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Get It NowMy Cauliflower Potato Salad Tastes Like The Creamy Regular Kind
One of the (many, many) reasons I love spring and summer is they are some of the easiest times of year for low carb recipes. Between fresh grilled meats, juicy burgers (either bunless or on low carb hamburger buns), and simple salads (like my creamy cucumber salad for a side or my healthy taco salad as a meal), there are so many delicious options to choose from. Best of all, many of these foods will please everyone – even if they are not eating low carb. Before I made this cauliflower potato salad, I didn’t expect it to be one of those. To my surprise, it was! Here’s why:
- Tastes like potato salad – The creamy, zesty dressing makes the dish, and it covers up the cauliflower so well. Everyone I’ve shared this with barely notices it’s not potatoes!
- Classic texture – It may not be potatoes, but I have a few tips to give this cauliflower potato salad recipe those potato-like vibes. And I’ve got all the classic add-ins — think hard-boiled eggs, crunchy celery, and onions.
- Simple and easy – Grab a few common staples, and you can have this dish ready in 15 minutes.
- Low carb, keto, and just plain healthy – My cauliflower potato salad has only 6g net carbs per serving, so it was perfect to include in my Easy Keto Cookbook! It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, and Whole30 compliant. But it’s also just a great healthier way to enjoy potato salad flavors and get your veggies at the same time!
This salad is perfect for your barbecues, picnics, and family get-togethers. It stores well, so you can prep it ahead. I make it all summer long. Make it with me!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my easy cauliflower potato salad, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Cauliflower – You’ll need a whole head, or grab a bag of cauliflower florets. The cauliflower taste in this dish is actually quite mild, because the dressing covers it up.
- Crunchy Veggies – Finely diced onion and celery add crunch and a little bite. Feel free to use any color onion (yellow, white, sweet, or red onion all work well), or if you’re feeling adventurous, swap out the celery with celeriac or fennel stalks.
- Eggs – I usually have some hard boiled eggs in my fridge, but you can also boil eggs in the air fryer or even boil eggs in the oven.
- Mayonnaise – The base of the dressing. I use homemade mayo when I have time to make it, but love this brand of store-bought. You can also use plain Greek yogurt or sour cream.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – I like this brand. The ACV brings a zesty kick to this cauliflower potato salad and I love the benefits (I also use it to make ACV gummies!). You can substitute white vinegar or lemon juice if that’s what you’ve got.
- Dijon Mustard – I prefer the flavor of Dijon here, but regular yellow mustard works.
- Seasonings – My simple combo of garlic powder, paprika (or use smoked paprika for extra flavor), sea salt, and black pepper give the dressing that classic potato salad taste.
- Fresh Chives – Optional for garnish. Fresh dill or parsley are good, too.
How To Make Cauliflower Potato Salad
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Cook the cauliflower. You can use the microwave, steam the cauliflower, boil it on the stove, make Instant Pot cauliflower, or even use my roasted cauliflower recipe here if you like the flavor (like I do for roasted cauliflower salad).
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, and black pepper, until smooth.
- Mix together. In a large mixing bowl or serving bowl, toss the cooked cauliflower, diced onion and celery, and hard-boiled eggs together with the dressing. I like to garnish my cauliflower potato salad with chives and extra paprika to make it pop.
My Recipe Tips
- Cut the florets small. Smaller florets will more closely resemble potatoes. Plus, I like that they cook faster.
- Cook the cauliflower until very soft. I’m all for crisp-tender for many of my cauliflower recipes, but for this particular recipe, extra softness will give your cauliflower potato salad a texture that’s closer to potatoes.
- Fold or toss the salad rather than stirring. Since I recommend very soft cauliflower, I find that it can get a bit mushy if I stir it.
- If you have time, refrigerate for an hour. This is not required, but will let the flavors develop more. I often like to make this salad ahead anyway.
- Can you add actual potatoes? Yes, you can make this a cauliflower and potato salad. Feel free to use half cooked potatoes and half cooked cauliflower. You just need about 4-5 cups total.
