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!
I just quadrupled the recipe, do you think I could freeze it?
Trina
Hi Trina! That’s a lot of salad. I don’t know about freezing this one. Typically recipes like this don’t freeze well.
How many days could it last on the fridge?
Hi Sulay! See step 5.
Made this for Xmas lunch and it was a hit. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing.
Love this recipe. I make a double batch and share with friends. Everyone loves it! Even the quinoa haters.. yes they still exist, strangely. Then I have salad for lunch all week, don’t get bored of this flavors. Is awesome on top of any greens/ lettuce. No dressing needed since the quinoa has all that yummy lemon/ garlic!!
This really is the best quinoa salad ever. I rarely make recipes more than once, but I have this one memorized because I’ve made it so many times. So healthy and delicious. Thanks for sharing, Kate!
Hi Kate
I made this salad for a picnic and it came out amazingly. Everyone loved it. Thank you!!
Perfect recipe! I make it regularly and enjoy the variations–adding a bit of mint, and/or feta. It seems to last a solid week if you cut the veggies a bit larger, but I like it both ways. A hit with my teenage daughters. Thank you!
Hi Kate! I am officially hailing you as my “Hero of the Day”! You finally got my kids to eat, enjoy and ask for MORE wholegrains! I am gobsmacked and thank you profusely for sharing this recipe, which is incidentally now MY favourite quinoa recipe I made it up exactly as is and will do so again, but in DOUBLE quantities! Keep inspiring and sharing x
Thank you, Jane!
Made the quinoa in the Instant Pot and put fresh avocado on top. Excellent! Even my picky 7 year old ate it!
Absolutely love this recipe. I make it and eat it for lunch every day until it’s gone. Great healthy low calorie lunch.
I’ve become obsessed with the quinoa salad from Costco, but its pricey so I figured I’d make my own since most of these ingredients are pantry staples. This is WAY better than Costco’s! I used ACV instead of red wine vinegar and freshly ground pepper. Delicious!
My family loved this dish! My son has many food allergies, so I omitted the red onion. I used a large diced green pepper and some craisins for color since I didn’t have a cucumber or red pepper on hand. The dressing was perfect without salt and pepper. It’s a keeper.
This is so delicious! I did not use garlic and onions, but added celery! Added more lemon since I do not like vinegar. It turned out great!!!
Made this salad and it came out delicious even though I accidentally only made half of the quinoa. Just a little juicier.
Question: For calorie counting purposes, approximately how many ounces or cups is a serving?
Hi Elieen! I’m happy you were still able to enjoy it. Roughly 1-1.5 cups is a serving.
Thanks, so much. I will definitely be making it again.
This was really good. I was hesitant to make it. It didn’t sound that good to me. But, after reading the reviews, I decided to give it a try. It is wonderful. I will definitely be making it again. I did substitute celery for the cucumber.
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing, Melanie.
Delicious recipe. I made it yesterday (with some feta added in) and my family ate it all in one day. Today I made a double batch to snack on (who knows how long it will last, though?), since it’s the perfect food to have in the fridge, waiting for you when you’re hungry and want to both 1. eat something delicious and 2. want to stay aligned with goals of eating wholesome food.
As a side note, I recently found your blog from another recipe (soba and cabbage slaw!) and have branched out to try a few of your other recipes, including your hemp and cilantro pesto and your black bean bowls. You are truly one of the best, most creative food blogs that I’ve ever come across and every single recipe that I’ve tried from this blog has been a big hit personally and with my family! I’ve been making strides in changing to a fully vegetarian diet and your recipes satisfy everyone at the table, even my family of meat eaters. This recipe is no exception! Your blog is now my starting point for finding something to make for dinner and I look forward to trying out more of your recipes!
