This roasted vegetable salad with chickpeas and a creamy dairy-free tahini dressing is perfect for entertaining, or simply just enjoyed for lunch or dinner. This healthy salad will keep you full served on it’s own or as a side and is something the whole family will enjoy!
I love salads that have bold flavours, are anything but boring, and can be enjoyed as a meal on it’s own or as a delicious side to any meal. This recipe is exactly that and has become my go to salad for entertaining.
It’s dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan friendly making it a great option to serve to company, and with summer just around the corner, it’s the perfect addition to any BBQ table.
It also keeps in the fridge making it great for leftovers so I’m thinking Christmas entertaining for sure, but is it a bit early to be thinking about Christmas food yet?
Whatever the occasion, or if you’re simply making it for work week lunches this is a recipe you are going to want to make again and again, it’s just so good and simple to make as well.
Key Ingredients
There are two parts to this recipe, your salad and your dressing. Let’s start with the salad.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chickpeas – I’m including this first because I forgot to add it to the photograph of the ingredients above! Chickpeas bulk out the salad, give it an earthy, nutty flavour and basically are my favourite ingredient in this salad
- Vegetables – I like to use pumpkin, sweet potato, beetroot and cauliflower for this recipe but you can use whatever you have on hand. I like the natural sweetness of the vegetables that happens after slow roasting and it’s the variety of vegetables that keep this dish vibrant and delicious.
- Baby spinach – the baby spinach cuts through the sweetness of the vegetables and gives that much needed crispness to the salad.
- Spices – I use salt, pepper and a little garlic powder on the vegetables and then smoked paprika and garlic powder on the chickpeas to give them extra flavour which they carry through the salad.
For the dressing you simply need equal amounts of tahini, fresh lemon juice, and water. Mix this all together until creamy and season with garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
If your dressing splits at all, it’s just got too much water and you’ll need to add more tahini. Make sure to taste your dressing and that it’s well seasoned and the flavours are balanced.
Step-By-Step Instructions
To make this salad, start by lining two large baking trays with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180°C.
Peel and chop all vegetables into 2cm cubes, making the cauliflower a little chunkier to account for a quicker cooking time and the fact that it tends to break up as it cooks.
Place the vegetables onto the trays, I like to keep them in their groups to better manage even cooking time. For example if the cauliflower or pumpkin is cooking faster than the beetroot, I can just easily remove it and then place the tray back into the oven to continue cooking the remaining vegetables.
You also want to be careful to keep the beetroot away from other vegetables so as to not have it bleed everywhere and turn the other vegetables pink. I also recommend immediately washing the chopping board and your hands after handling the beetroot to minimise the chance of any stains.
Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder if you want. Mix around with your hands to ensure they are coated and place the trays into the oven to cook for around 45 minutes turning half way, or until the vegetables are starting to brown and are cooked through.
While the vegetables are cooking, make your chickpeas. Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas and add into a medium sized frying pan on medium heat. Add in your smoked paprika and garlic powder and mix. Cook the chickpeas until starting to dry out and browning – about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Finally make your dressing by simply mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl with a spoon or small whisk.
To a large bowl add all of your vegetables and the chickpeas. Add the baby spinach and then drizzle with a generous amount of the dressing. Use two spoons to toss the salad and mix everything together until everything is coated with the dressing. Drizzle any remaining dressing over the top to serve.
Recipe FAQs
Both! This salad is great served while the vegetables are still warm, but if you did want to make it ahead, it will still be perfectly delicious.
Yes you can! You have two options. You can simply make the roasted vegetables, chickpeas and dressing ahead of time and keep them separate only tossing everything together right before serving. This is recommended if entertaining for the freshest result.
However you can also assemble the whole salad and let it sit for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving and it’s perfectly fine. You can also eat the salad the next day as leftovers but I’d recommend serving to a crowd on day 1 only for the salad at it’s best.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More salad recipes:
Mango and Avocado Salad
The BEST Dairy Free Potato Salad
Roasted Broccoli Salad
Pear and Prosciutto Salad
Roasted Vegetable Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ head of cauliflower
- 1 large beetroot
- 1 medium sized sweet potato
- 1 small piece pumpkin (approx the same size as your sweet potato)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 400 gram can chickpeas
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 100 grams baby spinach
For the dressing;
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two large baking trays with baking paper.
- Peel and chop all vegetables into 2cm cubes, except the cauliflower which should be closer to 1 inch pieces.
- Place the vegetables onto the trays and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder. Mix around with your hands to ensure they are coated and place the trays into the oven to cook for around 45 minutes turning half way, or until the vegetables are starting to brown and are cooked through.
- While the vegetables are cooking, make your chickpeas. Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas and add into a medium sized frying pan on medium heat. Add in your smoked paprika and garlic powder and mix. Cook the chickpeas until starting to dry out and browning – about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Finally make your dressing by simply mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl with a spoon or small whisk, seasoning to taste.
- To a large serving bowl add all of your vegetables and the chickpeas. Add the baby spinach and then drizzle with a generous amount of the dressing. Use two spoons to toss the salad and mix everything together until everything is coated with the dressing. Drizzle any remaining dressing over the top to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
trisha says
can you please include nutritional information on your recipes
Sally says
Hi Trisha! Thanks for your feedback. All of my newer recipes do include nutritional information, and I’ve now updated this recipe to also include it. Hope this helps!