- Change it up with dill pickles or bacon! If you like these flavors in potato salads, you’ll like them in this cauliflower potato salad, too. Just mince the pickles finely, or crumble oven baked bacon and add to your taste.
Cauliflower Potato Salad (Easy Recipe)
My easy cauliflower potato salad tastes like regular potato salad, but it's low carb, gluten-free, and better for you. Make it in 15 minutes!
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Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Cook the cauliflower on the stove or in the microwave.
Stove method: Boil a pot of water with a tablespoon of salt. Add the cauliflower, and simmer until very tender (about 5 minutes). Drain well and let cool.
Microwave method: Place the cauliflower florets in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of water. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Drain well and let cool.
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Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, and black pepper, until smooth.
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In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, diced onion, sliced celery, and diced egg.
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Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.
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If you have time, refrigerate the cauliflower potato salad for at least 1 hour to let the flavors develop. (This is optional.) If desired, garnish with chives and additional paprika.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you get the best texture and flavor in your cauliflower potato salad, plus a couple of my favorite variations to change it up.
- Store: Keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing it, as mayo-based dressings don’t freeze well.
- Meal prep: You might as well just make the whole salad in advance, but if you prefer, you can just store the chopped veggies and mixed dressing separately to get a couple extra days out of them. Sometimes I make a double batch of the cooked cauliflower, and use the second half to make mashed cauliflower (which needs the same kind of very soft, cooked cauliflower).
📖 Want more recipes like this? Find this one and many more in my Easy Keto Cookbook.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Cauliflower Potato Salad
Serving Ideas
Since I first published this cauliflower potato salad recipe, I’ve made it dozens of times for my family, friends, potlucks, picnics, and more. Everyone says it tastes so much like regular potato salad, even my Eastern European extended family (who love their genuine potato salads). Here are some dishes I like to serve with it:
- Burgers – Try it with my classic hamburgers, crispy smash burgers, or lighter turkey burgers.
- Sausages – Grill up some hot dogs or brats for an easy cookout meal! I also like this cauliflower potato salad with air fryer sausage when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
- Steak – You can’t go wrong with a juicy grilled steak or chuck eye steak! For an indoor option, make my sirloin steak in the oven.
- Chicken – I love this salad with herby chicken kabobs, but my simple grilled chicken breast or grilled chicken legs are even faster.
267 Comments
Melisa
0This recipe was delicious! I added a few slices of cooked crumbled bacon and cooked the cauliflower on the grill using lump coal and wood chips to get a delicious smokey flavor.
Theresa Mullins
0I made this with frozen cauliflower and adjusted the Mayo using 1/3 cup. Came out great!
Kathy Bee
0SO good!!
Doris Poore
0I made the Cauliflower potato salad on Wednesday for my side with dinner and for dinner yesterday on the 4th with BBQ ribs . It was amazing. I haven’t made potato salad in a very long time and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this. It gives me another option besides broccoli or green beans. I couldn’t get over how much it was like the real stuff. I made it just as I would have if I had been using potatoes and it was wonderful. So it will work with any old family recipe. I also made last week pizza crust with cauliflower rice. My husband loved it and he’s not on a low carb plan like me. He said don’t make the real crust again. It was so good! Who knew cauliflower was so versatile!
Christy Haupt
0I just made this for our 4th of July bbq and it is amazing! The cauliflower flavor is not even noticeable with all the other delicious spices around it. I added more finely chopped celery for more crunch and a little stevia to make it sweet/sour and pickle juice instead of the vinegar. Thank you for creating this.
Casey
0Omg this is so amazing!
Lyne M
0This recipe is amazing! I have been craving potato salad for a while now. This certainly hits the spot. Good texture, flavor, and filling too!
Noura
0I made this and added claussen dill pickles and pickle juice, fresh dill, and a small can of sliced olives. Amazing! I took it to a big bbq, and everyone wanted the recipe. I watched people go back for seconds and thirds. This is my new favorite.