Hi Morgan, thank you for your kind comment! I’m delighted to hear how much you and your family are enjoying my recipes. This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 4 days. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Morgan,
I’m going to recommend her book, Love Real Food. A family member recently gave it to me, and it’s as excellent as her blog, and fun to read. (I don’t know her, and have never actually commented before, but I saw that you really like her recipes, as I do, and thought you might enjoy the book).
(P.S. I also love this recipe, and since I always have some leftover quinoa, it’s a go-to.)
Lara
I stumbled upon this recipe one day. I simply love it and so does my family. Its so good that they love something so healthy. Thank you.
Hi do I really need the vinegar?
Hi! It really helps bring out some of the flavors. I love it in this salad.
Me and my Husband totally love this salad recipe so much! Two Thumbs Up!!! Thank you Kate!
Thank you for the recipe, delicious!
I made it but did not have parsley so I used cilantro, did not have red wine vinegar or lemons but I found a packet of creamy Italian and wallah!!! Just perfect
Hey, Kate! Love your stuff!
Quick question: can the quinoa be subbed by short grain brown rice?
We have a family member who is allergic to quinoa. It’d be great to make this, and still get the salad’s essence down, if possible! Thanks! :)
Hi! Yes, that could work too! Let me know what you think, Virginia.
This was fabulous !! So easy and so quick the hardest is to cut up the vegetables !! Thanks .. what would you say is the what meat to pair this side dish with?
Thanks again … love it!
Hi Lorez! I’m happy you loved this salad. I don’t have a suggestion for meat to pair with as I’m a vegetarian. Sorry!
Would really like to make this recipe and your others they look amazing, so fresh and vibrant and really nutritious, but i’m struggling with the weight conversion to Grams for UK as we don’t use cups?. Tried Googling cup conversion but it seems the conversion varies depending on the type of food you’re weighing. Eg the cup weight for liquid is different from the cup weight for solids etc. Help :)
Hi Tee, sorry to disappoint that I don’t provide conversions. Others have found this conversion chart helpful.
I tried sautéed shrimps with this salad and I really like how the flavors complimented each other.
I’d suggest chicken!
What would be a good substitute for the chick peas. I can’t stand their taste. Lol Maybe cannellini beans?
Hi! You could, or you could omit if you like.
Really enjoyed this salad! It was easy to make and quick, too. Very flavorful. Will make it again for a potluck at the end of the month. Thank you!!
This recipe easy and delicious! I use garlic powder instead of raw garlic. It does remind me of tabbouleh salad. I also like it because it’s vegan too!
This looks wonderful and I’m looking forward to trying it this week. I would like your thoughts on substituting spinach for the parsley, please?
Hi Wendy! You could use spinach here, although parsley adds some flavor you could be missing.
Kale also works perfectly!
Love this quinoa salad! It’s perfect as written, and super easy to sub in/out different veggies for dietary restrictions. It’s even better if left to sit overnight in the fridge. I like to add some rotisserie chicken in it for my husband and he loves it that way. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
This recipe recipe looks absolutely delicious and Im so keen to try it but I’m just wondering what you’d suggest using if we don’t have red wine vinegar? Have you tried this with any other vinegar/a different dressing? :)
Hi! You can increase the amount of lemon if you would like or some have tried apple cider vinegar and didn’t mind the result.
Hi my name is Vicky, first time I’ve ever made it and I loved it. I will definitely be making it again I took it for lunch every day this week :-)
This salad is so yummy! I’ve done it for dinner tonight as a sort of buddah bowl with roast broccoli, vegan sausages and avocado. Big hit including with my two year old who wolfed it down! Will definitely be making this again.
Terrific. I used puy lentils instead of chickpeas, and added some mint and some toasted pine nuts. Yum!
I love it! Thank you for taking the time to review, Emma.
Soooo good!!! This has become a weekly favourite in our house. I really like the simplicity and complementary flavours. We double it add feta cheese for fun = ) Thanks!
Great riff on tabouli- delicious! With hungry kids home from college awesome to have in the fridge.
