Seriously Good Quinoa Salad

Our favorite quinoa salad recipe is packed with superfoods. It can be made vegan, is easy to make, and tastes incredible. We have friends who don’t typically like quinoa who love this easy salad. This will become your new go-to salad, we are sure of it.

Watch the Video

Quinoa Salad Recipe Video

Related: We also love this black bean and quinoa salad.

How to Make the Best Quinoa Salad

Quinoa is a versatile base for salads. It’s nutritious, tastes nutty, and it is very easy to prepare. To make the best quinoa salad, keep these tips in mind:

Prepare and cook the quinoa properly. We’ve shared an entire article showing you how to cook quinoa, but here are the main takeaways. First, before you cook it, it’s best to rinse quinoa. Rinsing well before cooking reduces the saponin and produces a delicious nutty flavor.

Choose lots of colorful veggies and textures to add to the salad. I’m not the biggest fan of quinoa’s texture, but when you mix it with crisp veggies and crunchy seeds or nuts, I’m a very happy girl.

Use a bright and flavorful salad dressing. Quinoa is a fantastic salad base, but it doesn’t have that much flavor by itself. That’s why we love tossing it with an ultra-flavorful dressing. As the salad sits, the quinoa absorbs the dressing and gets more and more delicious over time.

Quinoa salad with veggies, chickpeas, and dried fruit

Quinoa Salad Ingredients

We like our salads packed with goodies. Add lots of colorful and crunchy vegetables, nuts or seeds, and something a bit sweet like dried blueberries or cranberries.

The vegetables you use are up to you, but here’s what we’ve added:

  • Cucumber adds crunch and freshness. It’s rare that we don’t add cucumber to salads around here. It’s a star in our lemon orzo salad as well as in our easy chickpea salad.
  • Bok choy is one of my favorite salad ingredients. It’s a total powerhouse of nutrition and is the perfect alternative to other hearty veggies like kale, broccoli, and spinach thanks to its milder taste and crunchy texture. If you enjoy bok choy as much as we do, take a look at our 10-minute lemon garlic bok choy recipe, it’s a total winner.
  • Grated carrots add color and are loaded with vitamin A and antioxidants. Grating them is quick, too. We use our box grater, but you can buy pre-grated carrots or use a food processor attachment.
  • Bell peppers add even more color to the salad — I especially love using yellow or red peppers for this. They also add crunch and sweetness, not to mention their high levels of vitamin C, B vitamins, and other nutrients.
  • Fresh herbs add color, lots of flavors, and even add their nutrients to the party. We love stirring in a generous amount of parsley and mint.

In addition to the vegetables, we throw in some nuts and seeds — the type is completely up to you, but we especially love buttery pine nuts and pepitas. Walnuts, pistachios, almonds, or seeds like sunflower seeds are also excellent options.

We also like to add something sweet. In the photos, we’ve added dried wild blueberries. Cranberries or raisins will also work. If they are in season, fresh fruit will work, too. I cannot wait until summer so I can add a handful of fresh blueberries to this salad.

As a final ingredient, we stir in chickpeas, which make the salad even more hearty and satisfying. You can use canned or home cooked chickpeas — here’s our tutorial for how to cook dried chickpeas if you are interested. Other beans, like black beans, work, too. In fact, you may enjoy our black bean salad with quinoa, which has lots of veggies and a zesty lime dressing.

Quinoa Salad ingredients

How to Make Quinoa Taste Good

As I mentioned above, it’s all about bright and flavorful when it comes to the quinoa salad dressing. We keep things simple with a combination of apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, a touch of honey for balance, and extra-virgin olive oil. (For a vegan dressing, swap the honey for maple syrup.)

When we have them in the kitchen, we love to add a last-minute spritz of fresh lemon to the salad. It brightens everything up even more.

Healthy quinoa salad with veggies, dried fruits, and chickpeas

Related: Try vegetarian chili with quinoa and black beans.

Recipe Variations

As written, this is a vegan quinoa salad — it’s delicious, hearty, and extremely satisfying this way. That said, there are lots of variations you can do to make this salad your own.

