Roasted Cauliflower and Farro Salad with Feta and Avocado
This satisfying vegetarian salad recipe features warm whole grains, roasted cauliflower, fresh greens and bold Mediterranean flavors. It packs well for lunch!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
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Trying to eat better this year? I know, it’s extra-hard when it’s freezing cold outside and delivery pizza is just one call away. This warm, fresh yet hearty salad is the perfect solution. It packs well for lunch, too.
I really love the combination of garlicky farro with roasted cauliflower and salty feta and olives. Farro is an ancient grain related to wheat that you should be able to find in the health section of grocery stores. It’s nutty in flavor, freezes and defrosts well, and offers some heft to salads.
Fresh greens, sliced avocado, and lemon round it out. This seasonless salad is bursting with bold Mediterranean flavors.
You might recognize this salad from the archives. We have a lot of new visitors this year (hello and welcome!), and I’m trying to make sure my favorite recipes have appealing photos.
I love revisiting existing recipes because they give me more creative energy to devote to new recipes. I’m working on a new batch this week and can’t wait to share the results with you.
This recipe was inspired by a roasted cauliflower and farro salad I found in La Jolla, California. Four summers ago, I happened to be in San Diego at the same time as my parents. My friend and I met up with them for lunch at George’s, an unassuming restaurant with a faded, burgundy awning over the entrance.
We walked inside to discover an incredible view—the restaurant is built into the side of a cove that overlooks the sparkling blue Pacific. It was surreal since I’m accustomed to greeting my parents at home in flat, landlocked Oklahoma. (I’m not knocking Oklahoma—I love it for reasons that don’t include seaside views.)
My friend and I were feeling a little rough after a late night out, but that cauliflower salad brought me back to life. When I recreated it at home, I added some sun-dried tomatoes and greens to my version and loved how it turned out.
Change It Up
I love this salad exactly as written, but it’s a flexible recipe. For extra protein, stir some cooked chickpeas or lentils into the farro, or top your salad with a fried egg.
You could also add a handful of chopped leafy fresh herbs, like parsley, basil or dill. Other options include chopped red onions or freshly toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds.
You could roast broccoli instead of cauliflower. Skip the olives if you’re not into them. See the recipe notes for suggestions on how to make this salad gluten free, and/or vegan/dairy free.
Please let me know how you like this salad in the comments. Your feedback keeps me going.
Craving more hearty, bold salads like this one? Don’t miss my Greek kale salad, Jessica’s Marinated Chickpeas, Greek Lentil Salad and Arugula and Wild Rice Salad.
This salad is a meal in itself, but you could round it out with a warm cup of lentil soup, butternut squash soup or creamy cauliflower soup.
Roasted Cauliflower and Farro Salad with Feta and Avocado
This satisfying vegetarian salad recipe features warm whole grains, roasted cauliflower, fresh greens and bold Mediterranean flavors. It packs well for lunch, too! Recipe yields 4 hearty salads.
Ingredients
Roasted cauliflower
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-sized florets
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (scale back or omit if sensitive to spice)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Garlicky farro
- 1 cup uncooked farro, rinsed
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Everything else
- ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives, rinsed, half sliced into small rounds and the rest halved lengthwise
- ¼ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and roughly chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta (about 2 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about ½ lemon), plus more for serving
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 avocado, sliced into thin strips
- 4+ handfuls leafy greens (spring greens, spinach, arugula or baby kale are all good choices)
Instructions
- To roast the cauliflower: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the cauliflower florets with the olive oil, red pepper flakes and salt, and arrange it in an even layer across the pan. Roast for 25 to 35 minutes, tossing halfway, until the cauliflower is tender and deeply golden on the edges.
- To cook the farro: In a medium saucepan, combine the rinsed farro with at least three cups water (enough water to cover the farro by a couple of inches). Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until the farro is tender to the bite but still pleasantly chewy. (Pearled farro will take around 15 minutes; unprocessed farro will take 25 to 40 minutes.) Drain off the excess water and mix in the olive oil, garlic and salt. Set aside.
- In a large serving bowl, toss together the roasted cauliflower, cooked farro, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and lemon juice. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.
- Divide the avocado and greens between four dinner plates. Top with a generous amount of the cauliflower and farro salad. Finish the plates with an extra squeeze of lemon juice or drizzle of olive oil, if desired. Serve promptly.