Made this recipe many times already! I made it for a few potlucks, family dinners, etc. and usually get asked for the recipe. It’s always a hit. I find that making the quinoa on the drier side helps with not having a soggy salad after adding the dressing. It’s an amazing and very flavourful recipe. Highly recommended.
Best salad I’ve ever tasted- my husband agrees! And it’s jam packed full of nutrients, what more could one want?! Perfect for keeping in the fridge for a quick, healthy and delicious lunch- particularly perfect given we’re both working from home at the moment. Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re welcome, Teresa! Thank you for your review.
I make this salad constantly! It’s about time I left a review. This is the perfect example of healthy food that tastes amazing. I like to add extra chickpeas and less olive oil, and it’s still super delicious. Love this for weekly meal prep in the summer!
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Even without the onions. THANK YOU!!!!!!
Excellent recipe! Went great with our latkes. Only tweak is I cook the quinoa in veggie broth.
Thank you, Yvonne!
The recipe doesn’t indicate to cover the quinoa as it simmers, but it says to do so on the package of quinoa. I wonder if this step was accidentally omitted from the recipe or if you prefer to cook your quinoa uncovered. About to cook this for the first time for lunch :)
Hi! I have a different method for cooking quinoa so you get a perfect result everytime.
I actually ended up covering it and thankfully it came out well, but I’ll try your method next time. I honestly thought the salad would be just good but I LOVED this. Next time I’ll put even more dressing in. It was addictive! Thank you!
Hi Kate, I’m keen to try this one out for Christmas! Is it okay to cook a day or two in advance?
Hi! Yes, this salad is great left over.
This has become my go-to recipe for quinoa salad! Great as is – and easy to change up a little with diff. veggies, etc. Made it again this week and there were no leftovers. :) So good!
I just tried this recipe today for dinner and i am so in love! this is now my new favorite salad. I had it with seared chicken tenders. It was great! thank you for sharing this recipe :)
Wonderful to hear, Jessalyn! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
I love this recipe and have made it many times, it being a huge hit with vegetarians in the family, as well as the carnivores. I add a few roasted seeds and nuts. Christmas Eve dinner will see this salad fighting for first place with the ham.
So yummy!!! I added baby tomatoes and avo! You really can modify with any veggies you want :)
Made this recipe after all the rave reviews. Meh….I loved the diced cucumber and red pepper. Dressing was meh as was the dish overall. Sorry.
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one, Quinn. I appreciate you taking the time to review.
The serving size says one side salad. How many cups? I’m on a diet so I’m trying to measure everything.
Hi Tori, a serving is roughly 1.5-2 cups.
I’ve been looking for a simple and delicious quinoa recipe. You nailed it! Just what I was looking for! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for your review, Terri!
I’ve been making this recipe every Sunday for the past few months and this is my weekday lunch – every Monday through Friday. I never tire of it and love that I’m enjoying a flavorful, healthy lunch each day. It’s the best quinoa salad recipe I found. So simple yet so good. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for sharing! This recipe is super easy to modify based on ingredients you have on hand. I used cilantro instead of parsley and added celery, as well as 1/4 t.s. of turmeric, and cumin for a middle eastern twist. I topped it with roasted pumpkin seeds and served with wings and a smooth Gewurztraminer. So good!
how can I make the quinoa?
Hi Sonia! All the instructions are in the recipe card. See step 1.
Hello Kate,
I hope you are well. It all started months ago when I was browsing into my phone regarding salad recipes and found your Vegetable Salad recipe. Loved it so much. I don’t like the balsamic vinegar though, however, when I prepared the dressing loved it too. Thanks for sharing all the food you make.
You take care.
Maby
Thank you, Maby! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Great recipe- easy to follow. Was delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lua!
This is fantastic. I used dill because my grocery store was out of parsley – just delish. The dressing is incredible! Thanks for this amazing recipe – I’ll be making it weekly.
I’m happy to hear it worked well!