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.
I LOVED this recipe! The tahini sauce was amazing. To be honest I just used a generic Adobe seasoning salt and olive oil to roast the veggies and chick peas but followed the recipe for the tahini sauce and it was great. I’ve had it alone but it’s really great served on top of farro or with chicken too.
This salad is DIVINE!! And I only use that word when a meal truly deserves it. I also rarely comment on recipes but I had to. You are missing out if you don’t try this salad. The flavor combination is mind blowing.
Thank you Jasmin!!
New subscriber here. OMG! This is seriously the best salad that I’ve ever eaten and I hate garbanzo beans – until now, that is! Thanks, for sharing!
WAHOO! This was in my weekly rotation all summer! Happy to hear you like it too Merrilee.
The salad was easy to make and the taste testing went well. The dressing is in the refrigerator chilling, and I’ll be serving this with dinner in a few hours. Looking forward to eating it with the lemon tahini dressing!
Happy to hear it Michelle!
Just made this last night. Delicious! Lemon tahini is confirmed as my favourite salad dressing right now.
Hooray! Happy to hear it James!
JEFF
I love Budget Bytes! I never have to worry about making healthy family meals with the information and recipes that I find here. Roasted cauliflower is one of my favorites. This dish came together perfectly and I have found that this information here https://bit.ly/2ORCzKy along with a healthy diet has helped me lose weight and keep it off! I hope along with Budget Bytes , the information above will help other people!
P.S. I served this dish with lemon pepper grilled salmon! WOW!
I love that you added cost, so affordable.
Thanks Autumn!
Love love love this recipe. I did make small adjustments….I didn’t have onion on hand so had to omit (but will add in future)..and I roasted the chickpeas with the cauliflower and both came out great. I tossed with “massaged” curly kale that was dressed in olive oil, fresh lemon juice and salt..then topped with the tahini dressing. It was incredible. I cannot wait to add pomegranate seeds to the next batch. This is now a new favorite! Thank you :)
Happy to hear it Theresa!
For crispy chickpeas, should I leave the shell on or pop the chickpeas out before tossing them in the skillet?
You could do either way honestly it’s your preference.
This recipe is great, I’ve come back to it many times with small changes or different applications. I add a handful of golden raisins for a bit of sweetness. I also like to spread this on premade naan or flatbread with some feta for a quick pizza. Also great on a bed of rice or arugula for a filling lunch or dinner. Sometimes I leave out the chickpeas (I just eat them so often as a vegetarian) and the recipe still works great.
Love, love this recipe!
so, so tasty!
Could you use frozen cauliflower florets for this recipe? Thanks!
Yes, that would probably work well! You may need to adjust the roasting time for the cauliflower, but since I haven’t tested it, I’m not sure how long it will need. Just keep an eye on it, stir it a couple times throughout, and take it out when it’s a little browned on the edges. :)
Great recipe- Cauliflower, chickpea, parsley, and lemon, combined with smoky flavor and tahini dressing is a fabulous combination. The only thing I adjusted, and reflects my taste buds and not a recipe problem, is reduced garlic to one clove, added shredded carrot at the end for a finished crunch, and served on a bed of arugula with an extra squeeze of lemon. I actually served mine with tuna steak and was delicious, but I live with vegetarians and could be served as a stand-alone veggie dish.
I’ve been a fan of Budget Bytes forever, so when a friend brought this dish to a potluck dinner party and told me where she found the recipe, I was so excited to go home and make this myself knowing it would be easy to put together (like all Budget Bytes recipes)! Since having it at the dinner party, I’ve made this recipe over 10 times. If you’re looking for something healthy and delicious, definitely put this in your rotation. Low work for high reward!