by Holly
Cauliflower Salad is a deliciously crispy, crunchy, vegetable salad fully loaded! Tender roasted cauliflower is mixed with bacon and cheddar in a flavorful creamy dressing!
This easy salad is the perfect potluck dish and goes great with your summertime favorites from burgers to grilled chicken or even pulled pork!
Potato Salad Reimagined
Nothing reminds us of fond childhood flavors like a classic potato salad, a summer time staple! Move over potato salad, this roasted cauliflower salad is our new (low carb) favorite side dish! This recipe can be made with raw cauliflower but we love the extra layer of flavor from roasting!
Instead of the same ol’ salads (which you know someone else is already bringing) take this beauty of a salad to your next potluck at work or church. Believe me, a cold cauliflower salad will earn you serious props with everyone!
How to Prepare Cauliflower
To Cut Cauliflower
- One regular sized head of cauliflower makes about 8 cups of chopped cauliflower pieces. Don’t cut it too small but just enough to complement the other ingredients. A really beautiful cauliflower bacon salad will taste just as good as it looks, lots of contrast, color, and flavor!
- Remove the outer lower leaves and pull off any loose stem pieces, the florets will naturally fall apart. At this point you can cut them as large or small as you please, making sure to keep the pieces uniform in size.
How to Roast Cauliflower
- When roasting your cauliflower drizzle with olive oil and season before putting into a preheated oven! Let them roast in a shallow pan for about 15-20 minutes until the pieces are tender to the bite. Go ahead, sample a few! Put the remaining cauliflower in a bowl and place in the fridge to cool while you assemble the rest of the recipe.
How to Make Cauliflower Salad
While the cauliflower is cooling in the fridge
- Start by frying, cooling and crumbling the bacon.
- Slice and dice your vegetables and mix with the cheddar cheese.
- For the dressing, whisk together all ingredients until fully incorporated.
Now it’s time to assemble! Stir the cooled cauliflower with the other ingredients and gently toss with the dressing. Feeling creative? Try adding your favourite mix-ins!
- VEGGIES: Try adding broccoli or even shredded carrots for an additional crunch!
- CHEESE: Don’t have sharp cheddar cheese on hand? No worries, add in your favorite cheese or whatever you have on hand!
This keto cauliflower potato salad is best served super cold, so if you can make it a few hours in advance or even the day before, I highly recommend it!
More Delicious Salads
- Rainbow Broccoli Salad – Bright and colorful!
- Caprese Salad – Elegant and delicious!
- Creamy Carrot Salad – Bursting with flavor!
- Grape Salad – Quick and versatile.
- Waldorf Salad – Classic summer salad.
Loaded Cauliflower Salad Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower about 8 cups
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt & pepper
- ½ cup radishes sliced
- ½ cup celery diced
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 green onions sliced
- 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1 teaspoon mustard or dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
Follow Spend with Pennies on Pinterest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Toss cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 15-20 minutes or until tender crisp. Set aside to cool completely.
- Whisk all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- Place cooled cauliflower in a large bowl along with remaining ingredients. Toss with dressing.
- Chill at least 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
I know it’s extra work, but thanks for putting the serving size in the nutrition .
You’re welcome Judy, glad we can help!
Is there a vegan way to make it
Hi Linda, we haven’t tried but you could try substituting the ingredients for vegan options.
Very tasty… addictively so. Roasted the cauliflower and cooked the bacon in tinfoil on the barbecue to avoid heating up my kitchen during some sweltering weather. Will definitely make it for company, post-COVID!
It’s amazing, will definitely do this again and can’t wait to share. Left out the relish, to cut down the carbs.
When I suggested this salad to my husband yesterday, he looked at me like I was crazy! I made it anyway and he raved about it! We both ate two helpings and I can hardly wait to have leftovers today!
Looks great!
I will love to get your recipe
Scroll down to the recipe card, or click the Jump to Recipe button at the top to find the recipe. Enjoy Keith!
Won’t make this again. The relish is what throws it off. Nobody liked it in my fam!
This salad is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!! I was asked to bring a second salad to a BBQ – the first being a creamy coleslaw – so I made a champagne/dijon vinaigrette dressing instead as a lighter option for people. Huge hit!!
Sounds delish Lorna!
Absolutely delicious! Thank you! Not having potato salad during the summer is tough….but this is a game changer! Bye Bye Carbs!
How many servings does this make ?
This recipe makes 12 servings Zelda.
I made This its very good. like it.
What is sweet relish? Nit sure we have that in Australia. Are there any other suggestions?
You can use finely chopped sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles.
This was very tasty! I made it last summer I like that folks are using much more cauliflower lately, as do I. One thing that I’ve made recently, in order to cut down on the carbs in Potato Salad, is that I used half amount of potatoes & half amount of cauliflower florets (approx. the same size as the diced potatoes). I seasoned & mixed everything together with the same ingredients which I always use when making my family’s iconic Potato Salad. I took it to a family gathering, and it was a huge hit. The flavor of Potato Salad was not sacrificed by using some cauliflower, and no-one was afraid to ‘indulge’.
I can’t wait to try your recipes!
Thank you Andrea! Happy you’ve found Spend With Pennies!
I made this for a family get together and we all enjoyed it. Next time I will not roast as long, for more crunch…but tasted great!
So happy to hear that you loved this cauliflower salad Marj!
Love so many of your recipes. I feed a large family and not one of them, has been disappointed with any of your recipes, that I have prepared. Thanks for your wonderful site.
Thank you so much for your kind words Diane! I’m so happy you’ve found some recipes to enjoy!
do you have an actual cook book that you sell? I would love that! I print off most of your recipes and have made most of them! what I like is the “jump to recipe’ feature. they are simple easy to get yummy recipes that print on 1 or 2 pages!
I don’t have a cookbook at this time Penny. Please enjoy the recipes at Spend With Pennies!
Have you tried making the cauliflower salad and not roasted the cauliflower? Just leave it raw. What do you think? Too crunchy, too strong?
I sure have and it’s great that way too! I make a raw broccoli cauliflower salad. The only suggestion I have with raw cauliflower is to make sure the pieces are pretty small so they are easy to eat! Enjoy!
I use raw just cut it small so it’s not hard to eat does not last long at my house.