Greek Quinoa Salad
Published on June 23, 2021
Quick Summary
Greek Quinoa Salad- quinoa salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, red onion, and a simple Greek vinaigrette. This flavorful salad is a great side dish or delicious lunch!
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Pin ItI am always looking for ways to mix up my salad routine and this Greek Quinoa Salad is a GOOD one. It has all of the same flavors as a traditional Greek Salad, but the quinoa makes it super hearty. It is great served along side our Greek Chicken Kabobs, Greek Turkey Meatballs, grilled vegetables, chicken, steak, or fish. Don’t forget the pita bread, hummus, and tzatziki sauce for a full Greek spread!
The flavors are so good and so fresh! Along with the quinoa, you will find cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, red onion, and a zippy lemon Greek vinaigrette.
How to Make Greek Quinoa Salad
This salad is easy to make! YAY!
- First, cook the quinoa. Using a strainer, rinse the 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 quinoa cool to room temperature.
- Next, make the dressing! Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, honey, garlic, mustard, and oregano in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until mixed well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Assemble the salad! Combine the quinoa, tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, red onion, and feta cheese. Drizzle the salad with dressing and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy!
During the summer months, we eat this salad for dinner all of the time. I am always trying to use up our garden tomatoes and cucumbers and this salad is perfect for when your garden is overflowing. I usually make a watermelon salad to go with, the perfect summer meal, if you ask me!
If you are looking for a simple salad to make for your summer cookout, give this Greek Quinoa Salad a try. I am sure you will be making it all summer long after you make it once. It’s a winner!
And if you are looking for more salad recipes, find all of my favorites HERE!
More Greek Inspired Recipes
- Greek Turkey Meatballs
- Greek Chicken Kabobs
- Greek Grilled Vegetable Bowls
- Chopped Greek Salad
- Greek Chicken Bowls
- Greek Tortellini Salad
- Creamy Greek Pasta Salad
Greek Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup quinoa
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 English cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Using a strainer, rinse the 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 quinoa cool to room temperature.
- To make the dressing, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, honey, garlic, mustard, and oregano in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, red onion, and feta cheese. Drizzle the salad with dressing and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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A scrumptious salad! marvelously summery and so healthy.
Cheers,
Rosa
The authentic Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce anyway!! So your ingredients combined with quinoa are perfect!
That right there is perhaps what I consider the perfect meal and what I could eat for every meal!
I love those big, bold Greek flavors!
I bet this is such a refreshing salad for the summer! 😀 Have a great long weekend! Yay!
Ok, this is definitely going on the list to make this weekend! YUM! 🙂
Love this! Been loving quinoa lately!
This looks so tasty!!
Do you have a specific brand on quinoa you like best? I have read that some brands tend to be bitter. I would love to make this salad, but want to avoid bitter quinoa. Thanks so much!
I am not sure on the exact brand because I buy it from the bulk bins at Whole Foods or Sunflower Market. Sorry!
This looks like a great refreshing salad!
I’ve been looking for a new way to eat/use quinoa. Thanks for the great recipe. I think I’ll try it out this weekend! Hope y’all have a great time with your family.
What a great salad! I love greek food and this is a wonderful way to incorporate greek flavors with quinoa!! I love it!
I bought quinoa a few weeks ago since I’ve never made it before, but it’s just been staring at me from the pantry b/c I couldn’t decide what to do with it… I think I just found the recipe I would like to try first 😉 This looks DELICIOUS, girl!
Easy and healthy. Love it. I did a Mexican Quinoa Salad a couple months back- we loved that too!
Love these flavors Maria! Perfect for this weekend! Have so much fun with your sweet family!
Loving up your quinoa salad today 🙂
A classic recipe with the healthy twist of quinoa. Love it! Greek salads are so refreshing!
For a lower cal – no oil version mix the veggies and cheese together and let stand on counter for about an hour. You will be surprised at how much liquid (natural dressing) will be created. Taste and then add pepper and maybe a splash of vinegar to taste. Then mix in your quinoa.
