Inspired by the Whole Foods salad bar, this crackling cauliflower is a roasted cauliflower salad loaded with curry flavor, green peas, red onions and cilantro. It’s perfect for potlucks because the dish can be served cold or a room-temp.
Cracklin’ Cauliflower is my second favorite thing from the Whole Foods salad bar (Garlicky Kale is my first, in case you were wondering) and like most food related things I fall in love with, I recreated this dish at home so I could make it whenever my heart desires. Which is awesome because it’s hit or miss when my Whole Foods will actually have this available on the bar.
So about the dish, the base is roasted cauliflower and it includes a number of fragrant spices including curry, garam masala, fennel seed, fresh ginger and garlic. Don’t let the spices scare you though… I think I got my garam masala, fennel and curry from Penzey’s Spices, but you should be able to find them all at most grocery stores. And other than measuring, throwing the spices into a bowl and roasting the cauliflower, this dish comes together rather quickly — unless of course you accidentally get the curry sauce on your white pants and have to do an emergency load of bleached whites in the process. Not that I would know about that or anything…
The texture of the roasted cauliflower is perfect (not too crunchy and not too soft) and it takes on the flavor of the curry sauce so well. You get a nice spiciness from the ginger and red pepper, which is balanced by a sweetness from the peas.
If you make this crackling cauliflower, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how it turned out. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers!
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This has become one of our “go to” sides with steak or chicken or whatever… love it and so satisfying that it’s a healthy choice!
Love this! It is such a great side, Joanne. Thanks so much for your review & star rating, I so appreciate it!
I have made this several times and have done all sorts of substitutions and it turns out delectable every single time. I always add a bit of lemon juice. Thank you for this terrific recipe. It has really become a go-to for us.
Woo!! So glad you’ve been enjoying this recipe, Mary. Thanks for the review! I so appreciate it!
Incredible flavor. Doubled the oil and spices and roasted garbanzo beans with the cauliflower. Highly recommend.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Kari! Thanks for the review 🙂
Fantastic recipe ~ a new favorite! I did get the ingredient list from Whole Foods and it includes lemon juice as the 4th ingredient so i added some of that to taste. I also couldn’t find fennel seeds so left them out. It was still REALLY good. I’ve only had it warm so can’t comment on how it is as a chilled salad. In any case, thank you for posting this recipe. I will be using it often!
Ahh yay!! So glad you loved this recipe, Cyndi. Thanks for coming back to leave a review, I so appreciate it!
Fabulous recipe! My roommate and I were literally fighting over the leftovers. Definitely will become a staple dish for me.
Haha love it!! So glad this recipe was a hit. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it, Ruby!