  • Serve this as a cold or warm quinoa salad.
  • Give it a Mediterranean or Greek spin with the addition of feta cheese and some sliced olives.
  • Add some creaminess with diced avocado.
  • Add additional protein with shredded chicken or roasted shrimp.
  • Use a different grain. We love farro and have shown how to cook it in this farro and apple salad recipe.
Seriously Good Quinoa Salad Recipe

Seriously Good Quinoa Salad

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

Our favorite quinoa salad recipe is packed with superfoods. It’s easy to make and tastes incredible. Whether you already love quinoa or don’t cook it often, this will become your new go-to salad.

We share how to cook quinoa on the stovetop in the recipe, for other methods including cooking quinoa in the microwave or a pressure/rice cooker, see our article: How to Prepare and Cook Quinoa. If you are using leftover cooked quinoa, one cup of uncooked quinoa yields three cups of cooked quinoa.

Makes about 8 cups

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

For the Salad

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 medium English cucumber, diced (1 cup)

1 medium bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

1 baby bok choy, chopped (2 cups)

1 cup additional grated or chopped veggies like carrots or broccoli stems, optional

1/2 cup (65 grams) nuts and seeds like walnuts, pine nuts, pepitas or sunflower seeds

1/4 cup (35 grams) dried fruit, blueberries or cranberries

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh herbs; use any combination of fresh parsley, cilantro, basil, dill or mint

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

For the Dressing

1/4 cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon honey or maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Juice from 2 to 3 lemon wedges, optional

Directions

  • Cook Quinoa
  • 1Add quinoa to a fine mesh strainer, and then rinse under cool water for 30 seconds to a minute. Alternatively, add the quinoa to a bowl and cover with cool water. Move the quinoa around the bowl, and then drain the water and repeat once more, so the quinoa has been rinsed.

    2Shake the quinoa of any excess liquid. Combine the rinsed quinoa and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is absorbed by the quinoa, 10 to 15 minutes.

    3Move the saucepan off of the heat and cover for five minutes. This extra time allows the quinoa to steam and “fluff up.” Uncover, and then fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set aside to cool slightly.

  • Make the Salad
  • 1When the quinoa has cooled slightly, in a large bowl, combine the quinoa, chickpeas, cucumber, bell pepper, bok choy, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and the herbs.

    2In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, honey (or maple syrup), salt, and pepper until blended.

    3Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Taste then adjust with additional salt and pepper as needed. For an extra pop of flavor, spritz the juice from a few lemon wedges over the salad. Serve.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • The quinoa salad will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
  • As a substitute for the dried fruit, consider adding 1/2 to 1 cup of fresh fruit like blueberries, diced apple or chopped mango.
  • For a vegan friendly quinoa salad, substitute the honey with maple syrup.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 cup / Calories 282 / Total Fat 14g / Saturated Fat 2g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 274.5mg / Carbohydrate 33g / Dietary Fiber 6.5g / Total Sugars 7.3g / Protein 8.8g
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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68 comments… Leave a Review
  • Sue September 19, 2023, 7:11 pm

    I’m also not a big fan of quinoa, but this salad is so good! I eat it as a side and as a snack.

    Reply
    • Adam September 19, 2023, 8:55 pm

      Yay! Thank you so much for coming back to let us know you enjoy it!

      Reply
  • Rachel September 16, 2023, 1:37 pm

    This salad is the best quinoa salad I have ever had! My husband, who is not a fan of quinoa, looked forward to leftovers the following days!

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:12 pm

      We are so happy that you both enjoyed it! We were not always the biggest fans of quinoa, either, and we both love this salad.

      Reply
  • Georgie September 4, 2023, 2:50 pm

    First time I’ve fixed anything with quinoa in it. We love this salad! We’ll definitely be having this again! Fixed it as written. Delicious!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:18 pm

      We are thrilled that you enjoyed it, Georgie! Thank you for coming back and leaving a review!

      Reply
  • Tanya S. May 3, 2023, 1:53 pm

    Wow! Guy’s this was delicious,I have never had Quinoa salad, but I love Quinoa so I tried your recipe. 5 stars hands down so fresh. Only thing I did a little different is add some lemon zest.

