A low-carb and healthier take on old-fashioned potato salad, this cauliflower potato salad is sure to be a crowd pleaser at summer cookouts. Made with a creamy cashew dressing instead of mayo, the recipe is low carb, dairy-free, gluten-free, and paleo friendly!

Potato Salad is the Perfect Summer BBQ Recipe

When I think of summer and cookouts, I think potato salad. Have you ever had potato salad not in the summer? Personally, I think I’ve only had it at family reunions, picnics, barbecues, cookouts… all during the summertime!

This cauliflower potato salad is paleo and healthy version of my Nanny’s old-fashioned potato salad. While I love her version, I have to admit that it’s not the healthiest. I swapped potatoes for cauliflower to make this low carb, and skipped the mayo and dairy to make this a delicious, healthy side!

I like to make the recipe with eggs for an added boost of protein. With the eggs added, each serving has 12 grams of protein! You can easily make this a vegan dish by leaving out the eggs.

Dairy-free Cashew Dressing Instead of Mayo

The creamy cashew dressing is what makes this salad truly awesome – in my opinion. I feel like nine times out of ten, it’s the dressing that can make or break a salad. Even if you have a ton of great ingredients in the salad itself, if the dressing doesn’t complement the other components, the whole salad can go downhill and lack flavor.

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about this creamy cashew dressing that tastes perfect in this cauliflower potato salad. It’s inspired by the dressing I used for my broccoli raisin salad (side note: if you haven’t made that yet, add it to your list for summer cookout dishes because it’s SO good!). If you prefer to make a mayo-based dressing, just substitute ½ cup mayo (I like avocado oil mayo) in place of the cashews, and don’t add any water.

Nutrition Facts of Traditional Potato Salad vs Cauliflower Potato Salad

Traditional Potato Salad

1 serving (about 1 cup)

286 calories

22g carbs

16g fat

5g protein

Cauliflower Potato Salad

1 serving (about 1 cup)

214 calories

12g carbs

14g fat

12g protein

Not dramatically different, but the differences definitely makes an impact if you’re a potato salad lover like me. Are you brave enough to bring this to your next potluck barbecue? I would even dare you to make it, bring it, and don’t let anyone know that you subbed out the potatoes – it’s so good you won’t even notice that it’s healthy (aren’t those recipes really the best?). Let me know what your crowd thinks in the comments!

If you try this recipe for cauliflower “potato” salad, please leave a comment and star rating and let me know how it turns out! I LOVE getting your feedback and it helps other EBF readers, too!