This isn't a regular ole salad; it's loaded with buffalo cauliflower and roasted chickpeas, drizzled in a creamy tahini dill ranch dressing. Buffalo Cauliflower Salad with Dill Ranch has an explosion of flavors that perfectly pair together. This might be the recipe you make over and over again!
In just 30 minutes, this salad will have your tastebuds singing with delicious flavors from the buffalo sauce to the rich and creamy dill ranch - always vegan.
If you are browsing for easy lunch or dinner ideas, check out my Simple Summer Caprese Salad or Healthy Butternut Squash Soup (Vitamix Recipe).
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What's in this salad?
🥗Cauliflower florets - buy the florets bagged and already cut for faster prep!
🥗Cooked chickpeas - A.K.A. garbanzo beans
🥗Buffalo sauce - (I recommend Primal Foods, it's SO clean, but anyone will do!)
🥗Sweet onion - finely chopped into slivers.
🥗Bed of fresh romaine lettuce - any lettuce/green will do. I prefer romaine lettuce for this recipe because of the crunch and crispiness.
🥗Crisp celery - not crispy enough? Cut the base off, remove the middle stems and leaves, then place in a bowl of cool filtered water. In a few minutes, the celery will have perked right up!
🥗Tahini Ranch Dressing - made by combining tahini, garlic, mustard, lemon, dill, and a little olive oil or avocado oil. Make sure the tahini is good quality and runny is best.
🥗Optional: creamy avocado if you're looking to add healthy fat to this recipe, which is always a yes for me!
As always, the full recipe card is at the bottom of this post! It's printable and has all the measurements with full instructions. I've added detailed simple steps here with photos:
Tips for success
Ensure the cauliflower florets are bite-sized. This will make eating the salad easier and allow more flavor per bite!
Toss the chickpeas in a small amount of sea salt, and a little goes a long way.
Make the Tahini Dill Dressing by combining all ingredients in a jar, like a mason jar. Seal with a lid and shake until combined. Any leftover already has a jar!
Time management tip! Once the oven timer rings, alerting the cauliflower has cooked for 15 minutes, remove and re-shuffle on the baking sheet. Flip them and make room for the chickpeas to enter the chat!
Note: you can serve individual salad plates or one large bowl. This salad doesn't do amazing as a leftover, so if you plan to eat it in batches, keep all ingredients separate and assemble by plate when ready.
8. Optionally, you can sprinkle in some dill leaves, loosely chop and toss on top, and/or slice creamy avocado.
Substitutions
While this salad is packed with familiar flavors, the freshness is absolutely not lost. The dressing can easily be transferred to lots of other salad or grain bowl varieties, and the dill gives it a very light, garden taste.
If a bowl of lettuce isn't your thing, substitute it with one cup of cooked brown rice or quinoa, or cook up some penne and enjoy these flavors pasta-style!
Buffalo sauce
The best part of this salad is the cauliflower bites and the ingredients' simplicity. The flavor combinations are on point with this one; the buffalo sauce is critical (to me), but the hot sauce will also work. Primal Kitchen is my go-to brand because its ingredients are clean and not overly spicy. You'll have extra buffalo sauce to try with other meals, so go for it! (No affiliation, love the brand)
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Buffalo Cauliflower Salad with Dill Ranch
Ingredients
Tahini Dill Dressing:
- ¼ cup tahini, good quality - it should be runny
- 1 lemon, juiced (Yield about ¼ cup)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- ¼ cup filtered water
- 1 sprig of fresh dill, finely chopped (plus extra for garnish/topping)
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 head of fresh romaine lettuce
- ½ cup chopped red onions, into a crescent shape
- 2 ribs of crispy celery, finely diced
- 16 ounce cooked chickpeas
- 1 cup buffalo sauce (I prefer Primal Kitchen brand)
- 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper for taste
- 1 avocado optional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Wash and dry the head of cauliflower and chop into small florets (think bite-sized!). In a large bowl, drizzle the buffalo sauce onto the florets and mix until evenly coated. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking tray and put into the oven setting the timer for 15 minutes.
- Drain, rinse, and dry the cooked chickpeas. Toss them in a bowl with sea salt and pepper and set them aside.
- Make the Tahini Dill Dressing by combining all ingredients in a jar, like a mason jar. Seal with a lid and shake until combined. Set aside.
- Once the oven timer bings, alerting the cauliflower has cooked for 15 minutes, remove, re-shuffle on the baking sheet, flip them and make room for the chickpeas to enter the chat! On one side of the tray, add the salted chickpeas. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
- While the chickpeas and cauliflower bake, wash and chop the lettuce, slice the red onion into halves, and finely dice the celery. Add the veggies to a large salad bowl and wait for the oven timer to ring again!
- Note: you can serve individual salad plates or one large bowl. This salad doesn't do amazing as a leftover, so if you plan to eat it in batches, keep all ingredients separate and assemble by plate when ready. Assemble the salad by adding the roasted buffalo cauliflower florets and salted chickpeas to the bowl. Toss the salad and either serve the dressing on the side or mix in!
- Optionally, you can sprinkle in some dill leaves, loosely chop and toss on top, and/or sliced creamy avocado.
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