Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad
This simple spinach quinoa salad is full of fresh Mediterranean flavors, including lemon, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted almonds! Vegan and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 3, 2024
This salad couldn’t come at a better time. I’ve just returned home after a long weekend in Austin, Texas. Taco after taco, margarita after margarita. Chips and salsa in between. On the return home, I ate a scoop of Mexican vanilla ice cream for dinner. It was incredible.
This was a girls’ trip, just for fun, and it was desperately needed. My taste buds got a break from all the cookbook recipe testing and now, I’m craving healthy home cooking once again. Please, remind me to take real vacations more often!
This mega-healthy quinoa and spinach salad was inspired by a Whole Foods buffet salad that I found in Kansas City last week. I was desperate for recipe inspiration, so I sampled a few of their salads and particularly enjoyed their spinach and quinoa salad with pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. The sign said the salad had basil in it, but I sure couldn’t find any.
Anyway, I tried to recreate it at home and ended up making a few changes, of course. I swapped more affordable sliced almonds for the pine nuts (they taste better, too), skipped the nonexistent basil, and whipped up a zippy lemon dressing.
This salad packs up great for lunch. It would also make a lovely, protein-rich side salad. Top it with a fried egg and call it dinner. It’s vegan as is, but you could throw in some feta if you’d like. Chickpeas might be nice, too. Arugula is a great alternative to spinach (I could hardly decide between the two).
I’ve been frustrated with my quinoa ending up mushy lately, so I tried cooking the quinoa uncovered for 15 minutes this time, and it worked beautifully. I hope it works just as well for you. Please let me know!
Watch How to Make Perfectly Fluffy Quinoa
Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad
This simple spinach quinoa salad is full of fresh Mediterranean flavors, including lemon, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted almonds! It’s vegan and gluten free, too, so it’s a great potluck option. Recipe yields 4 side servings or 2 main dish-sized servings.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed in a fine-mesh colander
- ⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 2 cups roughly chopped fresh spinach or arugula
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ teaspoon olive oil
- Salt, to taste
Lemon dressing
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa: Combine the rinsed quinoa and 2 cups 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 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, which gives it time to fluff up.
- Meanwhile, to prepare the dressing: Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.
- To toast the almonds: Warm ¼ teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the almonds and a dash of salt and cook, stirring frequently (beware, these burn quickly!), until they are golden and fragrant. Transfer the toasted almonds to a medium-sized serving bowl to cool.
- Once the quinoa is done cooking, fluff it with a fork and then transfer it into your serving bowl. Drizzle all of the dressing on top and toss to combine. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and wait a few more minutes to add the spinach so it doesn’t wilt completely. Toss again, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if necessary, and serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe inspired by a quinoa salad at Whole Foods Market.
Make it nut free: Replace the almonds with pepitas (green pumpkin seeds). Sunflower seeds might be nice, as would pine nuts if you aren’t sensitive to them (they are technically seeds).
Storage suggestions: This quinoa will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for several days. Gently reheat or serve chilled.
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.
Beautiful salad!! Great combo of ingredients!! Glad you had a good time in Texas! :) (Always love photos of Cookie!)
Thank you, Deborah!
Awesome salad! Don’t particularly like sun dried tomatoes, but threw them in. All the flavors come together so well!
Thank you, Karen!
This looks delicious! I share your pain with mushy quinoa. I always use a rice cooker and it turns out perfect every time. Love the addition of sun dried tomatoes in the winter when we can’t find good fresh ones.
That’s a great idea! Now why did I give away my rice cooker?
Instant Pot!! Perfect quinoa every time.
Seems you had a fun filled time in Texas :-) but it is always nice to get home. I am so pleased I am not the only one with Quinoa issues. I made some yesterday without the lid to the pot and it did help.
This is a great recipe, can’t wait to try it and as always your pics are stunning.
Thank you, Lynne! Glad to hear that leaving the lid off worked for you, too.
I find that my quinoa cooks best when I use a quinoa to water ratio of 1:3 but leaving the lid off sounds like a good plan too. Photos are absolutely fabulous as always — salad can be a pretty hard thing to get excited about sometimes but this looks like it would do the job :)
Hi Kate,
I have tried a slightly different recipe with my quinoa salad. After rinsing, I boiled it uncovered with 1/2 ratio of hot water. Then I let it stay, covered with a kitchen towel for some time. I’ve chopped kale leaves. (I reserved the stems for another simple dish.) I added chopped walnuts, cranberries, black olives and a drizzle of olive oil. I love kale since it stays fresh in the fridge for at least a week, unlike spinach or lettuce. Finally, when I was serving, I added sliced eggs and “Pomegranade sauce” which gives a very nice flavour.