Jacky A Galindo
0This recipe was a hit and I did use frozen florets used a paper towel to absorb extra moisture.. then roasted them… great texture.. everyone loved it
Jacky
0Has anyone used frozen cauliflower florets? I’m waiting for them to thaw out then will squeeze out any extra moisture in them..but gonna roast them to give them texture
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jacky, Frozen florets should be fine since you cook them for this recipe.
Penelope
0Great looking recipe. I’m going to try it with roasting the cauliflower first, add more flavor perhaps. Keep up the great blog.
Tina
0I just made this, it’s so good I added pickles because I love pickles.
Sara Kaska
0I made this and it was so good but I put some fried bacon in it and it was so good
BretVz
0Thank you! I miss potato salad! Can’t wait to try this.
Amber
0I am going to try this tonight! I am going to add more egg and I also I like to use celery salt in mine 🙂
Edward Martens
0Can I use mashed rice cauliflower instead of a head of cauliflower?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Edward, You probably could if you wanted, but I think cold cauliflower mash would be a little unusual.
Lois
0Made this recipe with the wholesomeyum mayo and added crispy bacon pieces and an extra hard boiled egg. The dressing was a little bland, however extra salt took care of that. This recipe is a KEEPER! Thank you for sharing your expertise.
Lori B
0I have a brother-in-law who will only eat mashed potato salad, we always leave some potato’s in the pot to cook longer just for him. Unusual yes, but some people love it that way. Go for it!
Iris
0Family and friends LOVE this. 1st time I made it, the cauliflower was just a bit firm. 2nd time around I steamed the little florets longer until their texture was more like boiled potatoes. I also use both green and white cauliflower for interest. Next time I see orange cauliflower, I’ll use all three for a fun “confetti” look. We love this so much that I have to triple the recipe so it lasts more than a day. It actually tastes better the next day anyway when the flavors “meld”.
I don’t like mayonnaise – neither the taste, texture, or ingredients. Instead. . .For a single recipe amount, I use a mini food-processor it to blend the boiled eggs with 2 to 4 tablespoons of softened cream cheese (amount depends on personal taste), a tablespoon or so of “fresh-fermented” pickle juice instead of vinegar, the mustard, and spices. I also add a dash of powdered erythritol because friends and family are used to store-bought potato salad which is actually sweetened with sugar. As another reply said, you can instead use a couple of tablespoons (per personal taste) sugar-free sweet pickle relish. I also use the mini-processor to grind the fresh onions and celery until they’re fine and a bit “juicy”. Sometimes I add a couple of fresh-fermented pickle chunks and olives to the onions and celery and grind them all fine together. When they’re stirred into the egg-cream cheese mix, the dressing is as creamy as one with mayonnaise. If more dressing bulk is needed, double the amount of celery when grinding them with the onions. Increase ingredients accordingly up when doubling and tripling the recipe. No one has yet discovered there’s no mayo in the mix :-). “Regular” (bottled/pasteurized) organic pickles, olives, and their juices can be used. I prefer fresh/raw pickles and sauerkraut for their live fermentation cultures – just as good for the gut as live yogurts.
Kind regards and good eats!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much for your kind words, Iris!
Sue
0Thank you so much for this recipe! This is excellent and we all loved it! Have not had potato salad all year after reducing carbs. What a treat! Thanks again!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy that you liked the salad, Sue! Have a great day!
Elfi
0Love the crunchy texture of the cauliflower! Tastes just like potato salad! I’ll be making this again!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Elfi! You can cook the cauliflower to be either soft or crunchy.
Carol Jakl
0I’m going to try this (even though I DETEST cauliflower, can’t even stand the smell of it cooking) because my family like it, and several are on low carb diets. I cook Friday night family dinner (son,his wife, grandson, hubby, daughter and sometimes another daughter and granddaughter). We’ll see.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I hope you like it, Carol! Thanks for stopping by!
Carol Jakl
0So, I made it. The family loved it, even had seconds. Me, it is cauliflower (I did taste it!) which I detest. I’ll make it again since everyone else loved it.
