Fauxtato Salad (Keto-Friendly "Potato" Salad)

Meal Suggestions

Anything BBQ – this hearty Fauxtato Salad pairs perfectly with grilled burgers (both regular and veggie versions), barbecued meats, or roasted chicken for summer gatherings. Serve it alongside couscous salad or Mediterranean dishes like grilled fish for a complete meal. For lunch, add chopped rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken thighs. It's particularly excellent for picnics and potlucks where traditional potato salad would be served (some won’t even notice the difference!).

 

Shortcuts

• Use pre-cut cauliflower florets from the refrigerated or freezer section to save on prep time. If refrigerated, follow the same directions above. If frozen, roast directly from frozen (do not thaw), using the preheated sheet pan. Be sure to spread the cauliflower out as much as possible (using two pans if necessary) so the cauliflower does not steam and increase the cooking time to at least 15 minutes.

• Make hard-boiled eggs in batches on meal prep day - they keep for up to one week in the refrigerator, unpeeled and up to 5 days peeled and stored in an airtight container.

• Pre-make the dressing up to 3 days ahead and store in the refrigerator; flavors actually improve over time.

• Use pre-cooked bacon or bacon bits to skip the bacon-cooking step entirely.

• Precut/sliced add-ins such as olives, celery, etc. are a time saver.

 

Troubleshooting

• Dressing too thick: Add more pickle juice or lemon juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. 

• Dressing too thin: Add more mayonnaise or sour cream gradually.  

• Too bland: Increase salt, garlic powder, or add more pickle juice for tanginess.  

• Cauliflower is too mushy: This can be prevented by keeping an eye on the cauliflower after about 10 minutes in the oven; cauliflower should still have some resistance when pierced with a fork.  

• Cauliflower is not browning: Increase oven temperature to 450°F or use convection setting; ensure pieces aren't overcrowded on the pan.  

• Salad seems watery: Pat roasted cauliflower completely dry before mixing and drain any excess liquid from add-ins like pickles. As you chop, consider adding ingredients to a fine mesh strainer.

 

Make Ahead

The cauliflower and add-ins can be cooked, chopped, and mixed a day in advance. The dressing can also be made up to 3 days ahead of serving. Just wait about 4 hours before serving, mix the chopped items and the dressing, garnish as desired, cover and refrigerate.

 

Storage & Leftovers

Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The salad will become less creamy over time since the cauliflower will absorb the dressing, but the flavor will still be there!

 

Substitutions & Variations

• Replace the cauliflower: Roasted rutabaga, radishes, or hearts of palm can be used to replace (or add to) the cauliflower.

• Extras: Add-ins and amounts can be adjusted to your tastes or the theme of the dinner – don’t limit your creativity and consider capers, roasted garlic, diced bell peppers, red onions, shallots, crumbled cheese, pine nuts, chickpeas, chicken, and diced ham are all yummy options. 

• Make the dressing healthier: Greek yogurt, avocado, and/or hummus could all be used to replace or complement the mayonnaise. 

• Minimize food waste: The green stems of the cauliflower can be used too! We found that just chopping pieces the same size as the white part resulted in components that were tough and woody. However, smaller pieces or matchsticks are small enough to tenderize when roasting with the white part. The green parts taste like cauliflower and add extra crunch. Grating onto the salad works too.

 

Substitutions & Variations – Shelf-Stable & Frozen Ingredients

Pre-chopped cauliflower, green onions, lemons, and bacon can be frozen. The green onions can be mixed into the salad and used as a garnish directly from the freezer.  

 

Substitutions & Variations – Vegan

Omit bacon (or replace with vegetarian versions) and eggs (consider using kala namak (black salt to add some eggy flavor)). Adjust the other add-ins to your taste. Replace the mayonnaise with vegan mayonnaise or aquafaba mayonnaise.

Substitutions & Variations – Vegetarian

Omitting the bacon makes this easily vegetarian – add a protein boost by adding cheese, chickpeas (roasted or straight from the can), extra hard-boiled eggs, or toasted nuts.

 

Safety Tips

Keep the salad cool when serving: Salad should not be out of the refrigerator for longer than 2 hours (1 hour if it is really hot – like 85 degrees or so). When serving in a warm environment, ice baths or ice packs are helpful to keep the food safe and more palatable (a great way to reuse the ice packs from meal delivery services).