This baked meatball salad makes an easy and delicious whole dinner. It is filling but light at the same time, made with roasted cauliflower, quinoa, fresh parsley and a flavorful homemade dressing that ties all the components together.
For more main dish salads, check out this Mediterranean Chicken Salad or this Marinated Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad.
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What is a meatball salad?
A meatball salad is simply a salad (vegetables and dressing) with meatballs added in. Rather than a side dish or an appetizer, a meatball salad is a full meal in itself.
What makes this meatball salad special:
What makes this salad special and extra flavorful is the fact that the meatballs are actually infused with the salad dressing. (To do that, you simply soak sandwich bread cubes with the dressing, then mash them up and mix them into the raw ground beef before baking.) It’s a very easy way to add a lot of flavor AND to loosen up the meat and keep the meatballs nice and tender, win-win!
How to make it:
Roast the cauliflower:
Step 1: The cauliflower in this recipe takes the longest, so that’s what you want to start with. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. and while the oven is heating, cut the florets off of 1 head of cauliflower. In a bowl, toss the florets with 3 tablespoons olive oil and ¼ teaspoon salt.
Step 2. Spread the cauliflower out on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast until it is tender and a knife goes through easily (about 40 minutes). Turn the florets over once halfway through the roasting time.
Prepare the dressing:
Step 3. While the cauliflower is in the oven you can get to the dressing and then the meatballs. In a bowl, add together:
- 5 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 garlic clove (minced or pressed)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder*
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
*RECIPE NOTE: Here is a recipe for making homemade chili powder.
Step 4. Whisk all dressing ingredients together.
Prepare the meatballs:
Step 5. You’re going to use ⅓ cup of the dressing for the meatballs, so you want to transfer ⅓ cup of it into a large bowl. Cover the remaining dressing with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to serve the salad.
Step 6. Cut 2 slices of sandwich bread into cubes and mix them into the ⅓ cup dressing. Let the mix marinate for 10 min.
Step 7. Mash up the soaked bread cubes with a fork.
Step 8. Add the remaining meatball ingredients to the mashed bread:
- 1 pound ground beef (90 percent lean, 10 percent fat)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup minced white onion
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Step 9. Mix everything together until well combined.
RECIPE TIP: I like to use a large serving fork for the mashing and mixing, it’s sturdy enough to make the job easy.
Step 10. Form 18-20 meatballs (you can use a spoon, your hands, or a 2-tablespoon metal scoop with spring-loaded handle for that). Set the meatballs directly onto 1 large or 2 small rimmed non-stick baking sheets. (No need to grease the sheets.)
Bake the meatballs:
Step 11. Once the cauliflower is done, take it out and set it aside, then place the meatballs in the 400-degree oven and bake them until they are crispy on the outside (about 20 minutes).
If you don’t have ½ cup cooked quinoa on hand, you can cook the quinoa while the meatballs are in the oven.
How to serve it:
Place the warm cauliflower, quinoa and meatballs onto individual plates, sprinkle with ¼ cup finely chopped parsley and drizzle with dressing. Serve the salad with toasted bread.
How to store leftovers:
You can transfer all salad components except for the dressing together into an airtight container and store them in the fridge. Fill the dressing into a separate container and keep in the fridge as well. Briefly heat up the meatballs, quinoa and cauliflower before serving.
More delicious dinner ideas:
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Full Printable Recipe
Meatball Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into individual florets
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the dressing:
- 5 tablespoons canned tomato sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 1 teaspoon chili powder*
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the meatballs:
- 2 slices sandwich bread, cut into cubes
- ⅓ cup dressing (made in the previous step)
- 1 pound ground beef (90 percent lean, 10 percent fat)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup minced white onion
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
To put it all together:
- ½ cup quinoa, cooked
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
Instructions
For the salad:
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower florets with the olive oil and the salt.
- Transfer the cauliflower to a baking sheet in a single layer and roast until tender (about 40 minutes). (Turn the florets over on the baking sheet after about 20 minutes.)
- While the cauliflower is in the oven, make the dressing and the meatballs.
For the dressing:
- In a large bowl, whisk all dressing ingredients together until smooth.
- Transfer ⅓ cup of the dressing you just made into a large bowl. Cover the remaining dressing and store in the fridge until you're ready to serve the salad.
For the meatballs:
- Add the bread cubes to the bowl with the ⅓ cup of dressing. Mix until all the bread is well coated. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Mash up the soaked bread cubes with a large fork, then add beef, egg, minced onion, salt and black pepper and mix until well combined.
- Form 18-20 meatballs (a 2-tablespoon metal scoop with spring-loaded handle works well for that) and set them directly onto two rimmed, non-stick baking sheets. (No need to grease the sheets.)
- When the cauliflower is done, put the meatballs in the 400-degree oven and bake them until the meat is cooked through and the meatballs are crispy on the outside (about 20 minutes).
To put it all together:
- Place the cauliflower, quinoa and meatballs onto individual plates, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with dressing.
- Serve warm and with toasted bread.
Kelly | Foodtasia
Nicole, what a unique and brilliant salad packed full of delicious flavors! I love roasted cauliflower and the dressing looks amazing!
Easyfoodsmith
That’s a wonderful recipe. So much in love with it.