted cauliflower, mashed cauliflower shepherd’s pie and so on. Then, I remembered I’ve always wanted to make Cauliflower Potato Salad and I haven’t yet! I am glad I made it because it’s delicious just like my other low-carb recipes made with cauliflower.
I’m sure one of these protein dishes will go very well with your keto potato salad.
Want another salad recipe? You should try my Avocado Egg Salad Recipe, Couscous Salad and Chicken Salad!
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Cauliflower “Potato” Salad Recipe
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Ingredients
For the salad
- 5 cups cauliflower florets
- 1/4 cup red onion chopped
- ½ yellow bell pepper chopped
- 1/3 cup celery chopped
- 2 hard boiled eggs chopped
- ½ teaspoon paprika for topping
- Fresh parsley chopped (for topping)
For the dressing
- ¼ cup homemade mayo
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic minced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower head up into florets and remove the stem from the cauliflower.
- Steam the head of cauliflower by filling a large pot with about 2 cups of water and place a steamer basket in the bottom. Bring the water to a boil. Place the cauliflower florets into the steamer basket.
- Cover the pot and steam until the cauliflower florets are fork tender (6-8 minutes). Remove from the heat and let the cauliflower cool down for 5 minutes.
- Place the steamed cauliflower in a bowl and add all the remaining ingredients for the salad (not including the ingredients for topping). Set aside.
- In a small bowl, add all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk everything together to combine.
- Taste to check the seasoning and pour the dressing over the salad.
- Mix all together until well combined. Top with paprika and fresh chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Tips
- You can buy pre-cut cauliflower florets to save time on prepping.
- When selecting cauliflower, make sure they feel heavy for their size.
- This salad tastes good at room temperature but can also be served chilled.
- To store: Keep this recipe refrigerated for up to 4 days. When serving, do not leave it out at room temperature for too long.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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ZazaCook says
This salad is gorgeous! Love the flavors!
Olivia says
Yes it is! So glad you like it 😉
KT says
This is an excellent way to use up the cauliflower from our garden! Every bit as tasty as potato salad. Thank you!
Olivia says
Wow So happy you enjoy this salad. And isn’t that awesome when you can eat food from your garden? It always tastes much better, don’t you think? 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
Elizabeth Reiser-Loeber says
Really good! I added in some other ingredients but I’m surprised how it definitely satisfied my craving for potato salad.
Karly says
Oh I seee you! I am really seriously truly in love with this– potato salad is totally one of my guilty pleasures, and with this recipe it can just be a pleasure! Love!!
Lindsey B says
You said in your post that you added only 2 Tbsp of light mayo, but the recipe calls for 1/4 c + 1 Tbsp, so that’s 5 Tbsps. Which one is it?
Olivia says
Hi, Lindsey. I’m sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out. I used 5 tbsp of light mayo. I’ll fix it on the post to avoid further confusion.
JoAnn Kauffmann says
This “potato” salad is delicious. You would never know it was made of cauliflower. Thanks!
Olivia says
Exactly! It’s so good! You won’t miss the potatoes.
Rukiaya says
Hi there can I make it without the mustard sauce
Olivia says
Yes you can. You can season it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or even lemon juice.
Nope Alady says
Hello all, so I’m not really one to leave a lot of reviews. I did however “kinda” try this one, and it was good, really good. What I liked the most though was it didn’t jack up my blood sugar. I sometimes struggle to find diabetic friendly recipes. I did however make a few changes to make this a more “well rounded meal”. It was perfect for lunches at work and school. If anyone was curious here are the alterations, keep in mind I doubled the recipe: I used honey mustard as it was what I had on hand. Used miracle whip instead of mayo and a couple tbps of EVOO. Also, I added about 1.5-2cups of crab meat. I did cave and added two baked potatoes cuz frankly that much cauliflower smells like a bowl of farts. Ton of fresh dill too.
Thanks Olivia!!!
Janice Petitt says
Made this the best salad I’ve ever tasted. Love the cauliflower potato salad.
Olivia says
That makes SO HAPPY!