The first thing I have to say is, I LOVE this Roasted Cauliflower Salad! It tastes like you are eating a loaded baked potato salad... but with ZERO guilt! The second thing I have to say is, I LOVE the Ninja Foodi!
I couldn't believe how easy it was to make this recipe in the Ninja Foodi! Seriously, it's all done in one pot! This is not a new recipe of mine. I created it last year and wanted to make it again in the Ninja Foodi.
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WOW! I am amazed every day by the ease of the Ninja Foodi and this roasted cauliflower salad is the perfect example. Instead of having to roast the cauliflower on one tray, cook the bacon in a skillet, & drain the bacon grease... you can roast the cauliflower and cook the bacon at the same time! It's wonderful!
Can I use Potatoes instead of Cauliflower?
Yes! Cube up your potatoes and put them in the inner pot. Add 1 cup of water and pressure cook on high for 0 or 1 minute. Immediately release the pressure. Drain the potatoes and put them in a large mixing bowl.
Cook the bacon on the rack in the Ninja Foodi until crisp. Usually 360° F for 14 minutes works for thick cut bacon. Remove and place the bacon on paper towels to cool.
Mix up the dressing and pour ½ over the warm potatoes. Adding your dressing to potatoes when warm will give them more flavor, but don't add all of it or the potatoes will absorb it all and your potato salad won't be as creamy.
Mix in the onions and the celery and refrigerate for a few hours.
When cool, mix in the remaining dressing, green onions, and crumbled bacon.
Can I use Mayonnaise instead of yogurt?
Of course. You can use whatever type of dressing you want. Personally, I love the flavor of the yogurt with the sour cream as it ends up tasting like a loaded baked potato.
I haven't tried roasted cauliflower salad with mayo, so please let me know how it is if you decide to give it a try!
What Kind of Yogurt Should I Use?
I have made this recipe with both regular (plain) yogurt and Greek yogurt. Both are great to use, but I do prefer using my Homemade Greek Yogurt Recipe that I make in the Ninja Foodi. I like the the thickness and I don't use any sweeteners.
You can use whatever type of yogurt that you like, just make sure it is plain yogurt. Flavored yogurt would not be that tasty, in my opinion.
If you have the dehydration function on the Ninja Foodi, I really recommend giving yogurt making a try, if you haven't already.
You only need 2 ingredients to make it, milk and a yogurt starter. That's it!
I actually freeze about ¼ cup of yogurt starter from each batch to use in the next one, so I never have to buy yogurt. I love it!
Can I Double this Recipe?
Yes, but please read these suggestions first.
It would be better to make two batches rather than trying to cook twice the bacon and cauliflower at once. The cauliflower would have a hard time cooking on the bottom if doubled and if you put double bacon on the rack, it would either need to hang down or overlap and neither way would allow the bacon to cook correctly.
The other suggestion would be to cook your bacon in a double batch the way you would normally cook your bacon. Remove it, but leave the grease in the bottom of the inner pot. Toss the cauliflower florets in the bacon grease, then put them in the basket. Bake Roast or even AC them until they become tender (not mushy) and slightly brown.
How to make Roasted Cauliflower Salad in the Ninja Foodi
Cut the florets off of the head of cauliflower. You can use a food processor, but be careful not to over process. You want the florets to be about the size of a potato chunk in a regular potato salad -- between the size of a dime and a nickle. Any larger and they might be under cooked; any smaller and they might overcook.
Place the cauliflower florets in the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi. Put the rack in the high position and lay the bacon on the rack. I like to cut the bacon in half to arrange it in a single layer on the rack.
Air Crisp the bacon on 360° F for 20-25 minutes, flipping at the 10-minute mark and the 20-minute mark. After 10 minutes, remove the rack and toss around the cauliflower. Sometimes the edges get more browned than the middle, so moving the bacon and the cauliflower around is helpful.
While the bacon and cauliflower are cooking, make up the dressing. Mix the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, salt, and pepper into a medium size mixing bowl.
Remove the bacon from the Ninja Foodi and place strips on a paper towel to drain. Stir the cauliflower and check for doneness. If they are still on the crunchy side, continue to Bake Roast on 360° F until they have the same texture as a potato cube. Soft, but still firm.
