Roasted buffalo cauliflower + homemade vegan ranch + greens and veggies = the ultimate dinner salad! If you love buffalo cauliflower, you have to try this recipe. It's vegan, gluten free and perfect for a weeknight dinner.
I love everything about this salad.
It's atypical (not just greens and raw veggies!!), a little spicy, a little crunchy and a little creamy. So basically, everything you'd want in a dinner salad. And it's 100% vegan!
If I had to guess, I'd say you could get just about any carnivore to eat this salad. Especially if he/she is a buffalo sauce aficionado (like myself).
Buffalo cauliflower is magical because it doesn't even really taste like cauliflower, but it's still a veggie so you can eat an unlimited amount. Ya feel me? Give me a tray of this buffalo cauliflower and vegan ranch and I'm a happy gal.
The buffalo cauliflower does take a bit of time to prepare (about 45 minutes), but it's well worth the effort. Plus, you can easily make it ahead of time if you'd prefer and add it to the salad later on.
Our vegan ranch is SO good and super easy to prepare! But again, if you'd like to go for an easier method, just use a store-bought dressing. There are so many great vegan dressings out there, including ranch!
Salad Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to prepare this buffalo cauliflower salad:
- Mixed greens: you can either stick with a basic mix or use a single type of green like spinach or baby kale.
- Celery: because celery is an essential with buffalo + ranch!
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Buffalo cauliflower: I'm warning you now, make an extra batch. You'll probably eat half of it straight from the sheet pan before it gets to the salad.
- Vegan ranch: homemade (recipe below) or store-bought. Either is fine.
- Crispy chickpeas: our favorite crispy salad topping! Croutons would work, too.
Buffalo Cauliflower
To prepare the cauliflower, start by trimming the stalk. Break the head of cauliflower into even, bite-sized florets and toss in olive oil.
Whisk together a mixture of gluten free flour, salt, garlic powder and onion powder, then toss the cauliflower in it. This helps the cauliflower get super crispy and delicious without frying!
Pop the cauliflower in a 425˚F oven for about 25 minutes, until it starts to soften.
Meanwhile, to make the buffalo sauce, all you have to do is melt the vegan butter (in a saucepan or in the microwave) and whisk in the hot sauce. We almost always use Frank's Red Hot for our buffalo sauce, but you can also substitute with another vinegar-based hot sauce.
Remove the cauliflower from the oven, carefully transfer to a bowl and toss in the buffalo sauce.
If you have a cooling rack that fits inside a sheet pan, transfer the cauliflower to the cooling rack and return to the oven. This helps the cauliflower get super crispy. If you don't have a cooling rack, just use a normal sheet pan.
It takes another 20 minutes or so for the cauliflower to finish roasting. When it's crispy and browned (like below), you're good to go!
Vegan Ranch Dressing
While the buffalo cauliflower is in the oven, get started on your homemade vegan ranch.
Grab a bowl and whisk together plain vegan yogurt, a tablespoon of plant-based milk, chives, dill, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder and a touch of agave to balance it out.
That's it! The perfect vegan ranch. Make an extra batch and use it on this pizza, as a dipping sauce for fries, add a dollop to vegan chili or simply use as a dip for veggies.
Let the cauliflower cool before adding to your salad. Toss everything in as much ranch as you'd like and enjoy!!
More vegan salad recipes you'll love:
- Blackberry, Avocado & Arugula Salad
- Vegan Taco Salad with Lentil Walnut "Meat"
- Thai Quinoa Peanut Salad
- Grilled Corn, Avocado & Black Bean Salad
- Vegan Cobb Salad with Eggplant Bacon
If you make this vegan buffalo cauliflower salad recipe, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.
Print📖 Recipe
Buffalo Cauliflower Salad
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: Serves 4
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Roasted buffalo cauliflower + homemade vegan ranch + greens and veggies = the ultimate dinner salad! If you love buffalo cauliflower, you have to try this recipe. It's vegan, gluten free and perfect for a weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Buffalo Cauliflower:
- 1 small head of cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp gluten free flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 4 tbsp vegan butter
- ½ cup vinegar-based hot sauce (like Frank's Red Hot)
Vegan Ranch:
- ½ cup plain vegan yogurt
- 3-4 tablespoon dairy free milk, depending on desired consistency
- 1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dill, finely chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp agave nectar
- Black pepper to taste
Salad assembly:
- 6 cups of mixed greens (5 oz container)
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
- Optional: crispy chickpeas for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425˚F.
- Trim the cauliflower and cut into bite-sized florets. Toss in a large mixing bowl with olive oil.
- Stir together gluten free flour, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Toss cauliflower in flour mixture until well coated (it’s easiest to use your hands for this).
- Transfer to a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and roast for 25 minutes. Stir a few times to make sure it cooks evenly.
- Melt vegan butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in hot sauce.
- Remove florets from baking sheet, transfer to a large mixing bowl and pour the hot sauce mixture over them, tossing gently until well coated.
- Place a cooling rack on the sheet pan, and transfer cauliflower to the cooling rack. Return to the oven and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cook time.
- While the cauliflower is in the oven, whisk together all ingredients for ranch. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Prepare remaining salad ingredients. Toss the greens in about ½ of the dressing.
- Once the cauliflower has cooled to room temperature, add to the salad and top with more ranch. Enjoy!
Notes
To make this recipe quicker, just use store-bought vegan ranch dressing!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bowl
- Calories: 345
- Sugar: 9.3 g
- Sodium: 763.8 mg
- Fat: 24.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.2 g
- Fiber: 10.8 g
- Protein: 8.4 g
Keywords: buffalo cauliflower salad
vivian
This salad was delicious! Even though the recipe says it serves 4, three of us didn't even eat half of it. Next time, I would make more dressing, maybe add some red onion, and make less so there aren't a lot of leftovers. Nevertheless, the flavours are so good and the nonvegetarians in my family ate it up. Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★