Notes
Storage suggestions: Leftovers should keep well for several days. Store greens separately and slice the avocado just before serving.
Change it up: If you can’t find farro, spelt berries or wheat berries would be great substitutions. You might have to cook those grains longer.
Make it vegan: Skip the feta. You might want to add some extra olives to make up for it.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I have to tell you that I absolutely love this salad. I am not vegan but made for my grandaughter who is, and she also loved it. I also added small cukes, cherry tomatoes, red pepper and substituted chick peas for feta, as she is true vegan. I added some feta to my husband’s and mine. We keep making it-also added some red pepper flakes. Amazing – thank you.
This is my daughter’s favorite salad. I do find, though, that I like to add herbs and a little more seasoning.
Are you kidding me??? I just made your Roasted Cauliflower and Farro Salad and it was fabulous!!! Thank you so much for all of your amazing recipes, I haven’t tried on I haven’t loved!
Hooray! I’m so happy to hear that, Cheryl. Thank you for your review.
Taste explosion!!! Thank you for another amazing recipe. And thank you to the person who suggested adding the garlic to the farro while it cooked. Perfection!
You’re welcome, Ashely! Thank you for your review.
We made this with garlic couscous and it was amazing, thank you!
This salad was absolutely delicious! It was the change I needed from “same old same old” dishes. Even though I didn’t include olives, the salad got 5 stars from me and my guest.
Recipe was spot on- just great flavor. Added some scallions, green pepper and chickpeas.
This is a fabulous summer salad- lends itself to many variations.
Thanks so much
As a long time vegetarian (1989) and a lover of farro, I was excited to try this recipe. I am not a huge fan of cauliflower however that didn’t sway me from making the salad. I am so glad I did! It was simply amazing! The flavors all blended together perfectly- a continuous taste explosion in my mouth bite after bite. I chose chopped spinach for the base and topped my husbands salad with grilled chicken. He was just as impressed as I was with the dish and was happy to know we will be eating more cauliflower moving forward. I am a new reader to your blog and have not only printed out four more recipes to try but have shared your website with my ‘foodie’ friends. We appreciate you sharing your knowledge and delicious recipes with us!
This recipe is so so good!! So easy and so yummy :) I’ve put the leftovers into bowls for the next 2 days of lunches. I used brown rice instead of farro and its still beautiful.
This recipe was fantastic. Since I am not a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes, I halved cherry tomatoes and roasted them with the cauliflower along with the spices and smoked olive oil. I will make this recipe again!
I’m glad you loved it, Glenna! Thank you for sharing.
I’m new to this website and am loving all of the fabulous recipes. This was the first one I made, and we loved it. The various flavors and textures are addictive. I made this for dinner, then my husband and I had it for lunch for 2 days in a row after that.
Hey Kate,
Just wanted to thank you for all the great recipes. I’m a guy who loves cooking but also tries to keep it simple. I go to the internet for ideas and your recipes come up often. I usually just skip to the recipes, but I wanted to say this time I read the whole post and you are fantastic at what you do! Keep up the good work
Wow! I happened upon this recipe by querying “farro cauliflower” on Google – on a whim I decided to combine these two ingredients. It is utterly amazing. I will follow Cookie and Kate on Facebook from now on.
Unbelievably delicious!Thank you so much for the recipe!
This was amazing. There is not one recipe from Cookie and Kate that I have ever been disappointed with… you are a culinary rock star. I cook from your collection almost every night. Thank you!
I am delighted to hear that, Laura! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Hi Kate. This is now one of my go to recipes. I add Brussels sprouts and garlic tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper to the sheet pan after giving the cauliflower a ten minute head start. I also toss a little allspice and cumin seed with the cauliflower before it goes into the oven. Thanks for being a source of inspiration for cooking during this weird and wild period of time!
I’m delighted to hear that, Barbara! Thank you for taking the time to review.
My husband and I loved this salad. It was easy and so very flavorful. I left out the sun dried tomatoes because I didn’t have any and my husband is not a fan.
I have made many of your recipes as well as shared them. a couple of years ago we bought your book Love of real food for a Christmas gift to our adult children, they have enjoyed the book ,loving the recipes they have tried. I look forward to trying more of your creations. Thank you, you help us stay healthy.
