Easy Quinoa Salad
Updated May 20, 2019
This Easy Quinoa Salad is the BEST quinoa salad recipe! It is great for lunch, dinner, or the perfect side dish for potlucks and parties.
Best Quinoa Salad
Are you looking for a simple salad that you will absolutely LOVE? Yes, you can LOVE salad, if you don’t believe me, make this Easy Quinoa Salad. I guarantee you will love it. I make this quinoa salad almost every single week because it is that good and it is easy to throw together, especially if you have leftover quinoa in the fridge. I like to meal prep quinoa every weekend so I can easily toss this quinoa salad together! It is light, refreshing, and full of flavor. Plus, it is allergy-friendly making it a great salad for almost everyone!
Quinoa Salad Recipes
I love quinoa salads, a few of my favorites include:
I could eat a quinoa salad every single day and sometimes I do. Especially, this Easy Quinoa Salad. It is my go to when I am craving good, healthy food. It always hits the spot!
Quinoa Salad Ingredients
I REALLY love this easy quinoa salad because it is made with simple and fresh ingredients…and ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen! YAY! You can whip this salad up at anytime.
So what’s in my favorite quinoa salad?
- quinoa
- spinach
- tomatoes
- cucumber
- avocado
- green onion
The ingredients might seem super basic and that is because they are, but I promise you that’s a GOOD thing. We are bringing basic back! Oh, and there is also a rocking lemon dressing that takes about two seconds to whisk up that makes the salad the best quinoa salad ever. Don’t skip the easy dressing!
How to Cook Quinoa
Don’t be afraid of cooking quinoa, it is super easy to make. I love using quinoa because it is healthy, hearty, and a good source of protein. I like to make the quinoa in advance so the salad is easy to throw together. You can keep cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Here are my tips for cooking perfect quinoa every single time!
- Place the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold water.Rinsing removes quinoa??™s natural coating, called saponin, which can make it taste soapy or bitter. Drain.
- For one cup of quinoa, you need 2 cups of liquid, water or broth. Cooking the quinoa in broth will add more flavor, but water is fine too.
- In a medium saucepan, combine water or broth, the rinsed quinoa, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes, covered. Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Serve!
Healthy Quinoa Salad
This quinoa salad is vegan and gluten-free too! It makes a great healthy lunch, dinner, or side dish to any meal. I love taking this simple quinoa salad to potlucks and parties because everyone loves it and it only takes me minutes to make!
If you want to make the quinoa salad more of a main dish, you can add shredded chicken, chickpeas, or white beans.
This quinoa salad is best the day it is made, but I think the leftovers are good the next day too. The lemon in the dressing will keep the avocado from browning. If you want to meal prep the salad in advance, you can toss everything together except the avocado and the dressing. Add the avocado and dressing when ready to eat and the salad will be super fresh!
Make this quick and easy Quinoa Salad part of your weekly routine. I know it is going to become a staple in your house, just like it is in ours. And I made a video to show you how easy it is!
How to Make Quinoa Salad
Easy Quinoa Salad
Equipment
- Salad Bowl (I use this Williams Sonoma bowl for large salads and entertaining)
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 large lemon
- 1 tablespoon golden balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup or honey
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
For the Salad:
- 2 cups cold cooked quinoa
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves chopped
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1 large avocado pitted, peeled, and chopped
- 2 green onions sliced
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- First, make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, maple syrup or honey, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, and green onions.
- Drizzle salad with dressing and gently stir until salad is coated with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Great refreshing side salad. Serve with grilled tuna steaks. A light meal on a hot day.
So good. We have a ton of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes in our garden, so I’ve been looking for ways to use them up. I didn’t have green onions, but the salad still tasted amazing. Thank you!
This is a great recipe! The dressing is nice and light; it is not overpowering. The quinoa, dressing, and all of the fresh veggies are amazing together. I add chicken for protein!
This is fabulous! I’m not the biggest fan of quinoa, but I’m trying to eat more of it. The ingredients in this salad compliment each other so well. I wanted to eat 4 servings of it. Thank you for this recipe!
Also – I cooked my quinoa in the instant pot with chicken broth.
another piece of arsenal to add to my bulking meal plan
This salad is absolutely delicious and beautiful! The dressing could not be easier. I cooked the quinoa in salted water rather than putting salt in the dressing. In my opinion, it flavored the quinoa so much more evenly.
Delicious. The dressing is wonderful. I hate when people do this, but I had no lemons. I made it with lime. Yum.
Lime would be good too!
hey! loved this recipe.
what i don’t understand is the nutritional part… a serving is 6g? are there 226 kcal in every 6g?
This was a really good “emergency” dinner. The dressing was so balanced and flavorful, and the hint of fresh garlic was a nice touch. I used honey and substituted with sherry vinegar. It was easy to make with ingredients I already had at home. I omitted the tomatoes and green onions, but it was still amazing.
I tried the recipe but when I log in the ingredients on my personal calorie app it comes out very different with the number of calories mostly due the the 1/4 cup of olive oil for the dressing. Did I do something wrong? I would love to hear back. Thank you
It’s really good. I added green mango and cilantro. I am gonna make this often.
How long will this last in the fridge without the dressing & avocado? I thought this would be great to take for lunch at work.
2-3 days. You can always make the salad and add the avocado every day and it will last a little longer.
If you’re planning to meal prep this salad, is it better to add the dressing when you’re ready to eat or is the dressing even better once its absorbed into the quinoa and veggies? Wondering if it gets too soggy.
Thanks!
I would use half of the dressing and then add the rest before serving to freshen it up.
Wow, this quinoa recipe looks super yummy! I’m a quinoa fan, iIt’s so versatile, you can pair it with just about anything. Love the creativity you’ve shown in this recipe. I’ll give it a try. Keep the awesome recipes coming! Cheers!
Great. My 3 and 5 yo loved it!
just wanted to say your recipes look and sound amazing, but your website is soooooooo filled with ads it’s just wonky, frustrating, everything is jumping all over it’s just too frustrating watch. I know you put ads on for revenue. But so many on one page just ruins the experience.
Quick and easy. No weird ingredients. I usually add a cup of chick peas for protein, and then whatever other veggie I might have around. Today I threw in some artichokes and sliced up grilled chicken. This will last long enough for a few lunches in the fridge
I love adding chickpeas too!
Tried this for lunch today!! It was super yummy topped with a bit of feta cheese!! thanks for the hint to wash the Quinoa!!! Will absolutely be making again!
Such a great lunch!
Does 1 cup of dry quinoa yield 2 cups cooked? Haven’t made this yet – or any other quinoa recipe – but I’m game to try.
Hi, Linda…I use 2 cups quinoa cooked in a rice cooker (2 cups quinoa/4 cups water). I usually do a recipe and a half (3 cups of grain), and I end up having a little bit left after that. I eat it by itself, or mixed into another salad later. So, if you have a little extra, it is okay!
Yummy! Very good with or without the avacado, if you don’t have any. Use fresh lemons, not bottled, it’s so much better! I love making this when I have fresh cherry tomato from the garden. And it doesn’t hurt to grow some Lemon Cucumber and toss some of those in during the summer months, as well 🙂 Freshness is key for this salad. Thanks for sharing!