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.
Delicious!
OMG, this salad is delicious and very easy to make. Love it.
I’ve made this salad numerous times and it has gone down a treat with my friends and family. To bulk up the salad I have served on a spinach salad base with the addition of some ciabatta and sun-dried tomatoes. I always double the dressing recipe because it’s delicious and great for dunking bread into also. I’m so happy I found this! Thank you!
In which section of the grocery store would I find tahini?
It depends on the store, but here are a few places that I’ve seen it: near the peanut butter, in the natural foods aisles, or in the international foods aisles.
This looks like a delicious lunch, and I’m planning on trying it soon. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find tahini in my local grocery store…any advice for an alternative or have you had success making it before?
I think you definitely need to use tahini for this dressing as substituting it would change the flavor too much. If you have a good food processor you can make your own tahini with sesame seeds and some sesame oil. :) Or check to see if you can order it online.
I tried it with my own tahini, and it’s delicious! What an amazing dressing! You have me addicted to chickpeas. Do you have a favorite kind of tahini paste? I think I’m still going to get some rather than having to make it very time.
Thank you! I’m planning on featuring this recipe on a post entitled “Fire-Free Camping Meals” on my blog: inourpond.com
This salad was absolutely divine! Like previously mentioned by a few, it is definitely not enough for 4. I managed to squeeze about 2 1/2 servings out of it.
Absolutely delicious. The pictures and directions are spot on. I cut up my cauliflower a bit smaller into bite-sized pieces so I didn’t roast quite as long. I served over tossed greens, and sometimes add quinoa to stretch it a bit. I always have some dressing left over which then adds flavor and nutrition to a regular salad. Great job.
This dish rocked! Directions were perfect and the salad was a hit with my guys! I especially loved the dressing and the chewy chickpeas. Thank you!
This is completely delicious, even by the standards of a husband who ‘doesn’t care for cauliflower’. But, and I know you’re petite an’ all that, it’s definitely not four servings… it was perfect for two, with a big piece of salmon on top. :)
Just made this for dinner. Delicious! Added slivered almonds into the pan w/the chickpeas for some crunch. I added a couple handfuls of spinach also. My husband loved it. He said we could eat this once a week. Thumbs up!
This salad was soooo yummy I’m going to start making this all the time! But I would just say it is definitely not 4 stand-along meal servings alone- maybe more like 2, unless you bulk it up with a whoooole bunch of spinach or some grains (lentils worked great!)
Love this recipe!! I don’t care for raw garlic, so I toasted the garlic cloves in the oven til soft and it came out perfect. Made it up over a spinach salad for more greens. Will definitely make it regularly. The dressing is amazing on all sorts of veggies too.
This is a part of my weekly rotation of recipes! Usually I built it as an even bigger salad by throwing it all on a bed of spinach. This mixture of flavors is simple yet perfect! Lemon, tahini, and parsley always blend up as the happiest little family. If you wanna try it out with some different spices omit cayenne/paprika and replacing with turmeric or sumac! mm mm !!!
Awesome suggestion with the change in spices.
Wowww, this salad is SO good! I never comment anything but this is really worth it. Great job with your recipes and website :)