Cauliflower Mock 'Potato' Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is cauliflower a good substitute for potatoes? ›

They can be mashed, turned into chips or fries, roasted, and scalloped. Give them a try! Cauliflower is probably the most common substitute for potatoes.

Taste of Home Deputy Food Editor James Schend suggests adding a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar to the water before it comes to a simmer, which will help create a “crust” on the potatoes. This way, they'll be less likely to fall apart.

As Wiggly Wisdom shares, a vinegary potato salad can easily be salvaged with a bit of lemon zest. Just take a fine grater or zester to the rind, measure out about a half teaspoon of zest per two cups of potato salad, and mix it in. Orange and lime also work if you don't have any lemon on hand.

Besides offering a lower-starch option, cauliflower also packs a lot more nutrition than a simple white potato or white rice, especially the latter.

Use a whole grain such as quinoa, bulgur, couscous or brown rice in place of your potato. You can also add a whole grain roll where your potato would normally be. Whole grains contain fiber, which can help you feel full, lower blood sugar levels and may help lower cholesterol.

“Cauliflower is another vegetable that's low in carbs, but also very high in vitamins and phytochemicals,” Fear says. Add chopped cauliflower to your salads, or top with paprika and garlic powder and roast in the oven. Riced cauliflower also makes a great low-carb replacement for traditional rice.

Compared to potatoes, cauliflower has less than half the calories per the same 100 gram serving. (source) Cauliflower has only 3 grams of “net carbs” per 100 gram serving, while potatoes have 14 grams of net carbs.

Cauliflower has a mild taste and is often used as a substitute for higher carb foods like potato and rice. One cup (107 g) of raw cauliflower contains 5 g of carbs, 2g of which are fiber.

Yes, if your potato salad is a cold salad, as most are, allow the cooked potatoes to cool to room temperature before adding the dressing and other ingredients.

Unpeeled potatoes.

The thin skins are usually tender after cooking and add color to the potato salad. Dice unpeeled potatoes into uniformly-sized pieces. Place in cold water, bring to a boil, then simmer until tender.

Should you peel potatoes before boiling for potato salad? ›

I wouldn't cut potatoes before boiling if I were making potato salad. You want to boil them whole with the skin on to keep them from absorbing too much water. Once the potatoes are fork tender, pour out the water and return the pan to the stove on low heat to dry the potatoes a bit. The skins will peel off easily.

The starch in potatoes is held together by pectin. When that pectin breaks down too quickly in the boiling process, mushy potatoes result. Adding vinegar to the water fixes that problem because, as López-Alt explains, “pectin breaks down much more slowly in acidic environments.”

Potatoes can retain moisture. To prevent this, drain the potatoes very well in a colander or pot. Allow all the steam to escape the potatoes before mixing them with the dressing and other ingredients.

Not Getting The Cook Time Right

It's a delicate balance to achieve soft, tender potatoes for that just-right potato salad texture. Defer to your recipe for specific cook times, which depend on the type of potato being used, but a good rule of thumb is to boil them until you can pierce the spuds with a fork.

The jicama root comes from the nightshade family and is the closest vegetable to a potato, per San Francisco Gate. Jicamas are brown, large, and can weigh up to 50 pounds. It has a thin skin and a starchy texture with a flavor that is said to be close to that of apples without being sweet, per Web MD.

It's high in vitamins C and K, and is also a good source of folate, which supports cell growth and is essential during pregnancy. Cauliflower is fat-free and cholesterol-free. And it's low in sodium. A one-cup serving contains only 25 calories, 5 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of dietary fiber.

Cauliflower, the king of low-carb vegetables, leads the pack with its versatility and ability to mimic the texture and flavor of potatoes. Other alternatives include turnips, rutabaga, kohlrabi, celeriac, radishes, zucchini, spaghetti squash, parsley roots, daikon radish, pumpkin, jicama, and the lesser-known chayote.