A flavour-packed, satisfying cauliflower salad featuring roasted, seasoned cauliflower florets served on a vibrant, vegetable-packed couscous and finished with a drizzle of sriracha mayo. Serve warm or cold.
Cauliflower may seem plain when simply boiled, but it’s incredibly adaptable and absorbs bold flavours—think garlic, cumin and smoked paprika—without losing its texture. It works wonderfully in dishes like cauliflower cheese, cauliflower rice, or thick cauliflower steaks, but here it’s cut into florets, tossed with spices and roasted until golden. Paired with a colourful couscous salad and a tangy sriracha mayo, it becomes a filling meat-free dinner you can enjoy hot or cold.
Table of Contents
- How to make it:
- 🍽️ What to serve it with
- 🍲 More fantastic cauliflower recipes
- Smoky Cauliflower Salad Recipe
How to make it:
Full recipe and precise steps are in the recipe card below.
- Toss cauliflower florets with olive oil and the seasoning, spread on a baking tray and roast in a hot oven until golden and tender.
- Sauté the onion in oil until soft, add garlic and spices, then stir through the couscous and hot stock. Cover and let sit off the heat for 5 minutes.
- Fluff the couscous with a fork and fold in the chopped vegetables and herbs.
- Transfer the couscous to a large serving bowl and top with the roasted cauliflower.
- Whisk mayonnaise and sriracha together and drizzle over the finished dish.
This combination gives you a satisfying, filling salad with a creamy, spicy kick from the sriracha mayo.
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🍽️ What to serve it with
- Serve alongside a simple tomato-and-onion salad, or swap the couscous for a Moroccan-style couscous for a different flavour profile.
- Try different sauces if you like—bang bang sauce, sweet chilli or a plum-sriracha pairing all work well with roasted cauliflower.
🍲 More fantastic cauliflower recipes
Appetizers
Baked Cauliflower Wings – Asian Style
Appetizers
Bang Bang Cauliflower
Skinny Recipes
Cauliflower Steak with Spicy Salsa Verde
Asian
Cauliflower Fried Rice
Appetizers
Cauliflower Arancini
Soups
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
This recipe appears in the author’s book Seriously Good Salads (published 2019).
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Smoky Cauliflower Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Smoky Cauliflower:
- 1 large head cauliflower broken into florets
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
Couscous Salad:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp celery salt
- 175 g dried couscous
- 400 ml hot vegetable stock
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and finely chopped
- 10 grape tomatoes quartered
- 5 spring onions (scallions) chopped
- 60 g chopped fresh parsley
Sriracha Mayo:
- 60 g mayonnaise
- 30 ml sriracha
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
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Place the cauliflower florets on a large baking sheet, drizzle with the oil and sprinkle over the salt, garlic salt, black pepper and smoked paprika. Toss to coat and roast for about 20 minutes, or until golden and tender.
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Meanwhile, make the couscous. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and celery salt and cook for 2 minutes to release the aromas.
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Add the couscous and hot vegetable stock, bring briefly to a boil, then cover, remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
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Fluff the couscous with a fork, then fold in the red and green peppers, grape tomatoes, spring onions and parsley.
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Transfer the couscous to a large serving dish and arrange the roasted cauliflower on top.
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Mix the mayonnaise and sriracha in a small bowl and drizzle over the cauliflower before serving.
Notes
Nutritional info is per serving. This recipe serves 4.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.
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