Fully Loaded Cauliflower Salad

For the reviewers who are concerned about this recipe being "healthy", this is a LOW CARB recipe. Most cream-based salads aren't usually made for the mindset of eating healthy and if eaten in moderation, there shouldn't be a concern. The mayonnaise and sour cream should be added to your liking and it's really just a matter of how wet you like it. Fat free plain or greek yogurt can be used in place of part of the sour cream or mayonnaise.

At last minute (the morning of Memorial Day) our friends invited us to a cookout. They said they'd make the meat if we brought the sides. I knew they all (including my husband) loved the "baked potato salad" from the Fresh Market around the corner from us, but I am back on low-carb and needed something that would be similar for me (as I love the baked tater salad too, but obviously couldn't eat it...) and...This was AWESOME! I used full-fat sour cream and full-fat mayo as I am low-carb and low-carbers eat FAT (because it's good for you!) No, this is not low-calorie, as low-carb does not usually (ever) mean low-calorie...it was WONDERFUL! I bought a block of white cheddar and shredded it, instead of using pre-shredded cheese. The friends who invited us over USUALLY make fun of my "low-carb creations" ... and they ate it up! note - if you want this to be low-er fat, go ahead and use fat free mayo (or low-fat, ff is gross, in my opinion, but to each their own)...and the same with the sour cream. Otherwise, go for the full fat as this was amazing! And I will be making it again and again!

I was intrigued by this recipe because I was amazed that a side dish made from the healthy cauliflower could be 352 calories per serving. It's made with fat-free sour cream and reduced fat mayo, after all. Then I looked at the proportions. Even a half a cup of low fat mayo is a lot. And one whole cup of full fat cheese adds on the fat. So I reduced the sour cream and mayo to a total of one half cup, and I didn't even use all of it. I cut the olive oil to one tablespoon and used only 1/4 cup of Parmesan instead of a full cup of cheddar. This was delicious and we enjoyed it very much. Thanks so much for the post, Sarah Jo!

I enjoyed this dish. It's not exactly low calorie, but it is a great alternative to typical potato salad. The 2 dashes of Frank's Red Hot sauce added a great depth of flavor. I did not have fresh chives on hand but will add those next time as I think they would add even more flavor. I will definitely make this again and plan on bringing it to a potluck soon. Thanks for the recipe.

Yum - really liked this one. I halved the recipe and made it exactly as written. My husband, who loves cooked cauliflower, but not raw, really enjoyed this salad. I appreciated that it was good as leftovers, without getting mushy. This is a keeper - thanks Sarah Jo.

I brought thi salad when we went camping last year and my extended family, about 20 of us, has requested it again this year. We loved the flavor of the roasted cauliflower! I used lower fat ingredients for the dressing and cheeses, and beefed up the flavor with more green onions, herbs and spices. This recipe is flexible and can be tweaked to your liking.

I just made this for my sons birthday BBQ tomorrow, if I could I would eat the whole bowl! Its deeeeelicious! The flavors mix very well, I double the recipe and reduced the mayo just a little. This will be my new favorite go to salad! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, its wonderful.

I love this recipe! For a normal diet, it's not healthy, but not horrible, but if you're on a low carb diet like I am, it's awesome! One of my favorite foods was the fully loaded baked potatoe salad we would get from the local grocery store. When I started the low carb diet, this was off limits :( I tried a low carb mashed potatoes type dish before, which was also made with cauliflower, and very good too, but I never thought of making the fully loaded potatoe salad with cauliflower until I read this, thank you Sarah Jo! I did make some changes though, I used green onions instead of chives and used a lot less, and I didn't add the paprika or hot pepper sauce (I don't like spicy food), and it was delicious!

I had a head of cauliflower to use up and wondered if there existed a salad similar to the usual broccoli salad recipes I tried in the past. This recipe isn't quite the same, as other reviewers have mentioned, because it isn't quite healthy. That being said, I would agree with Dianemwj who suggested cutting the dressing proportions in half (you'll still have plenty & it still won't be healthy - so picky eaters will eat it any ways). This being said, it does take the bland cauliflower and make it taste good - bacon-ish!

This was good! A nice change from same-old potato salad. I just used a bag of real bacon bits to save time.

This is really delicious, and satisfied my potato salad craving. However, if you're eating low carb, I suggest you use full-fat versions of the sour cream and mayonnaise. As a rule, low fat means higher carb, especially with the mayonnaise as they'll add high fructose corn syrup and also starch to thicken it. But, the recipe is great with those substitutions.

I followed the recipe except for omitting the hot sauce. I like it, but the taste of mayonnaise was a bit stronger than desired. Perhaps it needs more sour cream or more other flavors to mask the mayo.

I use Blue Cheese instead of cheddar. very tasty--hubby even likes this one and he doesn't care for raw cauliflower. If I am making this early in the day, I blanch the cauliflower for about 45 seconds

I am doing low carb and missing my potato salad. This recipe is spot on to reduce your craving. I used regular mayo and my sour cream was reduced fat. Other then that I followed the ingrediants. This was absolutely delish. Give this a try. You won't be disappointed. Thanks for posting!

My family loved this! I made it exactly as written in the recipe but I was not able to wait the 1-2 hours for it to chill in the fridge- it was still so good. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow when it has chilled and the flavor have mixed overnight. I may slightly decrease the amount of mayo & sour cream next time I make it but will wait until I see how it is after it sits overnight.

Followed recipe exactly. It was awesome the whole family loved it. Great alternative to potato salad.

I loved this salad and my family also loved it.

Very good...my version: apparently I was having a senior moment, or a moment of not paying attention, as I steamed, instead of roasted, my cauliflower. Salad was still very good, but, I'm sure, even better with roasted cauliflower!

