Salads aren’t just for the warm weather months, but when I get my vegetable cravings in the winter I change up my salads with heartier vegetables and ingredients that have warm, smoky flavors, like roasted vegetables and smoked paprika. This Roasted Cauliflower Salad is actually a play on one of my other favorite salads, Mediterranean Farro Salad. I used the same Lemon Tahini Dressing (because it’s so good that I want to pour it on everything) and spiced chickpeas because I thought they would provide just the right punch to complement the mellow roasted cauliflower. The combination of roasted cauliflower, sweet red onions, spiced chickpeas, and tangy lemon tahini dressing might be my favorite yet!
Other Salad Greens Options:
Parsley is a great green to use for salads because it’s cheap and the presence is subtle enough to not over power the cauliflower and chickpeas. Baby spinach would also work, as would finely chopped kale, but both will likely be a bit more expensive.
What is Tahini?
Tahini is the star ingredient for the delicious lemon tahini dressing for this salad. If you’ve never heard of tahini, it’s just like peanut butter, but made with sesame seeds instead of peanuts. It has a creamy yet slightly sharp flavor that is totally unique. It’s usually about twice the price of peanut butter, but it’s a valuable ingredient and stays good in the fridge for just about forever (just like peanut butter). You can use it to make gobs of delicious homemade hummus, as well as this amazing lemon tahini dressing. I promise you’ll want more of this dressing.
What to Serve with Roasted Cauliflower Salad
This Roasted Cauliflower Salad is really filling, so it can definitely stand on its own as a vegetarian main dish, but if you want to make something to go on the side, it also goes great with Focaccia Rolls, Herb Roasted Chicken Breast, Homemade Naan, Greek Turkey Burgers, or Creamy Mushroom Soup.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower ($2.99)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.55)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- Salt and Pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 1/2 bunch parsley ($0.45)
LEMON TAHINI DRESSING
- 1/3 cup tahini ($1.13)
- 1/3 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice ($0.18)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
SPICED CHICKPEAS
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($0.79)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne ($0.02)
- Salt and Pepper to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Chop the cauliflower into small florets and place them on a large baking sheet. Slice the red onion into 1/4-inch strips and place them on the baking sheet. Drizzle the cauliflower and onions with olive oil and season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Toss the cauliflower and onions until coated in oil, salt, and pepper.
- Roast the cauliflower and onions in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then stir, return them to the oven, and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and browned on the edges. Let the cauliflower cool slightly.
- While the cauliflower and onions are roasting, make the lemon tahini dressing. Add the tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, cayenne, and salt to a blender. Blend until smooth, then refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Drain and rinse the can of chickpeas. Add them to a skillet along with the olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook the chickpeas over medium heat for about five minutes, or until they sizzle and become slightly crispy. Remove the chickpeas from the heat.
- Pull the parsley leaves from their stems and roughly chop the leaves into small pieces (about 1.5 cups loosely packed, once chopped).
- To build the salad, combine the roasted cauliflower and onions in a bowl with the spiced chickpeas and chopped parsley. Drizzle the lemon tahini dressing over top, and toss to combine. Serve warm or cold.
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Try this lemon tahini dressing drizzled over all your favorite roasted vegetables!
How to Make Roasted Cauliflower Salad – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 400ºF. Chop one head of cauliflower into florets. Slice 1/2 of a red onion into 1/4-inch strips. Place the cauliflower and onions on a large baking sheet. Drizzle the vegetables with 2 Tbsp olive oil and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables until they are well coated in oil, salt, and pepper.
Roast the cauliflower and onion for 20 minutes, stir, then return them to the oven and roast for another 10-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and the edges browned. (the sides touching the baking sheet brown fastest, so you’ll see more browning once you give it a final stir).
While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the lemon tahini dressing. Place 1/3 cup tahini, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and 1/4 tsp salt in a blender. Blend until the dressing is smooth. Refrigerate the dressing until you’re ready to serve the salad.
To prepare the spiced chickpeas, drain and rinse one 15oz. can of chickpeas. Add the drained chickpeas to a skillet along with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook the chickpeas for about 5 minutes over medium heat or until they begin to sizzle and become slightly crispy on the outside. Remove them from the heat. (I like to do this in a non-stick skillet.)
Pull the leaves from about 1/2 bunch of parsley and chop them into small pieces (about 1.5 cups loosely packed once chopped). To build the salad, combine the roasted cauliflower and onions with the spiced chickpeas and chopped parsley…
Drizzle the lemon tahini dressing over top…
Stir to combine, and enjoy! You can enjoy this Roasted Cauliflower Salad slightly warm from the oven, or chilled after storing in the refrigerator.
Made this and did the whole thing in a skillet – cauliflower and onions first then chickpeas. Delicious and quick! Had some leftover tahini sauce from a recipe earlier in the week so this was perfect. Could see it paired with some lamb or chicken on another day.
Pinned! I just need to buy some cauliflower and parsley to make this!
I have a suggestion for a really great way to treat the onions besides roasting … saw the recipe on a REALLY great website. ;-)
https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/08/pickled-red-onions/
Hahaha thank you :)
Oh man, this is like all of my favorite flavors in one bowl! I will have to spring for some cauliflower to make this, usually I don’t buy it because it’s expensive.
Thank you!
Going to make this for dinner tomorrow night!! All my favorites in one bowl. Thank you for the great vegan recipe :)
Smitten Kitchen had a very similar recipe to this, but used shredded/grated carrot instead of cauliflower. The dressing was almost exactly the same. And it is DEE-LICIOUS. (It’s just about my favorite way to eat carrots!) Looking forward to trying this version, too.
Oooh, I’m going to have to look that up! I bet this dressing *would* be really good with carrots!
I always love how you seem to deduce exactly what’s in my fridge, even on days when it’s just about empty. I also had some leftover hushwee (spiced ground beef) from yesterday and it fit in perfectly with this. Thank you for yet another amazing dinner.
Oh wow, that does sound fantastic with this!!
What do I need to know about buying tahini? I have seen in in jars at the store, but I have also heard you can buy raw fresh ground….is there a difference?
I’ve never bought the raw, fresh ground kind before (I imagine it would be more expensive). As far as the kind in the jar, all the brands I’ve used have been very similar so I don’t have any specific tips. :)
I just have to say that I am loving your recipes that you post here. They are the kind of food that we love to eat too. I’m planning my weekly menu right now from off your website. I’ve already tried many of your recipes and they never disappoint. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Beth! I have 2 questions about this recipe. Is it ok to fry onions with chickpeas. i just made this recipe and the onions burned in the oven while cauliflower was ok. Also, do you recommend substituting parsley with cillantro ? Thanks a million.
Yes, you could definitely do the onions with the chickpeas if you want a more moist end product. Cilantro would probably go quite well with these flavors. :)
My mouth is watering right now!!! :-)
This looks delicious! I love your blog. It’s the best! I am a mom of 4 who loves quick, simple, healthy, frugal and delicious meals and all of your recipes meet these requirements plus the kids enjoy them. You’re brilliant! Thank you for all your hard work!
I’m in love with smoked paprika! And roasted cauliflower. Can’t wait to try this!
This is such a beautiful salad! I’m pinning this for later– thanks for sharing =)
Nice, this might go on work lunch rotation for next week, maybe with some brown rice in the mix to bulk it up!