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!
Loved it! The only thing I changed was the lemon juice I didn’t have lemons so I substitute limes (plenty of them ) and added little sugar to tone down the tanginess. It turned out so tasty. Thank you
Great to hear, Tammie! I appreciate your review.
Love this site and really enjoyed the quinoa salad! I want to like quinoa because of it’s nutritional qualities and this recipe really did the trick! I’m also so happy with your cooking method for quinoa!!! SO much better than the now “old fashioned” way! Light and fluffy and perfect. Thank you for that!
You’re welcome, Julie! I appreciate your review.
Super good, thanks so much for sharing. I’m needing to lose weight so I omitted the EVOO and it was still delish!
I didn’t have chickpeas but this was delicious on a hot summer day!
Hello, I made this last night!! How fabulous! Love it so much and I’m sharing the recipe with my vegetarian daughter who loves to chop!! I didn’t have parsley so added some basil and coriander and also some finely chopped celery for extra crunch! Going to be eating this all summer long. Thank you.
Great to hear, Rhonda! I appreciate your review.
About to make for the third time! Recipe is perfect as written and stays fresh in the fridge as leftovers for several days. Love all your recipes!!
Thank you, Nicola! I’m delighted you enjoy it.
My go-to when I don’t know what to have for lunch, or even dinner! Really refreshing and delicious, love this recipe!
That’s great to hear, Cass! Thank you for your review.
I agree with Kate. This recipe is excellent as written and can be taken further to your liking. After tasting, I added sliced kalamata olives and about a tablespoon of the brine from the jar, plus about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest. These additions really brought it to life! Don’t skip the chickpeas. I wouldn’t have thought of adding them, and they add great substance! Great recipe! Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoy it and have adapted it to fit your tastes. I appreciate your review, Alayne!
This salad is absolutely delicious and so flavorful! Hands down my new favorite! Thank you Cookie and Kate!
You’re welcome, Michou! I appreciate you sharing how much you enjoyed it.
My wife and I love this salad and my Nutritionist approves also we changed it up a bit the Garbanzo beans do not agree with me at all can’t even eat hummas so I changed to the same amount of Jicama it gives the same amount of crunch and we also like Balsamic Vinegar instead of the Redwine Vinegar the salad turns out wonderful.
I was looking for a low carb meal replacement when I stumbled upon this recipe. Taste amazing. My daughter loves it as well.
I don’t normally have any issues with cooking quinoa but I tried this method to see how it worked. Ironically it turned out mushy (and it was a double recipe :(). It takes more attention. Normally I just can let it pretty much sit and cook for 15 mins with no fuss. This method I had to keep monitoring it and I wasn’t sure how long to keep cooking until all the water was gone, without burning it on the bottom. I ended up stirring it probably more than I should have looking to see if the water was all gone at the bottom, which may have caused the mushiness. I am not going to take off any points for that, as it was likely my error. Just seems more complicated than it needs to be. I’ll stick with the 1 to11/4 cup water to 1 cup quinoa ratio bring to a boil and then let it cook on low for 15 min. That turned out perfect for me. The rest of the recipe is wonderful. The taste is great. I will make again. Perfect for summer party.
Hi, I’m sorry to hear that. Were you using a large enough pot? It sounds like you had the heat to high as once it comes to a boil, you turn down and simmer low.
Coming back to this recipe and yes, it is delicious and perfectly balanced. I have customized it here and there but it is perfect made just as written. Feeling a little lazy this afternoon so considering using a bottled dressing in place of the dressing Ingredients… wish me luck
Absolutely loved it! Made it as described.
This recipe is just what I’m looking for but could I switch out the parsley for fresh basil. I have a ton of basil growing in my garden.
Thanks for your advice.
Louise
You’re welcome, Louise!
Awesome recipe! It made more than I expected but I ate it in less than 2 days by myself. What a great thing to have ready to go in the fridge for a snack! Just added some vegan feta. Thanks for the great recipes!
You’re welcome, Andy! I appreciate your review.
We have over 100 degree weather where I live right now. Just made this salad to take to work for my lunches this week. It’s so yummy! Perfect. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Greta! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
This was my first time making quinoa and used your recipe for that as well. The recipe was a hit!! Everyone asked to take home leftovers, glad I doubled the recipe. Will definitely have over a bed of spinach for lunch tomorrow! TYSM
Hooray! I love to hear that, Dee.
Hey! I’ve made this 3 times already and it’s definitely my new go-to! Does it make a difference if you cook with quinoa in water vs vegetable broth?
This salad exceeded my expectations! Light (but filling), fresh and delicious. I added some extra veggies like carrots and broccoli, and also added red kidney beans for more protein. Will definitely make again. Thank you :)
Hooray! I’m excited you loved it, Charlotte. Thank you for taking the time to review!
I just made this tonight to go with some fish and this salad needs some help…… the combination of quinoa and veggies is great but the dressing is so blah… boring. It could Really use a pick me up.
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, DeeDee. I appreciate your review and feedback.
I made it but I added a tsp of honey and substituted 1/4 of water for coconut milk. My kids loved it!
I’ve made this salad over and over. The best one I have. Thank you!
I’m glad you love it, Diane! Thank you for taking the time to review.
My one and a half year old grandson gobbled it down and the rest of us followed suit. It’s simply delicious. Easy to make can be changed around and the flavour perfect. It’s a firm fav in my house.
