Dried apricots, olives, and toasted nuts fill this cauliflower salad with contrasting textures and flavors. A delicious side dish or make-ahead lunch!
This roasted cauliflower salad will brighten up any winter day! At least, that’s what I tell myself as I seriously consider getting one of those vitamin D lamps. Have any of you ever tried one? These 4:30 Chicago sunsets really take some getting used to.
Anyway, back to the cauliflower salad! I was going to save this recipe to post in January. You know, once everyone wants to get healthy and eat vegetables again… but then I realized that you’re all here because you love vegetables, holidays or not! This hearty cauliflower salad could double as a holiday side dish (I’m bringing it to Christmas dinner) and as an everyday veggie meal (I love it for lunch). It’s packed with contrasting textures and flavors, and it really is energizing and bright. I plan to have it on repeat all winter long.
Cauliflower Salad Recipe Ingredients
This cauliflower salad recipe has quite a few components, but don’t let them scare you! All of them can be made in advance for speedy assembly, and each one adds something essential to the salad. Here’s what’s in it:
- Cauliflower, of course! Instead of adding raw cauliflower to the salad, I roast it until it’s tender, nutty, and golden brown.
- French green lentils – They add earthy flavor and plenty of plant-based protein. To brighten them up, I season them with lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and a good bit of sea salt and pepper.
- Pickled red onions and olives –Â For a bright pop of flavor! If you’re not an olive person, capers would be great here too.
- Tahini sauce – It’s creamy, nutty, and bright.
- Toasted nuts – For crunch! I like pine nuts and sliced almonds. Pepitas are a great nut-free option.
- Dried apricots – I love how their sweet flavor plays off the bright, briny onions and olives. Medjool dates would work nicely too!
- And arugula – For a peppery kick and a touch of green.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Cauliflower Salad Serving Suggestions
I’ve eaten this cauliflower salad recipe three ways: with piping hot cauliflower, at room temperature, and cold from the fridge. All are delicious! It keeps well for a few days, so it’s one of my favorite recipes to make ahead for lunch (find more here!). Enjoy it on its own, or pair it with pita or a Chickpea Salad Sandwich for a heartier meal.
As I mentioned above, this cauliflower salad is also an excellent dinner side dish. Serve it warm or cold with Crispy Falafel, Chickpea Shawarma Wraps, Baked Feta, or any protein you like.
More Favorite Salad Recipes
If you love this cauliflower salad recipe, try one of these delicious salads next:
- Best Broccoli Salad
- Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
- Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
- Green Bean Salad
- Sweet Potato Salad
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Or any of these 37 Best Salad Recipes!
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients
- Florets from 1 small head of cauliflower
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 2 cups arugula
- 1/2 cup cooked Lemon-Herb French Green Lentils
- Lemon wedges, for squeezing and serving
- 1/2 cup Tahini Sauce
- ¼ cup Pickled Onions
- ¼ cup pine nuts, sliced almonds, or pepitas
- 4 dried apricots or dates, diced
- ¼ cup chopped olives or 1 tablespoon capers
- Microgreens, optional
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Roast the cauliflower. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the cauliflower florets with drizzles of olive oil and pinches of salt and pepper and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until browned around the edges.
- In a medium bowl, toss the arugula and roasted cauliflower with a drizzle with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a pinch of salt. Spread onto a platter and drizzle â…“ of the tahini sauce on top. Sprinkle on the lentils, the pickled onions, pine nuts, apricots, and olives. Drizzle with the remaining tahini dressing (or as much as you like) and top with microgreens, if using. Season to taste and serve.
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Love your website! All the recipes are so easy to make and yet so tasteful. Thank you
Generally I’m not fond of cauliflower, but I like to eat vegetables in season and a wide variety of food.
I loved your recipe !
Next time i will put more apricots and capers, and some home made croutons could be great as well?.
Thanks !
Delightful mix of textures and tastes!! Definitely one we’ll do again!
Made this as part of make ahead meal prep. Three big salads for lunch. I did up the amount of lentils and no dates / apricots / nuts. Maybe a touch more garlic in the tahini dressing. Still AMAZING. Thank you.
If you’re doing this for meal prep (making four on Sunday for the week) would you suggest waiting to dress it until the day it will be eaten?
Hi Christina, you could dress it – I’d just leave the arugula separate because it’s the only component that will wilt over a few days. Hope that helps!
I assembled all but dressing and kept that in a separate container for make ahead lunches. Delicious
Tahini makes salads even better.
I love this salad so much! I’m no cook but everytime i make this i get compliments AND i feel great afterwards. thank you for these great recipes!
Hi Jacquie, I’m so glad you love this one as much as I do!!
I love adding tahini to all my salads.
Made this and had it for lunch – it was perfect! Black olives made it magic!
I made this recipe last night for dinner. It was so yummy and my husband LOVED it! It’s a great, quick weeknight meal. Definitely will make again 🙂
Hi Allison, I’m so glad you both loved it!
thank you, this is so delicious! I had to improvise a little and used marché lettuce and bits of radicchio, subbed dates for pomegranate seeds, turned out wonderful.
Hi Aline, I’m so glad you loved it! I bet it would be delicious with pomegranate seeds!
This is delicious!! My whole family loved (& they never agree). And the extra lentils were great add ons for the rest of the week.
Ha ha, I’m so glad your family agreed on the salad 🙂
This would be a great recipe to try out for my low carb days! Thank you
Yumm! The salad looks too good but I think it is missing something. Maybe adding tomato can change the flavour a little bit! What do you suggest Jeanine?
I am so happy to find this blog post, never thought that salad could be this much healthier and delicious. You are awesome.
I am going to make this for Christmas Eve and am wondering if those are pine nuts on the side?
they’re in the salad… I just set some on the side for the photo – they don’t actually have to be served on the side.
I am making this next week for sure! I’ve recently decided to eat more veggie based meals and started browsing your recipes. So far I’ve loved everything I’ve tried and am very impressed. Can’t wait to see how this one tastes too!
Hi Katie, I’m so glad you’ve been loving the recipes!
Tahini makes anything better.
This looks really great. I think I might bring this to Christmas dinner as well. I love the contrasting flavours.
I’m very excited to make this, it has all the things I love! I’m in Portland, Oregon, where the sun (when it comes out) sets even earlier, and I’ve tried one of those lights, it didn’t do much for me…my favorite thing to cheer up is go in the sauna at the gym!
that’s a good idea! 🙂