Black Quinoa Salad with Mango, Avocado, & Tomatoes
Updated March 26, 2019
Last week I made a Black Quinoa Salad with Mango, Avocado, and Tomatoes. Josh absolutely loved the salad. He can’t stop talking about it. He has been bugging me for a week to post the recipe. He said everyone needs this recipe! So hopefully you will enjoy this salad as much as he did:) This healthy salad is easy to make and is great as a main dish or side dish.
If you haven’t tried quinoa, what are you waiting for? Quinoa is actually a seed that is high in protein and gluten free. It has a slightly nutty flavor and a nice crunchy texture. We used black quinoa for this salad, but any quinoa will do if you can’t find the black variety. (We found black quiona at Whole Foods).
I added all of my favorite flavors to this salad: mango, avocado, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro.
I whisked together a simple dressing of fresh lime juice, olive oil, and a hint of cumin and combined everything in a large bowl.
I love the contrast of colors in this salad. The mango, avocado, and tomatoes really “pop” against the black quinoa. You can serve this salad at room temperature or chilled. We had some salad leftover and enjoyed it the next day and it held up nicely.
If you are looking for a new salad to try, make this Black Quinoa Salad with Mango, Avocado, and Tomatoes. I love making it for parties because it is vegetarian, gluten free, and vegan. Everyone can enjoy this tasty salad!
Black Quinoa Salad with Mango, Avocado, & Tomatoes
Ingredients
Instructions
- First, using a strainer, rinse the black quinoa under cold water. Add quinoa, water, and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Let cool quinoa cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mango, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and avocados. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, and cumin. Pour the dressing over the quinoa salad and gently stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Have you tried this recipe?
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If you like this Black Quinoa Salad with Mango, Avocado, & Tomatoes, you might also like:
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad from Eat, Live, Run
Quinoa Salad with Blueberries, Strawberries, and Watermelon from Gluten-Free Goddess
Chicken and Avocado Quinoa Summer Salad from Picky Palate
so funny, my husband goes gaga for black quinoa too! what is it about husbands and black quinoa? hmm.. looks yum!!
Summer on a Plate!
Mmm I love how light and summery quinoa is!
Mangoes always seem to be hard and green in our grocery store, but I’ll maybe I’ll have to try to coax a few ripe ones into my cart 🙂
This looks so fresh and delicious! I bet the sweet chunks of mango are so delicious!
I’ve been looking for a simple recipe using quinoa! I’ve never attempted it, but will give this recipe a shot. Love the sweet and savory idea.
Now THAT is one beautiful salad! I will definitely be making this (not sure I’ll be sharing though). 🙂
Colorful, flavorful, and full of fantastic textures… love it!
I can’t wait to make this today! So bright and colorful!
This looks gorgeous. Quinoa is one of my favorite things to eat.
This was awesome – made it for lunch today. Very easy and tasty!
AWESOME recipe!!!! LOVED IT! I didn’t have black quinoa on hand so used the light colored and it still looked and tasted amazing! Will definitely make this again!
This looks so good!
My Mama lives with me now.
I wish she liked quinoa, because I love it.
Maybe with this recipe, I can bring her around.
I love the colors too! I have some quinoa in my pantry that’s been waiting for me to try it out. All right, you’ve convinced me. 🙂
I am glad you are convinced:) Let me know what you think!
Oh yes! This looks wonderful. Dishes with contrasting flavors really appeal to me, and I’ve noticed that my kids are great eaters bcause they are exposed to a wide variety of food. Adding quinoa to my shopping list!
We love this salad! Enjoy!
I have made this twice and its always so delicious and worth the time it takes! Thank you!
You are welcome! glad you like the recipe!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. The combination sounds awesome! I love all of the components in the recipe and feel inspired to make this.
Have a good Sunday evening & a great week ahead.
Oh Wow! My husband and I are trying to eat less meat. I knew that I could count on you for a recipe that never fails… Cookies, biscuits, anything goes! And this one is no exception! I had all the ingredients just asking to be used for this! And oh WOW! Like eat this with a fork right out of the serving bowl! It is THAT good! I hope he gets home soon… There may not be much left! Thanks again!
I just made this salad for lunch this afternoon and everyone loved it – it’s very fresh and perfect on a warm spring day. Thanks!
