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This creamy Cauliflower Salad is easy to make in under 20 minutes and perfect for a spring potluck or picnic. Fresh cauliflower is quickly blanched, cooled and tossed with fresh veggies and bacon, then mixed with a light and creamy dressing.
If you love cauliflower, you should also try my Cauliflower Mac and Cheese!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- Only 20 Minutes – The bulk of the hands-on prep for this recipe is just chopping and slicing. It’s fast and easy to make!
- Loaded with Veggies – This lettuce-free salad is filled with lots of crunchy and colorful veggies.
- Easy, Creamy Dressing – The dressing is mayo and sour cream based so it’s super creamy.
Ingredients
- Head of Cauliflower – You’ll cut up the cauliflower into florets. To save time, you can also buy a bag of pre-cut florets.
- Cooked and Crumbled Bacon – This is an easy step to do in advance or a great use of leftover bacon.
- Red Onion – Red onions are typically milder and sweeter than white onions making them a great choice to use raw in salads.
- Celery – Thinly sliced celery adds an extra crunch to the salad. It’s best to slice it very thin.
- Shredded Red Cabbage – To save time you can buy a bag of shredded cabbage or you can shred it up yourself using a sharp knife or mandoline.
- Shredded Carrots – To save time you can buy a bag of shredded carrots or you can shred medium-large carrots on a box grater.
- Hulled and Roasted Sunflower Kernels – If you only have raw sunflower seeds you can toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing often for 4-7 minutes until lightly browned. Sprinkle with salt while still hot in the skillet.
- Sour Cream – This is the base of the creamy dressing. You can use light or whole fat sour cream. You can also swap in plain greek yogurt as a substitute.
- Mayo – You can use light or regular mayo in the creamy salad dressing.
- Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed lemon juice is always best for flavor, but you can also use the kind in a jar, if you’re in a pinch. You can also use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice.
- White Granulated Sugar – Honey is a great swap for the sugar!
- Garlic Powder
How To Make Cauliflower Salad
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Blanch Cauliflower Florets – Start by boiling a pot of salted water and filling a large bowl with ice water. Plunge the cauliflower florets in the boiling water for just 30 seconds then immediately add to the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Dry the florets on a paper towel lined plate and blot away any excess water.
Add to Large Bowl – Add the dried cauliflower florets to a large salad bowl along with the bacon, red onion, celery, red cabbage, carrots, and sunflower seeds.
Dressing – In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until combined. Pour over the salad and toss so it’s all coated.
Refrigerate and Enjoy – It’s best to refrigerate the salad for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours, before enjoying so the flavors can meld.
Serving Suggestions
This recipe is a great addition to a potluck or picnic spread! Try pairing it with other potluck favorites, such as my easy Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Tuna Macaroni Salad, or Deviled Eggs.
Storage
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 days. The dressing will get more runny the longer it sits, as it draws out the moisture from the vegetables. As it sits, the cabbage will begin to soften a bit and become almost like a delicious slaw.
Expert Tips
- Customizable – You can easily omit or swap out any of the veggies! The key is to include veggies that you like eating raw.
- Don’t like the strong flavor of red onion? To mellow the strong onion flavor, you can soak it in ice water while you prep the other salad ingredients, drain and dry before adding to the salad.
- Don’t Overcook the Cauliflower – You want the cauliflower florets to still have a bite to them (tender crisp), so it’s important to only boil them for a short amount of time and use the ice bath to stop the cooking.
- Dry Blanched Cauliflower Florets Well – Dry on a paper towel lined plate, and blot with paper towel to remove excess water. It’s important to dry the cauliflower well so your salad doesn’t become watery.
Potluck Salad Recipes to Try Next
- Napa Cabbage Salad
- Easy BLT Pasta Salad
- Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
- Simple Carrot Salad
- How to Make Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 large red onion chopped small
- 2 ribs celery sliced thin on a bias
- 1 cup red cabbage finley shredded
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup hulled roasted sunflower kernels salted
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt + extra for blanching water
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water, set aside.
- Blanch the cauliflower florets by plunging them into the boiling water for 30 seconds, remove immediately to the bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. Dry on a paper towel lined plate, and blot with paper towel to remove excess water. It’s important to dry the cauliflower well so your salad doesn’t become watery.
- Once cauliflower is dried well, place in a large bowl with the bacon, red onion, celery, red cabbage, carrots and sunflower seeds.
- In a medium bowl mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, garlic powder and salt and pepper until combined. Pour over salad ingredients and toss until everything is evenly coated.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
