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 was so yummy. I toasted my capsicum and toasted the chickpeas to make it a bit warmer and tasted amazing…
Greetings from Ireland. I have just made this salad for the second time. Why? Because I love it. So tasty and filling. Thanks for a great recipe ☺️
This recipe tastes SO fresh! It was a big hit at our community picnic♡
Thank you!
My kids even liked this one, thank you!
This is such a yummy and versatile salad! I’ve made it often this summer for overnight trips – it travels well packed in the cooler and it’s filling and healthy!
I’ve made this for my meal prep three weeks in a row now! So delicious. I subbed the red onion for white onion since that’s what I had on hand and have subbed the parsley for cilantro as well. It’s nice and wholesome, yet refreshing!
We have a chickpea allergy. What can I substitute the chick peas with? Thanks
You could add your favorite bean or just leave out.
When using the salad in the course of 2-3 days do you recommend to put the dressing in a separate bowl to avoid the salads to get soggy? Thanks
I recommend mixing it all together as the flavors really have a chance to meld.
Omg I thought I had chickpeas in my pantry and came home to realize NO CHICKPEAS )): would black beans work alright? Or what would be a good substitute ?
Oh no! You can omit, or use a northern bean or light bean could be nice.
Good morning Cookie and Kate,
Greetings from San Angelo Texas. I made the “Favorite Quinoa” salad over the weekend. I love it! I made a few changes to satisfied my taste. I added 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and 1/2 cup of toasted slivered almonds. I am all about the crunch. I think next time I will add sunflower seeds. I am going to make the Quinoa Posole next weekend.. I had gastric bypass 4 years ago and have lost 93 pounds. With that said I am always looking for foods with protein and love the Quinoa with chick peas. I am so happy I found your blog. Give that pretty fur baby a hug for me! Thank you, Cecilia
Hi Cecilia! Thanks for sharing your changes and I’m happy you loved it!
This has become a favorite for portable lunches! I eat pretty low carb (I have type 1 diabetes) so I love adding a full bunch of massaged kale to up the ratio of greens to grains. :) Thank you for being my numero uno source for healthy dinner and lunch ideas!
Followed your exact recipe and it’s absolutely delicious!!! Perfecto!!!! Well done I’m not changing a single thing!!!
making tonight for a luncheon tomorrow. Should I bring the dressing and toss right before serving?
Thank you
This one is actually really great as it marinates, altogether.
Great salad. Thanks for the cooking instructions for the quinoa. I like it, but have never had it work out correctly for me befor tonight.
This is my favorite quinoa salad, too! It’s now a staple in the rotation of meals I use. I started making it over the summer, and it makes a perfect lunch for the beach! I use 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of parsley and about 1/2 the amount of onion. I also add in about 1/2 can of cut up black olives. I use a double serving size as a meal instead of as a side so the recipe gives me 4 full meals. I’m eating it right now with some guacamole and cassava chips and it’s so delicious! My family loved it, too! Thanks for the recipe!
Yummy. Plus, I have been hunting for recipes that are higher in iron. This one is great. I put in a whole bunch of curly parsley, maybe about 1.5-2 cups when chopped. Parsley is a good source of iron. Delicious.
HI,
I made this salad and we love it! And the fact it stays for several days in the fridge is great for meal prepping.
My question is, the serving size says “1side salad”. What do you say that is in cups? Maybe 1cup? That is what I had tonight and it seemed like a good size portion, but I want to know that a cup of the salad equals the 205 calories you say.
Thank you very much, a fabulous recipe!!
Roughly 1-1.5 cups. Thanks for your review, Terry!
Oh great. I kept it to a cup not knowing for sure but will definitely be claiming that extra 1/2 cup! Delicious AND healthy! A win-win!!
Plan on making this for my workweek lunches. I try not to use any oil. Any suggestions for substituting the oil?
You could try a little more citrus. It will be hard for the dressing to really mix well without the oil. Let me know what you decide to do!