Thank you for sharing your variations, Hulya! They all sound so good. :)
This quinoa salad sure looks appetizing. I love the pop of color from the sun-dried tomatoes in the pictures.
Such a perfect combination of flavours for winter. Definitely need to try!
Yum! I’ve been on a quinoa kick lately and this salad looks lovely!
just what i want for lunch and i have all the ingredients – perfect
thanks for all your great recipes, thoughts and insights!
Thank you, Terry! Hope you loved it!
Oh I’m so jealous of your girl’s trip, how fun! I’m in need of more salads this time of year (just been eating ALL the french fries in an effort to stay warm here), so this is perfect!
Oh brrrr, it’s terribly cold down here, so I can only imagine! Stay warm, Abby!
This dressing sounds fabulous! I love finding new ways of putting sun dried tomatoes (and arugula) into my life. What a tasty souvenir from your trip.
Best souvenir ever! Haha. This salad has me dreaming about spring! Good thing it’s coming fast! :)
This recipe reminded me of how much I love sun-dried tomatoes!
I love sun dried tomatoes! This dish looks so delicious.
the whole sum of health in a single bowl. thank you for sharing such an healthy food recipe
Yummy! This looks so delicious and satisfying <3
You were in my neck of the woods, kinda, I live in the Dallas area. I’m glad you had a real vacation and had a chance to relax and I’m loving this salad. It looks so pretty.
Thank you, Celeste! We had layovers in Dallas, so I really was in your neck of the woods. Hope you get a chance to make this salad soon!
this is perfect. i was looking for a healthy salad to bring to a super bowl party (because balance). going to try it out!
I share your pain about mushy quinoa! BUT I have a solution! I forget where I read it but it works every time. Do 1 cup quinoa and 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, lower to simmer for 13-14 minutes or until water is absorbed. Let sit covered for 10 minutes and then fluff with a fork. Works. Every. Time. Enjoy!
Awwww yay. Girl gangs are so precious. Glad that you had some quality time away (with amazing food too!). As for this absolutely gorgeous salad – just YUM. I love quinoa and I’m always looking for new ways to add it to my weekly repertoire. I know what you mean about ‘mushy’ quinoa. I think cooking it without a lid is the only way that I’ve managed to keep some integrity to the finished product too. Looks like you cooked it perfectly. Sending you hugs, Kate, and lots of cookbook-energy-vibes! It’s going to be amazing xxx
Your Austen trip sounds absolutely lovely. This looks like the sort of lunch salads I love to eat- healthy, hearty, quick, and delicious.
This salad is DELICIOUS!! I made it today for lunch with some girlfriends and they were crazy about it too! One friend has gluten and dairy allergies so this was the perfect meal! I added grilled chicken, used the Super Greens blend from Costco, and substituted toasted pecan pieces for pine nuts/almonds since I was out of both and didn’t realize it until I went to make the salad! I tripled the recipe since it was our main dish. I also had little bowls of crumbled goat cheese and feta on the side for the gals without dairy allergies. Yum!!! I’m planning to make it again on Sunday when we have more folks over for dinner! Thanks for sharing this!!
Hooray, glad to hear you all enjoyed it!
Hi Kate! Love new quinoa recipes . This one looks delicious. Thank you. I cook a lot of quinoa and I have a great cooking method…it’s a little involved… But trust me, it’s worth it. I found the method year’s ago and honestly cannot remember where I first read it. Rinse the quinoa and drain it in a metal strainer on a clean towel for 20 minutes… No less… Shaking it every so often. Pop the quinoa in a dry saucepan and toast it for about 5 minutes until it gets fragrant. While it is toasting, heat to boiling 3 cups of water (for 2 cups quinoa). Pour the boiling water into the toasted quinoa…set the heat to keep it just simmering… Lid the pan but tilt the lid to vent…a toothpick works well. Simmer for 16 minutes. Remove lid and let it cool for 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Once you get used to the process…it becomes second nature. Hope you enjoy. I love your website…you make cooking so much fun!
Thank you for sharing, Carol! Looking forward to trying your method soon!
Looks very fresh and appetizing.Will try this one for sure.Thanks for sharing !