I feel very proud each time I see quinoa in a recipe, do you know it’s form Peru? It’s great to know that the entire world is enjoyed this healthy product.
Greek salad is one of my faves! Love the extra protein bump quinoa gives this! Mmm…
Love quinoa and greek salad..this is a perfect combination!
How perfect! Love quinoa and this is perfect for a BBQ!
What a bright, healthy beautiful salad! I will keep this tucked away!
Sounds like your weekend will be filled with great food and company. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Love this, Maria. I have been nearly living on quinoa lately and this is right up my alley!
Looks delicious! And thanks for the link love!
I LOVE Greek salad and quinoa. Yumm and healthy! Have a great weekend!
I seriously need to try quinoa – this looks great! Happy holiday weekend 🙂
This is right up my alley and would be delish paired with grilled deliciousness! Happy Memorial Day, Maria!
Just became a quinoa convert!
So light, fresh and delicious – this is just perfect! Have a great weekend.
Mmmmmm, I love quinoa!! Wonderful recipe Maria! I see your going to the conference, so am I! I would love to meet up 🙂
I love all the ingredients you put together in your salad! A nice side dish to all the heavy things that are set out during barbecues.
Love that this is simply and mayo free! 🙂
looks great! Have a great weekend!
I love Greek Salad, so this is just up my alley. Happy Memorial Day!
you had me at quinoa. love the simplicity of this. it’s the kind of think i’d make all throughout the week! thanks for the inpsiration.
for some time, Quinoa has become a fridge staple. so versitile and pairs with so much. I love your take on this Greek Salad!
@ Rebecca~ I’ve heard that the bitterness from quinoa is merely from not rinsing it well. I haven’t tried different varieties, just basic quinoa from the bulk section at the Food Coop.
This salad, as well all the rest listed below the recipe sounds delicious !!!
Love your blog:) Nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award:)
It looks delicious, Maria. Perfect for Memorial Day…or any other day, for that mater. 🙂
that’s a clever idea!
Sounds delicious! My husband loves Greek Salad! I bet it would also be good (but not as healthy) with couscous or orzo instead of quinoa.
I love these flavors when paired when pasta so I know I’d adore them with quinoa as well! What a great dish to kick off the bbq season!
I made this for our family BBQ and it was delicious. I used a lemon infused olive oil and it gave it a little bit of extra flavor.
this was absolutely delicious! husband and three boys ate it all! love quinoa and it was perfect inside homemade gyros. thank you!
OH YUM!!!!!!! Pinning this one for sure!
Great picnic salad! So light and fresh!
Sounding so delicious yet so simply to make.
This is my favorite quinoa recipe so far! Thank you and I love your blog.
This was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
This was excellent!! Thank you for sharing!
This is my first experience with quinoa (in Texas, quinoa isn’t one of the more popular grains) but am I ever glad I gave this a try. It’s absolutely out of this world! Thanks for the recipe and nudging me out of my comfort zone.
This was excellent! I substituted farro for the quinoa because I prefer its texture. I also added minced garlic and a little lemon juice to the dressing. I served it with a grilled leg of lamb that my husband cooked on the rotisserie. Everything was wonderful!
I’m heading to an end-of-the season middle school soccer party today and promised to bring something healthy, fresh, and delicious. I think this will be the recipe I make. Can’t wait to share it with all the other Soccer Moms!
I made this for my lunches this week and it is SO good! This was my first time cooking quinoa and I am very pleased with the results 🙂 This is definitely going to be a keeper, thanks for sharing the recipe with us!
You are very welcome!
YUM! I just made this for the 2nd time in a week. I make mine vegan, with tofu “feta.” So tasty!!
I love the idea of using tofu! Glad you liked the salad!
I can hardly wait to make this! This is just the kind of thing I like to eat:-)
This salad is very good,and traveled well for a pot luck we went to last night. It was eaten up before we left the party early so that is also an endorsement. The only change I made was to turn the heat OFF and cover after the 5 minute rolling boil.This is an energy saving tip I got off the bag of organic quinoa, and I have followed that tip a number of times with quinoa so I know it works. thanks for the recipe!