I made this salad for the first time a few years ago, and I keep coming back for more. This is an easy, delicious, and light dinner that still manages to be filling. Thanks :)
Very nice recipe! Made today with barley as couldn’t find farro, super tasty and filling! Thank you!!
I made this sans olives. It’s a rainy spring night here in Connecticut. The creamy, salty, savory, spicy mixed well and hit SO perfectly.
This dish was excellent…Five stars. Husband and I both loved it and made per recipe!
Thank you, Margaret!
LOVE THIS! I had never used Farro before so was excited to try it and wow it really resembles pearl barley. Love the versatility of this recipe and easy to make modify based on whats in the fridge. I didn’t have sun dried tomatoes but added some green onions and fresh blueberries on the top, served it on a bed of mixed arugula and spinach and topped with olive oil and lemon with a little dijon mixed in. Huge hit hubby loved it to too.
Thanks so much for your creative and satisfying vegetarian dishes. We are cutting our meat consumption and always eat a lot of veggies and your recipes are super helpful to keep meals interesting!
I saw this recipe a couple months ago and had it in the back of my mind when I picked up some farro. Then I forgot all about it until I was organizing my pantry and found the farro. I looked it up again and I’m so glad I did– it’s fantastic! Don’t skimp on the pasta water– it turns the goat cheese into a delicious sauce that coats everything– so good!
Kate, This looks amazing. I want to bring to a BBQ tonight and will need the cheese “on the side” for the vegetarians. What do you think about making this ahead. Would you keep the mixture separate and rewarm before I toss in the greens or can i put the whole thing together an hour before and just serve room temp? Thoughts?
Hi, You can just have everyone top their cheese if you like. See the notes for vegan. I hope it’s a hit!
I loved this dish! Really nice balance of flavours (with a nice dose of umami from the olives, sun-dried tomatoes and feta) and textures. I used to live in Japan and something people pay more attention to and love there is “hagotae”, which is the firmness or chewiness of food when eating, and it’s really present here through the farro and really adds to the overall enjoyment. Thank you for the delicious recipe, Kate!
(The only thing I swapped is EVOO for grapeseed oil for the high temp roasting. Otherwise wouldn’t change a thing :)
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you enjoyed the mix of textures, Anna.
Have made this recipe for guests twice now and it was a hit both times. A winner!
I love it, Maggie! Thank you for your review.
I have never in my life left a review for a recipe – that is just how delicious this salad is. Holy punch of flavours and textures, Batman. Will absolutely make again – perfection!
Thank you, JC!
I was so pleased with the “Hearty Sweet Potato, Arugula & Wild Rice Salad with Ginger Dressing” by Cookies and Kate that I thought I would try this one too… again, it did not disappoint. This one required a bit more prep (chopping the olives and tomatoes), but it was still easy and totally worth it. There are lots of flavors, and it really doesn’t need a dressing. I am looking forward to eating this for the rest of the week! (The avocado is essential!)
Delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Stephanie!
Do not hesitate to make this salad! Fantastic. My 92-year-old mother-in-law was skeptical when I told her what was on the menu, but she tried it and loved it. Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks (sorry, Cookie, for the dog reference). I made 1/2 recipe and it fed the three of us for supper but we are slowly becoming lighter eaters (ages 92, 69, 67). Also if you are low sodium dieters as we are, you can easily omit any additional salt as you have olives and feta so no need to add extra. I also bought the higher-end feta (hey, no meat so I can splurge). Will definitely make it again. It was delicious! So happy I found this Web page.
That’s wonderful, Sander! Thank you for sharing. I’m happy it was a hit with everyone.
Yummmm!!! With a capital Y!! I substituted a boxed quinoa brown rice mix with roasted red pepper and basil instead of the farro and the result was awesome. I have never made anything using your recipes that wasn’t amazingly delicious! This was another winner! Big Time!!
That’s great to hear, Christopher! Thank you for sharing.
Can I just say I love your salads? This one was so easy to make. I wanted something simple, and I happened to have a whole cauliflower from my garden and this made the perfect most flavorful meal. Thank you!!!
Thank you, Sejal! I appreciate your review.
Delicious recipe. I added equal parts of olive oil to the lemon juice to make a more neutral salad dressing. Otherwise it was perfect as written, thanks Kate fir another great recipe.