I've made a lot of unusual cauliflower recipes this summer, and this is my favorite so far. I'll admit I didn't actually measure anything. Cauliflower heads vary so much in size it doesn't make sense to me to be wedded to exact amounts of ingredients. But I used everything called for, including extra sharp (orange) cheddar, and seasoned to taste. (Though I subbed red pepper flakes for hot sauce because I prefer it.) I eat a low carb high fat diet, so I didn't substitute in any low fat products. I expect that helps it taste good. I foresee eating this a lot and sharing it at potlucks and summer picnics. Of course you can tweak the recipe to suit your own taste. Someday I'll try it with a bit of spicy mustard, I'm sure.

Well I changed this a bit. I boiled my cauliflower until tender. Then I added all the ingredients, plus a half a cup of Monterey jack cheese and baked in a casserole dish for Twenty minutes. It was delicious hot.

Used full-fat Best mayo and sour cream. Doubled the garlic and used 1 t. smoked paprika. Nice and crunchy and tasty. A nice change from the usual salads.

My oh my! I have an Atkins cauliflower “potato” salad that I usually make and like a lot. The roasted cauliflower and the hot sauce drew me to try this one, and I’m glad I did! The only change I made was to use red onion instead of green since that is what I had on hand. This is fantastic!

Loved this, and so did everyone where I served it! This one is going on my “take to parties” list. Thanks for the recipe!

Extremely easy. Had everything except the fresh head of cauliflower on hand already. Adequate replacement for the potato salad I can’t have on keto. The ranch dip did kick it up a notch. Instead of regular hot sauce, I used smoked chipotle tabasco. Turned out a tad to salty for my liking but I think that came from either the cheese or bacon I added. The roasted cauliflower was perfect out of the oven. Maybe next time I will omit salt altogether. This will go on my list of side items to take to a party.

My whole family loved this----we didn't have any dried chives, but it turned out amazing! We will make this again for sure!

This was a great salad. Only made a small head as wasn't sure if hubby would like it. He loved it and we ate almost the whole dish. Will make this one again!

I like this recipe except my Cauliflower seemed pretty bitter in this. I think maybe next time I need to cook it longer to get it tender? I do love cauliflower and I love the idea of a substitute for potato salad hoping I can have a come out better next time.

No need for the bacon, I'm going to make this, but with vegan sour cream and vegan cheese for a low carb, zero cholesterol salad.

This turned out so good!! I did use some ranch seasoning (another recipe from Allrecipes) and I didn’t use any cheese simply because I didn’t have any....still turned out as the best cauliflower salad I’ve had. We use cauliflower as much as possible in place of potatoes to cut back on carbs, my son has type 1 diabetes. This does not taste like you are giving anything up! Next time I’m gonna try adding a little horseradish : )

I've made this several times, each a little differently, and it's always good. The recipe as written does not really need any changes made to it but as the cook note's it's all up to personal preference. I love this when bbqing. It is lighter than potato salad and great on a hot summer day!

This is absolutely delicious. I made it exactly as the recipes is written and I brought it to a party and it was immediately gone. Everyone loved it, even my husband who would normally never eat cauliflower. He even went back for more. I know that it's not "healthy", but as a diabetic, I need to watch my carbohydrate intake and this makes me feel like I can finally eat something with some flavor.

Yummmmmmm!!!! I loved this!!!! I had some cauliflower that I was planning on making mashed cauliflower but then discovered this recipe from watching the YouTube channel called A Peek Inside. I used full fat sour cream and mayo though. I didn’t have green onion or chives so I omitted them but used some sweet relish for a little zing and crunch. So good!!!! I did add green onion later when I had a chance to stop at the grocery store and it was definitely better. (My store was out of chives though). Thanks so much for this recipe! Will make again and again. Oh and I did use some ranch dressing mix as suggested, and used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika.

I made as written (including the submitter's hint to add ranch dressing mix) and liked it, however I will love it when I leave out the cheese next time I make it. Shocking, as I usually love cheese in my dishes.

Super good salad. Couldn't tell is was cauliflower. Great for the keto diet. Couldn't stop eating it! Will double the recipe next time.

Turkey bacon works well and lowers calories by more than half!! The suggested greek yogurt cuts it even more, take it from an RD. Great recipe:)

I liked it; hubby didn't. I made it for him to replace potato salad. : (

This salad was delicious and perfect for a pot luck. I used plain Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream. Next time I will use less mayo and Greek yogurt. Definitely a keeper recipe

I made for a 2 family BBQ with 4 teenagers and 2 couples. it was a huge success. the kids absolutely loved it. I doubled the recipe and filled a large aluminum roasting pan. it was completely gone by the end of the night. highly recommended.

This was really good! I made it exactly per the recipe, and really enjoyed it. The little pieces of cauliflower somehow translated into a more delicate flavor than big chunks (?!), and if I had not known it was cauliflower, I would not have known. I just would have thought "What a great, crunchy, tasty salad." I recommend this recipe wholeheartedly!

I tweaked the recipe to make it my own but my family absolutely loves loaded cauliflower salad. I've taken it too many family get-togethers and always get compliments and usually someone asks for the recipe.

Made it over Labor day weekend for family gathering and Everyone liked it. Will definitely make again.

This was really good! I made it exactly per the recipe, and really enjoyed it. The little pieces of cauliflower somehow translated into a more delicate flavor than big chunks (?!), and if I had not known it was cauliflower, I would not have known. I just would have thought "What a great, crunchy, tasty salad." I recommend this recipe wholeheartedly!

I was skeptical that cauliflower could replace the potato from a texture and flavor aspect. However this recipe totally surprised me! This is super good, and easy to make! Great recipe!

Good solid base for needing a quick salad! Had to adjust for families likes. But it will stay in my recipe box:)