I just made this again, for the second time since I ‘discovered’ this recipe on September 2nd. I LOVE this so much!
First time I made it, I did as instructed in the directions but the second time around (today), I boiled the quinoa for 5 minutes than took it off the heat source and covered it for 15 minutes. After taking the cover off after the 15 minutes were up, I just let the quinoa breath; I left it alone. When the 5 minutes of breathing time was up, then I put it in the big bowl with everything else.
Just wanted to let you know that I have tried many of your recipes, and they’ve all been wonderful! Thanks for sharing your recipes and ideas!!
I made this tonight but I switched it up a little. I used green onion I stead of red, black olives instead of kalamata, and balsamic vinegar instead. It was awesome all the same! I liked it with more olives and feta. This would be good with red or yellow bell peppers too!
I made this to take to work for lunch. It was SO good – thanks for sharing! I’ll definitely be making this again.
I’ve used this recipe many times and have had many compliments coming my way. Only thing I add regularly is fresh mint, chopped. Also have added chopped bell peppers, particularly the multi colored baby ones. Plus chopped zucchini. garlic goes ell with this sale. Great recipe, many thanks.
The salad sounds/looks great but can I combine all ingredients ahead of time and refrigerate it?
Do you have any nutritional value for your recipes?
No, sorry!
This is my new go to quinoa recipe! Have been making every Sunday night to have around for the week and my husband and I love it. Thank you!
Thank you for this amazing recipe!! I make it all the time 🙂
Just made this. Got hungry waiting for the quinoa to cool and had to chop up a bowl of veggies for myself. This is delicious even in january with grape tomatoes and seedless cucumber from the grocery.
Thanks for this recipe! I have printed a copy and plan to make this week. I’m looking forward to it!
This is a great salad! Healthy & east to make; I make it Sunday night and it stays good all week . Healthy dinner ready to go.
Do I have to refrigerate this before serving?
I just have a quick question — the 1 cup of quinoa is before cooking — correct? Usually when I make a quinoa recipe I use the cooked amount, not the raw amount, so I just want to make sure.
I love this salad. It’s easy to make and delicious.
I made this for a BBQ last week and the bowl was empty in minutes even though I doubled up on everything. All the women wanted the recipe as well! I now make it as a side dish once a week for dinner. It’s absolutely delicious!
I made this today for a football party. It was so yummy I had some for breakfast
I made it and shared with friends. We all love it so so much. Will be making it lots. Great pot luck number.
My favorite summer salad! I cut my veggies smaller based on preference, but that’s the only change, yum!
This is the most amazing salad! I would literally eat the whole bowl! Thanks for sharing!
This is one tasty salad! Made it for friends They loved it. Also very easy, quick, and healthy.
Glad you liked the salad!
Made this for a family party a while ago and recently for a family reunion, my grandma requested I make this. Super delicious, easy to make, and healthy! Love it!
Can you make this ahead of time?
I love this salad!
Can you tell me what the serving size is?
We love this recipes!
My family loves this! Great alternative to pasta salads for a change.
What is the fiber content per serving?
Made this a couple of times now. Have added some “Greek” chicken. Delicious! We love this. So easy too!
This looks so good! Is there anyway y’all could give us the breakdown of the calories, fat,sodium and possibly diabetic exchanges? I understand if it’s not possible but I love your recipes and my husband was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and it’s so hard to find healthy whole food recipes with the nutritional info online. And lord knows we can’t afford a personal chef or nutritionist, lol. Anyway, that you for the awesome recipes over the years and keep up the good work!
I just made this (although without the onion because they make me sick) and it is simple, healthy, and very good. Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious! I like to add a handful of chopped Italian parsley. For the dressing, I use only 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and add a teaspoon lemon juice, and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.
I’ve made this for a couple BBQ’s. People love it and it’s healthy. I added sweet peppers and green onion since I didn’t have red.