Hi Kate: I’m a registered dietitian for Hannaford Supermarkets.
I’m going to demo this Quinoa recipe for 50 church ladies in Essex, Vermont tomorrow, as a way to introduce them to this easy, high protein, fiber-rich and delicious grain. The chickpeas are a bonus! I’ll be giving full credit to you, and encouraging them to visit you online. I’ll report back on how they liked it.
I was introduced to your site by a friend who is a cancer survivor in her 20’s. She attended an outdoor adventure week for young people in remission from cancer, and said the chef used your recipes almost exclusively, and praised you to the skies. Nice work!
Good luck! Thanks for sharing my work, Joanne. I hope your demo goes well.
I want to try this recipe, but I have never used chickpeas in a recipe before. I am a bit confused by the ingredient list. Are the chickpeas supposed to be cooked? or just use them straight from the can (do they come in a can??)?
This is a really fabulous recipe! What struck me as cute is I hadn’t even been thinking about it: I was chopping ingredients at the kitchen table with -my- Australian Cattle Dog (possibly mix; she’s a rescue, so no papers; fairly healthy at 16) hanging out by the table looking for goodies. She didn’t get any red pepper (it was a small one) but she got some cucumber and then she sampled the finished product too. Conclusion: yum!
My rendition was with no vinegar, but I scored a lemon with more than 1/4 cup of juice.
Feedback other than that: the ad mayhem on this site sadly really jams up my viewing so I had to shut down the page and reload to even prepare the recipe and this..
fairly, 5 stars for the recipe,
irked.. regarding the site :(
I made it several times for my family, as well as one time my church family and everyone loves it!!!
Excellent recipe. Added warm goat cheese when served and it was a huge hit. Now asked to make this at least twice a week. Guaranteed favourite at any potluck
Thank you!
Made this several times over the past few months and it is a growing hit for out family. Even my kids are eating it!! It is a GREAT accompaniment for anything off the grill. I usually add 50% to the dressing recipe to ensure good coverage (plus I usually have larger volumes of the veggie components. Delish!
I made this recipe for the first time, I love eating healthy. I have to tell you this recipe was amazing, I substituted fresh basil instead of parsley because that’s all I had. It was so good. Definitely going to make it again !!!
Great recipe! However, a 1/4 cup of lemon juice was WAY too sour for me. Maybe because I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh? Will use Less Lemon and add some sugar to the dressing next time. I will definitely make this again! Thanks for all your great recipes Kate! God bless!
Thank you for your feedback! I prefer fresh lemon juice.
My favourite recipe, I make it almost monthly! Hmm, so good and healthy! <3
Since I am low carbing it. I used riced cauliflower (cooled in ice water bath)instead of Quinoa. It came out delicious!
Thanks for your feedback, Barbara!
Great recipe and great cooking technique for the quinoa! I love this recipe cause you can kind of throw whatever veggies are in the fridge if you need to use stuff up. Dressing is so fresh and yummy!
Thank you, Joanna!
I’ve been vegan for two weeks going on life. I feel great! So glad I found this GREAT quinoa salad recipe! I will make this over and over again.
I’ve made this several times now, and usually take it to events where I tend to be the only person who eats WFPBNO. I add a pomegranate to the salad if I can get one, then omit the oil and add the zest of 1 lemon to the dressing. My favourite way to eat it (when I’m not just digging straight in with a spoon) is in a wrap with hummus and baby spinach. I love that this recipe is so versatile and delicious, and it keeps for several days in the fridge. Thanks!
I made this for my boyfriends mom who now thinks I’m a culinary genius. I followed it EXACTLY and I’m about to make it again right now for myself and I’m changing NOTHING.
Hooray! Thanks for your review, S.C.
I made this recipe today – amazing!!! I can totally see where this would be the perfect summer dish, but here I am in cold, snowy Chicago enjoying a bowl of quinoa salad in November! It tastes so fresh and bright – just what I needed for a dreary winter day.