Allow the cauliflower to cool slightly. You can do this right in the inner pot or transfer to a mixing/serving bowl.
Dice up the onion and the celery and add to the cauliflower. Add the dressing. Crumble Bacon on top and stir to combine. Refrigerate for a few hours.
Top with diced green onions if desired.
Serve & Enjoy!
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower about 1 ½ to 2 lbs
- 4 strips bacon thick cut
- ½ cup celery diced (about 2 stalks)
- ½ cup red onion diced (about ½ onion)
- ¾ cups yogurt plain
- 2 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vinegar white wine
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp pepper
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Instructions
- Cut the florets off of the head of cauliflower. You can use a food processor, but be careful not to over process. You want the florets to be about the size of a potato chunk in a regular potato salad. Between the size of a dime and a nickle. Any larger and they might be under cooked, any smaller and they might overcook.
- Place the cauliflower florets in the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi. Put the rack in the high position and lay the bacon on the rack. I like to cut the bacon in ½ to arrange it in a single layer on the rack.
- Air Crisp the bacon on 360° F for 20-25 minutes, flipping at the 10 minute mark and the 20 minute mark. After 10 minutes, remove the rack and toss around the cauliflower. Sometimes the edges get more brown than the middle, so moving the bacon and the cauliflower around is helpful.
- While the bacon and cauliflower are cooking, make up the dressing. Mix the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, salt, and pepper into a medium size mixing bowl.
- Remove the bacon from the Ninja Foodi and place strips on a paper towel to drain. Stir the cauliflower and check for doneness. If they are still on the crunchy side, continue to Bake Roast on 360° F until they have the same texture as a potato cube. Soft, but still firm.
- Allow the cauliflower to cool slightly. You can do this right in the inner pot or transfer to a mixing/serving bowl.
- Dice up the onion and the celery and add to the cauliflower. Add the dressing. Crumble Bacon on top and stir to combine. Refrigerate for a few hours.
- Top with diced green onions if desired. Serve & Enjoy!
Nutrition
ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.
Ninja Foodi Fresh & Healthy Meals
Seeing the need for easy, delicious, and high quality recipes, she is focusing all of her efforts creating recipes specifically for the Ninja Foodi. Her recipes are easy for the home cook to follow and provide step-by-step instructions.
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can.
Sue B
Oh Louise, you re right, This salad tastes just like a good potato salad or a baked potato. My son and my husband both loved it and they dont even eat vegetables, at least very seldom. Excellent recipe. Making it for Fathers Day this weekend. Thank you for all you do for us and for coming up with the perfect recipe, yum. I am just sorry that I did not have 2 heads of Cauliflower. Next time, I will surely double it. TY.
Louise
I'm so glad you all enjoyed it!
Jessica Perdue
I did the roasted cauliflower potato salad yesterday and I used mayo because I did not have any yogurt and it came out great!!!
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Maggie Coleman
I so enjoy your recipes using the Ninji foodi. Your presentation is so easy to follow and very flexible if one has a limited ,kitchen. What is the make of the manual food processor you use and also the make of the meat loaf pan you prefer? Thank you for your enthusiasm- you are a delight! Happy Thanksgiving. A fan from Canada.
Louise
The manual processor I have is from Pampered Chef. For a full size meatloaf that fits in the Foodi, I use the pan that comes in the baking kit from Ninja. I'm hoping to see it go on sale through Amazon, but it hasn't been available in a while. There is a smaller loaf pan from Fat Daddio that is great as well. Hope that helps!
Nancy
I'm at a big disadvantaged.
I have Red Meat Allergy/Alpha Gal from a tick bite. I can only have chicken, turkey or fish. I can't even have the bacon in this. The allergy can kill and there are thousands of us with this terrible thing. A lot of people just get terrible terrible rashes & hives if we are cross contaminated, or lots of GI distress..
I think I miss bacon the most along with a good burger but I do use my Ninja.
Louise
Maybe you can try turkey bacon instead of the regular bacon? You can also skip it altogether. I just ate this for lunch and it is so good!