Favorite Quinoa Salad
This quinoa salad recipe is the best! Everyone loves this healthy quinoa salad made with quinoa, chickpeas, red bell pepper, cucumber, parsley and lemon.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
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 Best Quinoa Salad
Three reasons to love this recipe:
- This quinoa salad recipe is also very easy to toss together, especially if you use leftover quinoa (see recipe note). The recipe uses my preferred quinoa cooking method, which yields fluffy quinoa every time.
- This salad packs great for lunch, picnics, road trips and plane rides.
- Bring this allergy-friendly salad along to your next potluck—it’s vegan/dairy free, gluten free, and nut free, for all to enjoy.
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.
Watch How to Make Quinoa Salad
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.
Craving more fresh and delicious salads? Here are a few more:
- Quinoa Broccoli Slaw
- Sun-Dried Tomato, Quinoa and Spinach Salad
- Mexican(ish) Kale and Quinoa Salad
- Herbed Quinoa and Chickpea Salad
Favorite Quinoa Salad
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.
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed in a fine-mesh colander
- 2 cups water
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- ¾ cup chopped red onion (from 1 small red onion)
- 1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (from 1 large bunch)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa: Combine the rinsed quinoa and the water in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 15 minutes, reducing heat as time goes on to maintain a gentle simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let the quinoa rest for 5 minutes, to give it time to fluff up.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the chickpeas, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and parsley. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic and salt. Whisk until blended, then set aside.
- Once the quinoa is mostly cool, add it to the serving bowl, and drizzle the dressing on top. Toss until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Season with black pepper, to taste, and add an extra pinch of salt if necessary. For best flavor, let the salad rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 4 days. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Notes
Recipe inspired by the outrageous herbaceous chickpea salad in my cookbook (page 71) and my quinoa tabbouli.
*Quinoa note: If you happen to have 3 cups of leftover cooked quinoa, you can use it instead of cooking more.
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).
Nutrition
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.
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!
This recipe is so good and refreshingly healthy. I made this and brought some for my co-worker who was also doing IF and she loved it. Even my kids enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’ve made this several times…and love it! Everyone I’ve shared with love it. I sometimes add a can of summer crisp or other corn for extra texture. A great way to include quinoa in my diet.
Another delicious salad! I had extra quinoa and was looking for a recipe to use it up. This is definitely a winner, perfect for summer. Thank you!
Your quinoa salad is absolutely amazing I have it with avocado and cherry tomatoes and with some protein. It’s my go to salad and it’s gf!
Hi! I made this for a family celebration and it was a hit! I did amp up the veggies and reduce the quinoa amount slightly because after cooking the volume of quinoa was HUGE! The best thing was that the leftovers were fought over, and I seasoned up the extra quinoa with simple garlic and onion powder and S&P and even that was fought over! This is the absolute best quinoa I’ve ever made. Kudos on the cook and rest ratios! I’ve never had quinoa on immediate use that was fully bloomed! It is usually a thing that happens after fridge overnight. Not with this recipe! I will never cook quinoa without using this guidance. And…I’ve already been asked to make the salad again for upcoming get together! Thanks for giving me a great quinoa base and then adding a yummy salad as a key option!
This is an excellent recipie. I’ve made it 3 times now. 2 of those times as written. One time I did not Parsley but I did have cilantro which was excellent also in the recipie.
A new favorite salad in my house! I followed the recipe exactly and it was super! I love feeling full and healthy. When we eat such nutritious food, we don’t crave bad food. Thank you!
I came across this recipe and can say it is absolutely delicious! The lemon dressing is so perfect. 10/10!!
Hi Maria, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to rate and review.
I love chickpea salad and eat it regularly. This is my first time adding quinoa and it is a wonderful modification. I further modified your recipe by adding 1/4 cup of chopped fresh dill and 2 T of Dijon mustard. I highly recommend the additions. I found the salad just a little flat without. But I followed the rest of your recipe to the T and am enjoying it now. Thank you!
Hi Karen, the Dijon and dill sound great! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. I find that once I get the method down, modifications like these are easy and keep recipes fresh.
I make this recipe for something quick and easy and nutritious to feed to my partner and friends. We just love it!