Our cauliflower salad with bacon recipe is one of numerous side dish options that can make your meal more diverse.
This salad features common ingredients like cauliflower, bacon, mayonnaise, and some additional seasonings. This recipe doesn’t require much cooking, so it’s a great starting point for new cooks.
How Healthy Is This Cauliflower Salad With Bacon?
This salad is an excellent healthy option.
This side dish contains only 164 calories, 2.7 g of saturated fat, and 280 mg of sodium in each serving. We use a moderate amount of mayonnaise, bacon, and cheese to ensure the nutrition facts are all within the limits of our guidelines.
Thanks to cauliflower being a decent protein source, this salad has 5.1 g of per serving. Also, lettuce and red onion provide numerous valuable nutrients like fiber, antioxidants, and minerals.
Main Ingredients
- Salad
The main ingredient for this salad is raw cauliflower. Its natural taste works wonderfully with the creamy mayonnaise-based dressing. Lettuce mix and red onion accompany cauliflower to add more diversity. These three ingredients share a common trait, which is the crunchiness that makes this dish fun to eat.
Bacon’s distinct salty taste makes it irresistible in any dish. Adding it to this salad makes this dish more interesting and tasty.
- Dressing
The mayonnaise-based dressing is silky smooth and coats the cauliflower perfectly. However, this dressing has more than the richness of mayonnaise. We have the acidity from white vinegar, the tanginess of Dijon mustard, the sweetness of granulated sugar, and a slightly pungent taste from black pepper.
Should You Boil Cauliflower Before Mixing Salad
We use raw cauliflower in this recipe, and it’s absolutely fine. It’s not compulsory to boil cauliflower before mixing the salad.
We want the crunch of cauliflower in the salad and boiling it would take some of that away. However, if you want to blanch the cauliflower beforehand, that’s ok too.
How to Store the Leftovers
Cauliflower salad with bacon should last for 4 to 7 days in the fridge. Transfer the leftovers to an airtight container to refrigerate.
We don’t recommend freezing salad, especially this one, because the thawing process can break the sauce and cause the ingredients to lose their texture.
Cauliflower Salad With Bacon
This cauliflower salad with bacon recipe gives you a new salad option with crunchy cauliflower and crispy bacon bits in a creamy dressing.
- cook TIME 8 mins
- prep TIME 7 mins
- total TIME 45 mins
- INACTIVE TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Side Dish
- CUISINE Global
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 164 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 10 oz cauliflower (cut into florets)
- 4 oz lettuce mix
- 1 oz red onion (diced)
- 1 oz pan-fried bacon (cut into small pieces)
- 3 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp traditional Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 0.5 oz cheddar cheese (grated)
- 2 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep:
Cut the cauliflower: Place the cauliflower on the cutting board with the stem facing upwards. Slice the large florets from the stem, and cut the florets into even pieces.
Wash the lettuce mix: Rinse the lettuce leaves carefully and dry them with a salad spinner.
Dice the red onion: Cut the onion in half and peel the skin. Cut off the root and slice the onion. Turn the half 90 degrees and make a crosshatch pattern. Continue slicing the onion into small cubes.
Prepare the bacon: Stack the bacon strips on top of each other and cut them into small squares.
Grate the cheese: Place the cheese grater firmly on the cutting board. Press the block of cheese against the surface of the grater and gradually push downwards.
Chop the parsley: Bunch the parsley together and chop finely.
Cook:
Make the dressing: Prepare a small bowl. Add 3 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tbsp white vinegar, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp traditional Dijon mustard, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Mix until combined.
Mix the vegetables with the dressing: Prepare a large mixing bowl. Add 10 oz cauliflower and 1 oz red onion. Mix the two vegetables with the dressing. Refrigerate the mixed vegetables for 30 minutes.
Assemble the salad and serve: Place 4 oz lettuce mix at the bottom. Add the cauliflower, red onion, and 1 oz pan-fried bacon on top. Then sprinkle with 0.5 oz cheddar cheese and 2 tbsp parsley. Enjoy!
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author