Wonderful recipe! I adore mango, avocado, & cilantro with lime (Cuban food is my all-time favorite cuisine). I was looking for something healthy to whip up for my husband and I, and also wanted to make something with quinoa (have never cooked with it before). Came across this page and was instantly inspired–only change I made was to add some peeled, chopped cucumber for extra crispness, and I used a blend of red, white and black quinoa because it is all I could find–amazing flavor and texture! Thank you so much! Definitely making this often! I will also be posting my results and full meal on my food blog at coastiecook.tumblr.com with a link to your recipe–kudos!! 🙂
Made this last night with quinoa black bean burgers. Delicious! But next time, I’ll make sure that the avocado and mango are not too ripe. It ended up pretty mushy – although the flavors are great!
I can’t wait to try this salad as I love the ingrediants.
Made this recipe today (while enduring much opposition from my 3 youngish children) and after all my hard, well-intentioned, and opposed work, was disappointed with the results (as was my husband.) We’re used to more of a vinegrette type dressing so this was a little limey for us. Having said that, it still remains a beautiful salad with a great deal of potential. I’m going to try the dressing from the listed website in hopes of making the rest of the salad more appealing to the family. While I’m doing that perhaps you might like to try one of my husband’s favorite salads known as Cowboy Caviar:
1 avocado (recipe calls for 2 but I’m usually too rushed and it turns out just fine)
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
2/3 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
2/3 cup chopped green onion (optional)
1 – 15 oz can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 – 15 oz can shoes peg corn, drained
Dressing:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
Throw the first 6 ingredients (avocado through corn) into a bowl. Next, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Pour over the bowl o’ veggies, stir to combine and you’ve got our favorite salad! Hope you like it as much as we do!
This salad would work well for a make ahead recipe as it keeps nicely in the refridgerator for a few days without the avocados going brown.
Only 3rd time I had quinoa. This was easy and delicious. Liked it so much I shared w 2 friends within 30 minutes of finishing dinner.
Made this for a few friends for lunch yesterday. Fabulous! Worst part is cutting up the mango but well worth it.
Glad you enjoyed the quinoa salad!
This looks phenomenal! I can’t wait to try.
I’ve made this several times now for gatherings and it is always a hit! It’s perfect for a party with lots of toddlers and several friends have asked me for the recipe because they wanted to make it for a party. Thanks!!
Love all the colors! Tried this today and added diced chicken. I’d have to do different dressing next time. Healthy and delicious!
This looked great, but the dressing – just straight lime juice with one 1 Tbs oil – is too strong! I even added 2 Tbs water and some sugar, but still found it too acidic and tart.
Excellent! Made this salad and it was a major hit at my dinner party. I had some leftovers which tasted good, but the fresh is the best! Thanks Maria and Josh for sharing the recipe!
I don’t normally comment on blogs. But this salad is outstanding and urge everyone to try. The flavors of creamy avocado, sweetness of the mango, acidity of the tomatoes and the earthiness of the cilantro herb makes a perfectly balanced refreshing side. All family members deemed it a winner. I did add one fresh large minced garlic clove to the vinaigrette with extra Tbsp of evoo. The health benefits of quinoa is a plus.
Thank you for sharing.
Love the salad! I just made it for a summer party and couldn’t quit eating it. So refreshing. I love the touch of cumin.
My sister and I are doing a recipe challenge of sorts, and last week picked quinoa as our main ingredient. Your dish sounded delicious, so I ended up making it (though with a few variations I have to admit) for my boyfriend and me last weekend. He had never had quinoa before, and was a bit timid about it at first. After a few bites he piled a mound of it on his plate, and even brought a big container of it to lunch with him at work the next day. I forced it on his roommates as well, and it was a hit with them too (they had never had quinoa either). Needless to say I will be making this one again; thank you for sharing!
Just made this. Didn’t have the main grain on hand, so used millet. Also added shrimp. Simple and tasty!
LOVED it. Super easy and was so fresh and filling.
Grrr wasted an avocado and a mango because I didnt choose well on ripeness. Fortunately I bought several!! Loving this healthy option. Serving it with cedar plank salmon!
Made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I halved it and didn’t have scallions so i used yellow onion-about 1/2 the quantity. My husband who hates quinoa said, “I guess I’m a convert.”. Served it with tandoori chicken and it was the perfect complement. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. Can’t wait to make it again!
Just made it really a good summer time salad I plan on having it this evening with salmon it’ll be a big surprise for my wife who loves healthy food – Thanks!
I’ve made this several times and it’s always one of my go-to salads when the weather starts turning warmer. The one thing I don’t see is how many servings 1 recipe makes? Looked all over for it. Have 12 people coming over tomorrow and I’m thinking I need to make more than one recipe, but not sure I need as much as a double recipe.