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:18 pm

      Lemon zest is a fantastic idea (anything to add even more fresh flavor, right?). We are so happy that you enjoyed the salad!

      Reply
  • Sher March 4, 2023, 3:36 pm

    I came across this recipe . I used chopped fresh Bessel sprouts, cucumber, red onion, both red and yellow peppers, black beans, flax seed and sunflower seeds. I didn’t have Dijon mustard so I used thousand island dressing and red wine vinegar, maple syrup (added turmeric, ginger and cinnamon) !!!! This is delicious!!!! My new go to!

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:19 pm

      We are glad you could improvise with what you had on hand, Sher. Thanks so much for sharing.

      Reply
  • Ali January 28, 2023, 7:04 pm

    This was good, but it was definitely too much vinegar for me and I’m someone who normally loves vinegar. I couldn’t taste the natural flavors of the ingredients or those in the dressing. If I make it again, I’d definitely add lemon zest (in addition to juice), plus less ACV to cut acidity and create a more balanced flavor. Mint was a great addition to this. Other than that, thanks for a great dish.

    Reply
    • Joanne February 27, 2023, 4:22 pm

      Hi Ali, Thanks for your feedback. We love keeping our salads fresh and bright, so we often use a little more acid when making them. I also love the extra zing for salads that tend to keep well for days in the fridge (like this one) since the acid keeps the flavor bright.

      Reply
  • Sue January 18, 2023, 9:27 pm

    Outstandingly fresh and delicious! Will be making this again with your other variation suggestions. Took this for a funeral dish and it literally flew out the bowl! Many requests for the recipe. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Joanne January 19, 2023, 1:17 pm

      Hi Sue, We are sorry for your loss, but are happy that you found something everyone enjoyed. Thanks so much for sharing.

      Reply
  • Anne November 17, 2022, 12:21 am

    I added roast pumpkin and used a pomegranate dressing, sensational thank you

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:20 pm

      Roasted pumpkin is a great idea. I’ll keep that in mind this Fall!

      Reply
  • Caitlin November 8, 2022, 9:48 pm

    It’s very interesting… so many flavours and textures happening. Good side salad rather than a full meal

    Reply
    • Joanne November 9, 2022, 5:36 pm

      Hi Caitlin, We are thrilled that you gave our recipe a try! Glad you enjoyed it.

      Reply
  • Ashley VanRaalte October 18, 2022, 1:17 pm

    This is delicious, will definitely be using this recipe from now on!!

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:20 pm

      This is such wonderful news, Ashley.

      Reply
  • Tania August 27, 2022, 3:34 pm

    Very good. Feeds an army! Leftovers are good and delicious and so nutritious and filling will comprise a nice meal in itself.

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:20 pm

      Wonderful! I love how this salad keeps for a few days. It’s great knowing there’s a healthy, fresh meal in the fridge.

      Reply
  • Helen Taylor August 23, 2022, 2:29 pm

    We loved the superfood quinoa salad recipe , the best we have tried

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:21 pm

      This is wonderful, Helen. Thank you for coming back and leaving a review.

      Reply
  • Emily August 19, 2022, 5:23 pm

    So good! I swapped red wine vinegar for apple cider since that was all I had, but it was still delicious! Great way to use up all the odds and ends in your fridge, too!

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:21 pm

      Yes! This salad is perfect for throwing in any extra/lonely veggies in the fridge. Thanks for coming back, Emily.

      Reply
  • Erica August 7, 2022, 8:32 am

    Wow I made this a few days ago and have enjoyed eating it everyday so far for lunch. It’s delicious, I added hot smoked Salmon crumbled on top and that works really well. I’m going to make another batch tomorrow I’m just wondering what I could use in the dressing so I don’t have to use so much olive oil, as delicious as it is I’m trying to minimise calories and this is so healthy in every other way.

    Reply
    • Adam September 16, 2023, 7:23 pm

      Oh my gosh, I LOVE the idea to add the smoked salmon. As far as an olive oil substitute, you could make the dressing with about half the oil (I’d still keep some), and then when you serve the salad, add a little avocado or yogurt to the top to keep things balanced.

      Reply

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