I followed the recipe exactly as is. I did use a bag of frozen microwaveable quinoa from Whole Foods – it makes 3 cups so it’s a perfect, convenient sub in place of uncooked quinoa as noted in the recipe “notes.” Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi!
Can I serve this salad with prawns?. Thank you
I’m a vegetarian, so not an expert there. But I do think this salad is complementary to a lot of dishes!
I used red quinoa for a nuttier flavor. Also sometimes add leftover cooked chicken.
I made this salad and drizzled a bit of maple syrup, it is the best salad I’ve ever tasted!!! Thank you for the recipe and inspiration!
You’re welcome! Thanks for letting me know your thoughts, Bernice.
This turned out to be delicious!!! Thank you so much. Refreshing and healthy. My husband and I kept going back for more and didn’t feel bad about it!
You’re welcome, Traci! I appreciate your review.
Amazing salad , I love it , I used cilantro instead of parsley
I love this salad! It’s my go-to for any potluck-style event. It tastes so fresh, but also has a nutty flavor from the quinoa.
I always add a little bit of pomegranate molasses to the dressing along with some slivered almonds. The pomegranate molasses adds some additional sweetness/acidity and brightens up all the flavors of the salad.
I’ve just made your Quinoa Salad and it turned out beautiful! I’m going to make this to add to our table on Christmas Day.
A great salad to have at Christmas! Thanks for your review, Jeanette.
I made this recipe exactly as instructed. Loved it! As soon as I ate it all up, I made it again. The second time, there was a ripe avocado just sitting on the counter, so I diced it and added it. I loved it even more!
Avocado would be great in this! Thank you for sharing, Mary.
This was so good! I don’t cook much but was craving a healthy quinoa salad and this was perfect for a beginner like me! I don’t like parsley so I substituted with cilantro instead. It was awesome. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Elizabeth!
Just fabulous! In summer I wanted a gf tabbouleh-style quinoa salad to enjoy the lovely parsley from my garden, and this, with the chickpeas, is even better! I made it exactly (but sans vinegar), and then with variations over the summer and fall.. with tomatoes since I had them, often with a broth rather than water for the quinoa, and now, still works.. without parsley. It keeps well in the fridge for a snack when I’m hungry, alone or on salad with whatever veggies are around. Thank you!
Kate, Your Quinoa Salad is absolutely wonderful. I will be trying all recipes. Thank You!!!
You’re welcome, Beverly!
I literally make this salad every time we entertain! People always comment on how good it is! Question for you! How long would you say it keeps for in the fridge a week or so?
Hi Rebecca! This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 4 days. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Delish! The dressing is yum and the taste is fresh and satisfying. A keeper!!
Is there something other than chickpeas I can add? I want to make this for my boyfriend for his lunch on the go since he works outdoors but he has gout so the chickpeas might not be good for him, LOL. Otherwise can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi Eileen, you could try another bean, maybe white bean.
I made this for Christmas and it was a huge hit!! Didn’t change anything! Great way to cook quinoa btw. I just made it again today and forgot to add the vinegar to the dressing ♀️. It’s still absolutely delicious!!! Thank you for sharing. I will be making this again and again…
That’s great to hear, Terry! Thank you for sharing.
I stumbled across this recipe and boy am I glad I did! This was my first time cooking quinoa and it came out perfect per your method. Super easy and absolutely delicious! I used less red onion and a bit more garlic and red wine vinegar, to suit my taste. OMG I can’t stop eating this straight from the mixing bowl. Thanks for this easy and healthy recipe!
So fresh, healthy, and delicious!
Thank you, Marcy!
This is amazing I added kalamata olives which adds just alittle extra zest that I enjoy!
I couldn’t help myself. I added chopped fresh mint and pine nuts! Great basic recipe, thanks!
Thank you for sharing, Adam!