Quinoa Salad Healthy Recipe

Introducing my favorite quinoa salad! I’ve published more than a few quinoa salads over the years and I genuinely love all of them, but this recipe is officially my favorite.

This quinoa salad is refreshing, crisp and delicious. It’s made simply with fresh cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion, chickpeas, fresh parsley and a garlicky olive oil and lemon dressing. The salad sort of reminds me of tabouleh, an herbed Lebanese salad with tomatoes and bulgur.

The

This recipe doesn’t taste “basic, ” but it has a lot of merits that make it a staple recipe in my kitchen. I hope it becomes your go-to quinoa salad recipe, too! Please let me know how it turns out for you in the comments.

Quinoa Salad With Black Beans Recipe (high Protein, Gluten Free, Vegan)

My summer has been punctuated by fun, casual get-togethers with friends. Spontaneous afternoons at the pool, walks around the park, and potlucks—yes to all of the above. It’s nice to have supplies at the ready. My pool bag is packed with magazines and sunscreen, and my fridge is stocked with quinoa salad and Bota Box Wine (thank you, Bota Box!).

The “Bota Mini” size is super portable and easy to grab for an evening picnic at the park. The small boxes are convenient because you don’t have to remember to bring a bottle opener, and the empty boxes are lightweight and recyclable. Each 500 mL mini contains three glasses of wine, or just over half of a standard wine bottle. I recommend pairing their light, crisp Sauvignon blanc with this refreshing summer salad.

Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! I love hearing from you and hope this quinoa salad becomes your favorite, too.

Quinoa Salad Recipes

This quinoa salad recipe is the best! Everyone loves this healthy quinoa salad made with quinoa, chickpeas, red bell pepper, cucumber, parsley and lemon. It’s vegan and gluten free, too! Recipe yields 4 medium salads or 8 side salads.

Change it up: This salad is awesome as written. You can serve it on fresh greens with an extra drizzle of olive oil and squeeze of lemon juice for dressing. Feel free to top it with crumbled feta cheese or a dollop of cashew sour cream (recipe in my cookbook, page 217).

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.

Seriously Good Quinoa Salad

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #.

This post was sponsored by Bota Box and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!

Subscribe to our email newsletter! As a thank you, we'll give you our welcome guide with 5 printable dinner recipes. (It's all free.)

Quinoa Sweet Potato Salad Recipe

© Cookie and Kate 2010 - 2023. All rights reserved. Cookie and Kate is a registered trademark of Cookie and Kate LLC.Bright flavor and bold bites are what make this healthy quinoa salad with chickpeas, black beans, mango, and avocado in a limey dressing an easy side dish or simple vegetarian meal.

I’m a firm believer that you can’t have too many good salad recipes. I love big, healthy, hearty salads that make a meal, like my Italian chopped salad with marinated chickpeas, or my Nicoise salad. This healthy quinoa salad is no different. Protein-packed quinoa is loaded with healthy, fresh ingredients like avocado, mango, red bell peppers, and fresh herbs from the produce aisle then stacked with organic beans for added protein.

Quinoa salads like this one are a favorite healthy side dish that can easily slide into the all-in-one plant-based meal category too. They’re fast to make but last all week in the refrigerator, making them a meal-prepper’s dream for lunch, dinner, or as a quick, satisfying snack.

Kale & Quinoa Salad With Lemon Dressing

Adding fresh veggies and fruit to the diet are essential to healthy living. Luckily, Kroger’s abundance of organic and sustainably produced fruits and vegetables in their produce aisles make it easy and economical to add to every meal or grab as a snack on their own.

Seriously

This salad combines some favorite fresh produce with a few of my go-to Simple Truth Organic pantry items to make a side dish salad that works all year long, no matter what the season.

Black beans and garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) not only add flavor and bite to this salad, but are a good source of vegetarian protein too. Using Simple Truth organic canned beans saves time and convenience (no soaking required) and are sustainably grown and harvested for better piece of mind.

Rainbow Quinoa Salad Recipe

Known as one of nature’s superfoods, quinoa (KEEN-wah) is a carbohydrate that’s extra rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and dietary minerals. In fact, 1 cup of quinoa provides twice the protein plus about 5 grams more fiber than the same amount of cooked white rice, making it a favorite plant-based protein for vegetarians and vegans. As a combo carb/protein, it fills you up faster and sticks with you longer.

Quinoa is easy to cook and flavor neutral so it melds in nicely with just about anything you add it to, making it a perfect base for this easy to make salad. Use Simple Truth Organic white or red quinoa, or a combination of both.

Conventional teachings instruct the home cook to prepare quinoa the same as rice, in portions set to a formulaic ratio that’s brought to a boil, then covered and simmered until done. Personally, I rarely find success cooking it that way and end up adding more water as it cooks, and more water, sometimes ending in a gummy mess.

Healthy Tabbouleh Quinoa Salad

Instead, I follow the idea of cooking quinoa just like pasta, in a pot of water at a rolling boil, checking for doneness and those little quinoa finally emerge and the quinoa is a tender bite. Then, I use a fine mesh strainer to drain. If serving warm, fluff with a fork and cover the pot with a dish towel and top with a lid to absorb some of the excess moisture as it keeps warm. If eating the quinoa at room temperature, spread the quinoa on a plate or a baking sheet to cool and dry so it doesn’t get clumpy and gummy.

Quinoa is often sold pre-washed but if you’re not sure, it’s safest to rinse and drain it in a colander before cooking to remove it’s natural coating as it can taste bitter.

Don’t be alarmed by the amount of dressing called for in this salad. Quinoa is absorbent, and the dressing is where each of the grains gets its flavor.

Lemony Kale Quinoa Salad

This salad dressing calls for two types of acid: fresh squeezed lime juice and champagne vinegar. Using two different acids mellows the other out, avoiding that puckery bite. Feel free to use a similar mellow vinegar such as rice wine or red wine vinegar instead.

Use a neutral oil. Because it’s flavorless, I prefer canola oil in salad like this but feel free to use olive oil if its what you have.

Choose your sweetener. Because it dissolved easily, I use regular old sugar in my dressing but honey works well too. Be sure to taste for sweetness and add more of one or the other as needed.

Healthy Ground Beef And Broccoli Fried Quinoa Recipe

For a balanced flavor flair, I used chili powder to add an earthy note to the dressing. You could also try cumin or allspice if you prefer.

If you’re craving another layer of clean protein to make this an even more robust meal, feel free to add any of the following:

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #eats.

Easy

Nutty Quinoa Salad

Make this healthy quinoa salad for easy meal prepped lunches or as a side dish for dinner. Be sure to buy your avocado and mango a few days before making the salad so they're perfectly ripe.

The quinoa can be cooked and refrigerated up to 3 days before assembling the salad. The dressing can also be made ahead of time.

Best Quinoa Recipes!

We send good emails. Subscribe to and have each post plus exclusive content only for our subscribers delivered straight to your e-mail box.

This recipe is sponsored by Kroger. As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.This Healthy Quinoa Salad is packed with colorful vegetables and tossed in an easy peasy whisk-and-pour Mediterranean dressing. I cannot WAIT for y’all to try this superfood salad!

I’ve been all about light and healthy meals lately, and cannot wait to share my kale quinoa salad with