Love to hear that, Anita! Thank you for your review.
Can you add canned chicken to it ?
Sure, but I’m a vegetarian so I prefer this as is.
Oops I didn’t rinse it. This recipe is the bomb.com. I added feta. Super duper! Thank you.
Is there a substitute to red wine vinegar? Can I use regular vinegar or pomegranate molasses, as it’s used in Mediterranean cooking?
Hi, you can use white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar would be a good alternative.
Delicious! Only made a few changes based on our preferences and what I had on hand. Used cilantro instead of parsley and used a mix of lemon and lime juice because I needed to use them up. Would have added jalapeños but didn’t have any so added cayenne for some heat. Thank you!
This is delicious! Added jalapeños and used cilantro instead of parsley. A keeper!
Just wondering if I can switch the quinoa with farro?
Hi, I prefer this recipe as written. But, you could try it! Let me know what you think.
This is my go to salad when I need to take something to a potluck. I’ve started doubling the recipe because people often ask if they can take some home. My only addition, to what you include in this recipe, is feta cheese. I add about 1/3 cup of the feta. I buy from a local goat farm and it just compliments an already great recipe.
Can this recipe be frozen?
I wouldn’t recommend it as the vegetables won’t hold up well.
I just made this so I could have it for a meal the rest of the week and it is so good! I added carrots to mine but I am sure you can add anything according to your preferences and it will be yummy! Thanks for the recipe, I will be checking out more of your recipes soon!
Great to hear, Emily! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Hello,
We made this and it’s quite delicious. We should have made 1x. Also a deep saucepan is not as good as a wide one for the Quinoa. Mine was less fluffy. Adding Feta cheese next. It was fun to prepare.
Love the basics of this recipe! We skinned/peeled the chickpeas first and used freshly chopped spinach – since we don’t like parsley. We ended up adding a little bit of soy sauce to get that extra salt in and have a little more flavor kick. Next time we’ll also try toasting the quinoa first and cooking it in vegetable broth instead of water. All in all though this recipe will be added to our go to meal list, thank you!
I am so obsessed with this salad, it has become me and my family’s favorite. I always crave this. I added a little more lemon then written, as well as tomatoes instead of bell pepper which is absolutely amazing.
I made this today to take it to a potluck luncheon tomorrow. Just ate a small bowl and it was delicious.
Thanks!
Linda M
Sooke BC
You’re welcome, Linda! Thank you for your review.
Anyone figured out calories per serving or total calories?
Hi Bob! The nutrition information is below the notes section of the recipe.
This quinoa salad is amazing as-is. I’ve been making a very similar gluten-free tabbouleh using quinoa instead of couscous, and it is nice to have another quinoa salad option. I do to cook my quinoa using veggie broth for a little added flavor, and I like to sprinkle chia seeds on top for their extra fiber. One delicious variation I sometimes make is to add a little hummus to the dressing. Another is to create a green salad from this by adding a serving of the quinoa salad on top of a big bed of mixed baby lettuce, with the lettuce first tossed with an extra squeeze of lemon, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. It still has all the flavor of the quinoa salad. When I make it this way, I like to add a handful of mixed olives on top. Especially nice on a hot summer day. There are so many different spins you can take with this recipe, but I love it as-is too.
Just made this salad and love it! I added a little more vinegar and substituted half cilantro for half the parsley. It’s excellent! Thank you for the great recipe, Kate!
You’re welcome, Aly! Thank you for your review.
Best salad!! Made it Christmas Day and it was a huge hit!! I did swapped the chickpeas for corn.
Highly recommend
I love making this salad. I’ve made it 10+ times already. Sometimes I add some Moroccan spices as I’m living in Morocco right now. Thanks for the recipes!
Great to hear, Stephanie! Thank you for your review.
My new “go to” salad for lunches!! This is such a flavourful, tasty and satisfying salad. I’ve made this twice in two weeks and see it on the menu for the foreseeable future! The only changes was that I added fresh Basil as I had no parsley and added feta cheese. Thank you again, Kate!
You’re welcome, Kath!
I just made this, I didn’t have chickpeas on hand so it turned out more like a garlicky tabouleh, a tasty one tho :) I added tomatoes to add some volume and make up for the chickpeas, and, don’t tell, about 1/2 teaspoon of habanero hot sauce.
I found it a little too garlicky myself, but I am pregnant and everything tastes weird rn, my man loved it
That’s great to hear, Mireille!
This recipe is excellent! It’s easy to prepare and is delicious. My family ate it up so fast that I had’t a moment to take a picture of the salad!
I love love love love this recipe. I’ve shared it with 5 other friends. This was such a lovely salad to make and eat!
This sounds amazing! I am not a chickpea fan… can I leave out or substitute with something else?
Hi! You could omit or try a different bean.
Have made this recipe multiple times. I always end up adding a couple more tablespoons of red wine vinegar and a few sprinkles more of salt and black pepper. Delicious for lunch paired with “best lentil soup” recipe!
Great to hear, Jean! Thank you for your review.
I would love to make this salad. I’m not able to have any fermented products (e.g. red wine vinegar) though. Can you suggest a flavorful substitute that might work even if it’s not tangy sweet?
You could try a citrus. Let me know what you think!
I just made this recipe for the first time and served it to our guess for dinner. It is absolutely delicious and refreshing taste. I have passed on your recipe to family members.
Thank you for sharing, Sylvie!