I have made this salad twice in a week it is that good – easy and delicious!
Yay, happy to hear you enjoyed this salad, too!
This looks so simple, so yummy, so refreshing! Definitely pinning it for later, thank you for your constant healthy inspiration!
We loved this, fresh, super and so winter-spring (North of Sweden) – even our lilla 16 month had fun eating it! Thanks Kate.
Thank you, Edith! I’m so glad you all enjoyed the salad.
Made this last week, super super delicious and easy to make as well :)
I made this last night to accompany a Lasagna soup for a fun Italian themed dinner! I didn’t have any almonds so I used toasted pine nuts.It was delicious! The lemon really shined through! My husband loved it too! Thank you for a great recipe!
Simple, fresh ingredients = wholesome tasty food. Be sure to share this recipe when ratemydishapp.com launches in the spring.
My son is new to vegan and I am trying to cook some yummy things for him. I LOVE your blog!!! I tried this the other day and must say it is probably one of my favorite ways to eat quinoa! I decided to throw caution to the wind and add a hint of blue to the beautiful color…I added some dried blueberries, and it was AMAZING! Thanks for your delicious & nutritious recipes. The photos are so beautiful, also!
I made it and it tastes amazing !
I just added some mozzarella for an extra
Love this salad! Love your pictures of Cookie too! ;-) Just want to say thanks to your healthy recipes I have lost 10 pounds in the last month and a half. Both my husband and I feel much better too. Thank you!
That’s amazing!!! Thank you so much for letting me know. :)
I made this for dinner last night and it was so good! I love how quick it came together and, except for almonds, that I had everything already. I cooked the quinoa according to the “new” method and it was the best I’ve ever made. Thanks Kate for all your hard work!
I’m interested in making this for a baby shower but would like to make the the day before (not add the dressing til the day of, of course). Will it be fresh the next day or will the spinach/arugula be too mealy? Thanks! This recipe looks like just the thing the party needs!
Another awesome recipe! I made this the other day and loved it. The next had some left overs so had a avocado I needed to eat so I cut it up and threw it on top and wow! This is going to be on my favorite list for sure.
Made this tonight & it was so delish! The flavor combos of sundried tomatoes, lemon, garlic & quinoa – so yummy! Can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Just made this for a family BBQ and it’s so tasty I might not share it. Thank you so much for creating this (and sharing it)!
I loved it as well as all of my friend !!! Amazing, very tasty receipts thank you!
This is so good!! I’ve made it lots of times and it’s always well received, thank you Kate! Looks amazing with red quinoa (which I can’t alays find)
Kate, I keep finding recipes on your blog that I make again and again… This is the current favorite! Thanks. It’s so great to find satisfying vegetarian dishes.
Great recipe! Simple and delicious but a bit dry. I might suggest doubling the dressing, mixing half with the quinoa and reserving the other half to drizzle just before serving. Blanched asparagus would be a great addition
My 14 yo daughter has been cooking recipes from you blog and they are delicious. This salad is amazing. Thanks. The meals are affordable and tasty. Thanks for sharing! We did add beans for an added protein.
We loved this recipe! Our 20 year old son requested less quinoa and more spinach. We also doubled the dressing recipe. Love the lemon. I love the meaty flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Thank you, Richard! Glad you all enjoyed it.
I have made this on several occasions. It is always a hit!! I have taken the liberty of adding feta cheese after the quinoa has chilled a bit. Other than that, I follow the recipe exactly, and it always comes out great!
Excellent salad. I added white beans for extra protein and served it for dinner. Thanks for the great recipe idea.
Also, I always cook quinoa with a 1:1.5 ratio (1 cup quinoa + 1.5 cups water) so it doesn’t get mushy. Simmer on very low heat, covered, for 15 min. Perfect every time ;)
Yum!!! Loved this salad….I added avocado, black beans and broccoli! So filling.
hi kate, i’m late to the party but wanted to say that i love your blog and this is my first time commenting … this recipe is fantastic and i made the addition of cannellini beans, which turned out great. i also love the use of toasted almonds instead of pine nuts. i took this salad to a picnic over the weekend and received rave reviews thanks to you :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to say hello, SBK! Delighted to hear that this salad was a hit. :)
Made this and loved it! I didn’t have sun dried tomatoes so I used dried cranberries.
just made this and it is great! I tried mixing it with sun dried tomato and basil hummus and it is delicious. thanks for the recipe!