You’re welcome, Mindi! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
This dish is absolutely amazing! Delicious and filling. It tasted like comfort food but full of healthy goodness. I didn’t have farro so I used spelt instead which still worked. Looking forward to making this again with farro. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Yum! I just made this for lunch and roasted a combination of cauliflower and broccoli. I used garlic infused oil because that’s what was on hand and easy. I love the combination of flavors. It is incredibly filling as well.
It makes a great lunch! Thank you for your review, Laura.
Thanks for a delicious recipe – I didn’t have Farro so made with brown rice so good!
Great to hear, Mary! I appreciate your review.
Great salad! It was a crowd pleaser. Also had some of the toppings on the side so people could pick and choose if they wanted olives and arugula on the salad as some of my eaters are picky. Will make this salad again.
I’m glad you loved it, L!
So yummy, thank you for introducing me to farro. The flavours come together very nicely. Feels very comforting. Easy for a weeknight. My bag of farro (from Costco) did not say it was unprocessed, and I was not sure if it was pearled). I brought the water to a boil, then cooked it for 15 min. I am going to make it all year round.
I really liked this and made some modifications based on our likes. I eliminated the cheese (allergic) and olives (don’t like) but added rotisserie chicken for my husband and mixed in some spinach and parsley. It was delicious and I would make it again.
This salad is totally delicious exactly as written.
I too had a skeptical partner, but he loved it.
It is also incredibly accommodating and it is perfect for left over bits and bobs:
No leafy greens, add herbs/chopped cucumber/diced tomatoes.
I have also tried it with your roasted mushrooms and/or your roasted butternut squash. Left overs from some of your other equally wonderful recipes.
It works with peas/edamame beans, which I always have in the freezer.
The cooked plain farro freezes really well, which can make this a super fast meal.
I think you have created a “Master” Salad that you can add many flavour combinations to and it will still work beautifully. Thank you.
Just made this for our vegetarian friends. Added a touch of balsamic. Will definitely make again
I’m excited you plan to make this one again, Susan! I appreciate your review.
This was really good but HUGE. I wanted a leafy salad as well so ended up adding 5oz each of arugula and baby kale. The play of the leaves, cauliflower, feta, farro, and chickpeas was delightful. Really wonderful. My only issue personally was the garlic was Super strong. I think my cloves were on the large side. Next time I’ll only use one large clove of garlic. Otherwise a keeper for sure.
Hi Heather, thank you for your feedback. Yes, this is a big salad and garlic can overpower if your cloves are too big. I hope you try it again!
What? Your parents live in Oklahoma? I’ve followed you for a year or so from Oklahoma’s Osage. Stuck inside today due to winter storm and have all the ingredients for this salad as I try to move my husband toward more vegetables and less meat. Will report later
Yes! I’m originally from Oklahoma, but now in Kansas City.
This was delicious. Wasn’t sure what to expect but the whole family loved it! Very flavourful and left you feeling very satisfied.
Thank you Kate for another great recipe !
You’re welcome, Christine!
Excellent weeknight meal that was not only very tasty but easy to make. The chew of the farro was satisfying and it was a filling meal without being heavy. Made exactly as written and served on a bed of blended baby spinach and arugula (love the peppery bite of arugula!). Could stand on it’s own also without the addition of the greens and served as a side dish. It’s going in the rotation.
Great to hear, Gina! I appreciate your review.
This was delicious! I only had 1/2 cup farro. So I used Trader Joe’s prepared lentils that you get in the produce section. I did not use feta. It was so good! Will definitely make this again!
This was simply delicious! A great combination of tastes! Healthy. Beautiful. We will definitely make it again. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Mireille!
This won raves, and I am making it again today. Easily adaptable for the dairy-free and the olive dislikers. A mixture of cauliflower and broccoli is nice and colorful- I would say 2/3 cauliflower, 1/3 broccoli. The farro is unusual and excellent in this- chewy in a good way.
I’ve made this a few times but last night I changed it up a bit.
I sort of combined this with the roasted cauliflower, farro, and arugula salad with lemony tahini dressing recipe that is in “Love Real Food.” To this recipe I added the lemony tahini dressing, chickpeas, and red bell pepper that you have in that recipe. It turned out great.
That’s great to hear, Ken! Thank you for sharing how you made this.