Jim Cirillo
0I am prediabetic so I am glad that I found your cauliflower potato salad recipe which I made and it was very yummy! One question: how much sodium which was not listed in the nutrition facts? I also have high blood pressure so I have to watch sodium so I changed your recipe and used 3 tablespoons of sour cream mixed with 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise (I made enough to equal 2/3 of a cup as your recipe calls for) to cut down on the sodium. 67 to 80% of diabetics also have high blood pressure!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jim, I’m glad you liked it! I don’t have additional nutrition info on hand, but you can enter the ingredients into an online calculator if you need other info. Thanks for sharing this modification for other readers, too!
CRISSY
0Omg!!… So happy I found your page!!! I LOVE all these recipes!!!!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Crissy! Have a great day!
Rebecca
0I just made your low carb cauliflower potato salad and I must confess I was a little sceptical at first, but WOW I love it!!! I did add two ingredients, but I liked the way it tasted before I added them. 🙂 I added 1 1/2 tsp of chia seeds which I do to all salads of this type because they absorb the excess water that always seems to accumulate by the next day. I also added three tablespoons of no sugar sweet relish because my husband simply believes that should be in everything from chicken salad to potato salad and if adding the no sugar pickle relish helps him to adapt to lower carb…makes me happy too. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am happy that you and your husband liked it, Rebecca! Please come back again soon!
Eric
0Add capers, you’ll thank me! 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Great tip, Eric! Thanks for sharing with us!
Heather
0OMG. This is amazing. I needed to have a dish I could take to a bbq that I could eat but I know I won’t be the only one . I used a bag of riced cauliflower so it was super easy. Thank you for posting .
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked it, Heather! Have a great day!
A.E. Rocchi
0This cauliflower “potato salad” recipe is delicious. My whole family loves it. Very easy to make too. Thank you.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am thrilled that you liked the salad! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Candy
0I made this for a Memorial Day picnic at a friend’s house. She is gluten free and is doing the Keto diet. I wanted to bring something delicious that she could also eat. This was a hit! I put in extra eggs (I doubled the recipe and then added a total of 11 eggs). I would stress that draining the cauliflower really well before you add the dressing is key. I set mine up in a colander to drain for a couple hours. This is a good recipe!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy the salad was a hit, Candy! Have a great day!
Ven Baker
0Thank you for all your fabulous recipes. This looks like a good salad to try this summer, but I think I’m going to roast the caulifower, instead of boil or microwave. I just prefer the flavor of it roasted. Let you know how it turns out!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yes, roasting the cauliflower sounds delicious! Please come back and let me know, Ven!
Holly
0I am so enjoying this keto diet. To be able to eat such good food and still lose weight is fantastic. This mock potato salad is wonderful. My husband said it is a keeper and that I should leave a review. I am sure we will be making this all summer long.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Holly! I am so happy to hear that! Have a great day!
Barbara Caswell
0I’ve made this cauliflower salad a couple of times and it is super delicious. Even the kids liked it.
Lyn Hertz
0Has anyone had success using frozen riced cauliflower in thi recipe? i would love to know how it turned out. Thanks
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Lyn, I have not personally tried this with frozen cauliflower, but other readers have said that it works for them.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0That is awesome, Barbara! Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon frommie
0Delicious!! The only change I make is that I steam my cauliflower to al-dente in my rice cooker/steamer. Perfect, and no problem with having to drain the excess water. This is tasty with any meal, so I try to make it often to have ‘on hand’.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Great idea, Sharon! Thanks for stopping by!
Margo
0Quick question about the nutrition, particularly the carbohydrates. Where are all those carbs coming from in the recipe? The recipe looks delicious and I hope to try it soon. Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Margo, Mostly they are from the cauliflower and onion.
Margo
0Thanks. Looking forward to trying it!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hope you love it!
Judy Davis
0This looks so good. Do you know if using the “riced” cauliflower readily available now would be too small in pieces to substitute for the larger cauliflower chunks in your recipe? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Judy! You could use riced cauliflower. The texture would be different, but I think it would still be good. The cook time would also need to be reduced, since those tiny pieces will cook faster than florets.
anyaperry
0Congratulations, I nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award! I also shared why I think you are awesome! 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Anya! I appreciate it. 🙂