Your method re adding the salad dressing is confusing. In step 2 you say pour salad dressing over the quinoa and combine. In step 3, after “assembling “ the other ingredients, you say to drizzle dressing over the salad. If we poured the dressing into the quinoa in step 2 there’s no dressing left to drizzle. I certainly will make this salad, but will not pour all the dressing onto the quinoa but save some for drizzling, or better yet make extra dressing so that whoever wants extra dressing can pour or drizzle their own to taste.
Sorry for the mix up! I fixed the recipe to be more clear:)
Just made this for our dinner this evening, left out the kalamata olives because one kid does not like them, added chopped fresh flat leaf parsley and fresh mint and some pomegranate as well…soooo good!! Thank you for the simple, tasty recipe! Easy to adapt to our own tastes.
Loved the old recipe, is it located anywhere? It is my family’s favorite for years now. 🙂
Nutritious, delicious and versatile recipe. I added spinach and the second time I made it I used up another dressing that I had on hand. You can add garbanzos, or cannellini, or whatever leftover vegetables you need to finish up
Where did the old recipe go? I thought I had it saved on my phone, but can’t find it. The one we liked didn’t have the honey or the Dijon mustard in it. I’m sure this one is good, too, but we’ll wing it and try to make it the old way.
my kids are majorly missing the old recipe! Vikki, do you remember it? we don’t like the new one. 🙁 thank you in advance!
This salad was SO good. I doubled the wine vinegar and the lemon juice because I wanted those flavors to be a bit more pronounced. I will be making this on a regular basis.
Have made this dish half a dozen times now and it is the best! I make it on a Sunday and it makes me lunches for the rest of the week. I double the quinoa, add a little red pepper flake, and toss in some peppercini. It’s super flexible so sometimes I’ll add marinated artichoke hearts, extra peppers, just whatever I have on hand. Thanks for this great recipe!
This is a fantastic recipe! I make it multiple times in the summer; great for gluten free guests. I add a touch more honey, vinegar and mustard to the dressing to taste. Give it a try!!
I love anything Greek or Mediterranean. I used fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from my garden and picked up garlic from the farmers market . Oh how I love the flavors of summer fresh veggies. The vinaigrette dressing was delicious! I simply served it along side with chicken sausage on the grill. Thank you for this recipe I’ll be making it again soon… Possibly tomorrow!
I am thrilled you loved it so much.
I’ve prepared this twice and it’s been a hit both times. My favorite quinoa salad!
I am so glad you love it.
Easy, HEALTHY, and delicious! Thank youa
Glad you loved it!
LOVE this recipe!! It’s easy to make and it really is delicious. I have made this a few times, thank you for sharing this yummy recipe!
What a delight! Refreshing, filling and delicious. All the best flavors!
Love the dressing. I was surprised to see no parsley in the recipe.
This is so delicious I had to leave a review for others who may be wondering if they should try it. Go for it!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I am so glad you loved it.
I make this salad EVERY Sunday afternoon and bring it to lunch everyday with assorted proteins! I often double it and bring a big container for my co workers. We all love it and I think it is better on Friday than Monday! I have shared it with dozens of friends!! It is delicious and I have never been disappointed in any of your recipes! Thanks for a great one!!
I am so glad you love it. What a great tradition!
Love this salad but it is WAY too much olive oil. I use less than a 1/4 cup
I am long overdue to leave a review on this quinoa salad. Been making it for the last few years, and is absolutely amazing, a party of flavor for your taste buds. My entire family loves it, including my young children. Any company that we’ve had over rave about it. It’s easy to make slight adjustments if you don’t have certain ingredients on hand. We love eating plain or over a bed of salad greens. I usually add a little chicken bouillon when I’m cooking the quinoa for extra flavor. I have yet to find a pre-made store-bought quinoa salad that can match this recipe. As long as the produce is fresh, it lasts several days in the refrigerator. In fact, it usually tastes better the next day because of all the seasons marinating together. I also use my rice cooker as a cheat to cook the quinoa quickly.
I am so glad you love this recipe.
Absolutely love this recipe!
Thanks!
I don’t like quinoa, but this salad changed my whole perspective. It is a staple now in my diet!!!
I am so glad you tried and liked it!