Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Salad

Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Salad, a simple roasted vegetable salad topped with cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and a homemade za’atar vinaigrette. A deliciously easy and flavorful winter salad!

Not sure what to do with cauliflower? We’ve got you covered! This simple winter salad is an exciting and healthy way to use cauliflower and the perfect addition to your weeknight meals. Enjoy it on its own or add to tacos and bowls!

👉 Here are three reasons why you should be making cauliflower chickpea salad with za’atar dressing:

• It takes 30 minutes. In just a few easy steps, this salad is ready in no time. Whether you’re in a time crunch or need to quickly prepare a dish for your next potluck, this is a salad you can’t go wrong with.
• You can make it ahead. Cauliflower chickpea salad is a great meal prep option to have on hand for lunches, quick dinner sides, or to share at gatherings. Simply combine the salad ingredients, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and mix in the dressing when you’re ready to use.
• It’s so delicious. Roasting cauliflower brings out new depths of flavor — especially when it’s combined with tasty spices, nutty chickpeas, and tart dried cranberries. You won’t be able to get enough!

Ready to learn how to make a salad with roasted cauliflower and chickpeas? Let’s do it!

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🥬 Ingredients

• Cauliflower: One of our favorite vegetables to roast and mix into salads!
• Chickpeas: canned chickpeas bring great flavor and plant-based protein to this recipe. Plus, they become extra crispy when roasted!
• Spices: turmeric and smoked paprika are the spices that bring this salad to life! They add a nice kick and a note of heat to the roasted vegetables.
• Olive oil: you need some olive oil for roasting the cauliflower, which brings flavor and makes it extra crispy. We used extra virgin olive oil, but you can use what you have on hand.
• Butter Lettuce: the greens that bring this salad together. You can use any type of leafy green!
• Shallot: you’ll thinly slice a couple of shallots to add a burst of flavor to the salad.
• Dried cranberries: the best winter salad addition! Their tart flavor is a great complement to the rest of the savory ingredients.
• Pumpkin Seeds: adds a bit of crunch.
• Homemade Za’atar Vinaigrette: we combined za’atar spice with olive oil and sherry vinegar to make the dressing for this recipe.
• Recommended tools: salad spinner, salad dressing shaker, mixing bowl

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🥣 How to make (step-by-step photos)

1️⃣ Step One: Preheat oven and prep vegetables

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prep your vegetables for roasting by combining cauliflower florets and chickpeas with turmeric, smoked paprika, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl.

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2️⃣ Step Two: Bake vegetables in the oven

Next, spread the cauliflower and chickpeas out evenly on a baking sheet.

Roast the vegetables in the oven until the cauliflower is tender and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Halfway through roasting, give the vegetables a quick toss to make sure they are evenly crispy!

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3️⃣ Step Three: Prep the dressing

While the vegetables are roasting, make the homemade za’atar dressing.

Combine olive oil, sherry vinegar, stone ground mustard, za’atar seasoning, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a salad dressing shaker or bowl. Shake well to combine and set aside.

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4️⃣ Step Four: Assemble the salad

Finally, it’s time to plate your salad. Add washed butter lettuce to your plate and top with roasted vegetables, sliced shallots, dried cranberries, and pumpkin seeds. Add a sprinkle of za’atar seasoning and top with the homemade za’atar dressing.

That’s it! A simple roasted vegetable salad with a homemade vinaigrette that’s ready in under 40 minutes.

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❓ Recipe questions + quick tips

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👉 How to serve

The possibilities are endless for what you can do with this roasted cauliflower chickpea salad! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• As a side salad with dinner. Switch up your dinner routine! This salad pairs perfectly with just about any dish.
• Use as a topping for tacos. Add a scoop of cauliflower chickpea salad to taco night! It will add a unique boost of flavor and your taste buds won’t be disappointed.
• Mix into a veggie bowl. Combine a serving of this salad with your favorite bowl of roasted veggies, rice, and protein. Try it with our Warm Autumn Grain Bowl.

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🧊 How to store

Whether you have leftovers or choose to make this recipe in advance, here are our top tips for storing simple roasted vegetable salad:

1. Refrigerator storage: Place the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within four days. Store the dressing in the refrigerator for up to one week, shaking well before serving again.
2. Freezer storage: We don’t recommend freezing roasted cauliflower chickpea salad, as it will lost its quality.

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♻️ Sustainable kitchen tips

Roasted cauliflower chickpea salad is a great green eating recipe as it uses preserved ingredients (canned chickpeas) and homemade dressing, which reduces packaging of pre-made dressing bottles. Take your ingredients even further with these tips:

Take advantage of cauliflower season. The best time to make this salad is during the winter months. That’s when cauliflower is in-season, which means it will be more nutritious, higher quality, and better for the planet! Find out when cauliflower is in-season near you here.

Make more dressing than you’ll need. Make extra dressing and store in the refrigerator to use throughout the week on simple side salads with lunch and dinner. This will prevent you from needing to buy dressing from the store.

Use your own pumpkin seeds! Get the most out of the pumpkins that you buy during the fall and winter months by saving the seeds. Simply remove the seeds from the pumpkin, rinse them under cold water and remove any flesh. Dry the seeds and then roast them before tossing into salad.

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🥗 More roasted vegetable salad recipes

Love using winter vegetables to make salad? Check out our other roasted vegetable salad recipes:

• Winter Squash Salad
• Roasted Fennel Beet Salad
• Butternut Squash Cranberry Kale Salad

Looking for more cauliflower recipes? Try our Roasted Rainbow Cauliflower or Chili Lime Cauliflower Tacos.

UPDATE: This recipe was originally posted in February 2019 and was updated for clarity in September 2021.