Macaroni salad made with cauliflower on a plate with a fork near by. A lace napkin is underneath the plate.

Low Carb Macaroni Salad: Best Keto Summer Side Ever!

This low carb macaroni salad recipe has that old fashioned flavor you love without the carbs that you don’t! This is the perfect side dish for the warm weather.  This recipe is full of celery, olives, onions, and lightly steamed cauliflower covered in a creamy dressing. You won’t miss the high carb pasta because all the good stuff is right here!

For this recipe you’ll need: cauliflower, salad olives, celery, onion, carrots, mayonnaise, Bell pepper, dijon mustard, cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and a sugar free sweetener.

A Plate of Low Carb Macaroni Salad With a Fork Nearby

Low carb macaroni salad backstory

I grew up on macaroni salad. It was part of the trifecta of summer macaroni salad, tomato sandwiches, and strawberry shortcake. We had it for dinner at least twice a week. We had it for every summer picnic, barbecue, and holiday and it was all fine with me because I loved the stuff.

And my mother’s macaroni salad was the fiber that legends are made of. Creamy, sweet, tangy, crunchy perfection with the bite from an occasional piece of onion and the buttery bitterness of green olives. No matter how big the bowl was she didn’t experience leftovers for long.

Father’s day I wanted to make macaroni salad. Not because it is something my husband loves (he definitely does not) but because it’s a happy memory for me, tradition, and my son-in-law loves it enough to make him a blood relative. I wanted to make it but, at the same time, I didn’t want to make it because I wasn’t sure I could keep my spoon out of the bowl and that stuff has carbs, y’all. Lots of ’em.

I wondered if cauliflower would work. I mean, it works for everything else, right?

I know. I felt really bad that I was springing cauliflower on ya again. I can hear it now,“Oh, lowcarb-ology It’s a cauliflower blog…”

make easy, low carb

I promise I have other stuff that doesn’t contain cauliflower and I even have a killer cheesecake but I needed this macaroni salad. I needed it, bad.

I steamed some cauliflower until it as firm but very tender and then I took a spoonful of all the ingredients I was prepping for the real macaroni salad. I mixed it up and tasted it?? eh. It was OK. I put it in an airtight container, stored it in the refrigerator, and finished up what I was doing.

The next day I got it out when everyone got to the house. I wasn’t really thinking about it and took a taste.

I had to check to make sure I had taken a bite of the cauliflower mixture. The cauliflower had soaked up the flavor from the mayonnaise mixture just like the macaroni high carb noodles do. The texture wasn’t quite right but the flavor?

Amazing.

I thought maybe my taste buds were lying to me so I had my friend taste it. She loves my macaroni salad so much that she takes leftovers home for her Breakfast.  Yes. Really.

I was sure that she would tell me I was nuts but her eyes got big, and she said, “OMG!”

Only it wasn’t quite like that because she still had the fork in her mouth. Apparently I wasn’t wrong about the flavor of this keto macaroni salad. It really is awesome.

Try it for yourself.

Closeup of low carb macaroni salad on a plate with a white lace napkin
Now you can have your favorite macaroni salad on low carb eating plans!

Tips for Low Carb Macaroni Salad Recipe

This is simple keto macaroni salad recipe (but it has no cooked pasta !) and makes a great summer side dish! It does have 8 grams of carbs per healthy serving so make sure to plan well with this yummy side dish.

  • Be sure to steam the cauliflower until it’s soft without being mushy. You may have to experiment to get the exact texture you prefer.
  • After you’ve mixed it up let it stand at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. If you can cover it and chill it overnight in the refrigerator so much the better.
  • The trick to the dressing is plenty of freshly ground pepper.
  • You need to taste and adjust the dressing for sweetness as you go – I like mine on the sweet side.
  • Even if you don’t use mustard in your regular macaroni salad do use it in this recipe. It needs the extra flavor.
  • If you like spice substitute jalapeno for the Bell pepper.

More Great Summer Sides

There are just certain side dishes and pasta salads that I associate with summer meals. They’re usually full of carbs but I’ve adapted some of my favorites to be keto friendly. Try a couple of these low carb pasta salad recipes and let me know what you think.

Low Carb Macaroni Salad Recipe

Serving of low carb macaroni salad made with cauliflower on a vintage plate. a serving dish is in the background.
You’ll love this easy “macaroni” salad for summer suppers!

I love macaroni salad next to a cheeseburger on a paper plate with a ice cold diet Dr Pepper on the side in the summertime. What’s your favorite summer side dish?

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars in the comments below.

Print Pin Recipe

Low Carb Macaroni Salad (Induction, Phase 1)

The flavor of summer – macaroni salad with only about 5 net carbs per serving. Perfect for serving alongside hot dogs and hamburgers.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American – low -carb
Keyword macaroni salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 1
Calories 80kcal
Author Katherine Peters

Ingredients

  • 1 cup raw cauliflower broken into very small pieces
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar free Mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar optional
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of pepper
  • Stevia or other sweetener to taste
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons of thinly sliced celery
  • 1 tablespoon of bell pepper
  • 2 teaspoons of chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon of grated carrot
  • 3 tablespoons salad olives

Instructions

  • Steam cauliflower until very tender but not mushy..
  • Combine mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sweetener and mix well.
  • Taste and adjust seasoning.
  • Put cauliflower, celery, carrot, onion, peppers, and olives in a bowl.
  • Pour mayonnaise mixture over and combine gently.
  • Chill overnight or longer.
  • Add a little more dressing if necessary before serving.

Notes

It is imperative that this sits overnight or longer in order for the flavor to develop.

Nutrition

Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 485mg | Potassium: 361mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 990IU | Vitamin C: 59.1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 0.5mg

19 thoughts on “Low Carb Macaroni Salad: Best Keto Summer Side Ever!”

  1. 5 stars
    Typically I won’t read through someone’s recipe, I just get to the bottom line of it but you’re actually a really good communicator!Enjoyed I did something similar with my potato salad recipe I added hard boiled eggs, celery black olives and dill pickles,real mayonnaise a little mustard

  2. Husband loved this. Says he prefers it to the real thing. I thought it was really good too but oh how I love the macaroni. This was great with our hot dog and hamburger cook out.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Scroll to Top