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!
Kate, this was wonderful! I did modify it a touch, made with couscous as I didn’t have quinoa, and green onion instead of red. Otherwise I followed it exactly and it is my new favorite couscous salad! Thanks for the wonderful recipes, I always know that when I am making one of your recipes for friends or family, that it will turn out amazing. I also have 2 loaves of your banana bread in my oven at the moment!
I’m happy you are confident in my recipes! That is my goal, and of course that they taste great. Thanks for your review!
Quick question: I can’t use oil (for medical reasons). Would you suggest substituting something else or just leaving it out?
If you have a substitute for oil that works with your health needs, I would use that. You can try to leave it out and increase the lemon and/or add a little vinegar. Hope this helps!
Have a fun filled family that loves healthy meals. Made this for a weekend BBQ and everyone loved it! I added a little fresh avocado. It was scrumptious delicious!!!!
Wonderful, Donna! Thanks for you review.
Just made this tonight and it was so delicious. I love this salad because the ingredients are pretty basic and the combination is healthy but also so interesting and yummy. Good quality chickpeas (like the jarred ones from Spain) are essential for this salad. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks for your review.
Just made this recipe for my week of lunches. It tastes awesome. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
You’re welcome! Yes, a great lunch option Jackie.
Me and my mother made this salad for her office BBQ. It was a great success and nothing was left in the bowl! We decorated it with eatable flowers from the garden and it looked awesome.
That sounds wonderful! How fun. Thanks for sharing, Lobke!
I’m SO glad I found this recipe (and your blog!). I expected it to be good, but holy cow! It’s amazing! Probably the best salad I’ve ever made. Thank you for sharing with us!
I’m glad you found it too! Love that it surpassed your expectations, Corinne!
First time making quinoa anything and it turned out great! I did 5 oz of chickpeas, 5 oz black beans, and 5 oz of white kidney beans in place of all chickpeas. I cooked my quinoa in a rice cooker and it was perfect. The dressing is great. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Paula!
I made this according to the recipe, and we tasted right away. We decided it needed a bit more dressing. I added some stone ground mustard to the dressing, and it was perfect. Great for a veggie potluck.
Thank you! I’m glad you added some more dressing to fit your tastes.
I’ve made this recipe every couple of months since you published it a year ago! I do meatless mondays (& fridays too, during lent). I was raised eating meat for both lunch and dinner every day, so I sometimes struggle finding filling recipes (especially ones without fish – as I eat fish for dinner on Mondays) so I love when I find a keeper! I split this salad into 4 containers so I have lunch for almost the whole week!
Great to hear, Ellen!
I am new to Quinoa, love the way your Dad pronounces it though. I’m trying to stay healthy and lose some weight at the same time. Canadian food has given me a few extra pounds unfortunately. I find your Recipes refreshing and also simple to follow. Thank you for the beautiful website. Love your Dog.
Thanks for sharing!
what size is a serving. want to use recipe on weight watchers
Hi Diane- The nutritional information is below the notes section! One side salad is a serving. I would estimate this to be roughly a cup.
Question. I’ve seen frozen bags of quinoa in stores. Can I just thaw and use in this recipe? Or do I still need to cook the frozen quinoa, cool it and then use in recipe?
If it’s cooked, I would just thaw and then add the other ingredients per instructions.
I made big bowl of this salad as a starter for a dinner party at our house. Despite the large quantity it was the only dish with no leftovers! Everyone simply loved it! I did add some toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds at the time of serving for some extra crunch. Thanks Kate for the delicious recipe :)
Win! I’m so glad it was a hit. Thanks for sharing and for your review.
Sorry – loved the ingredients – but it was just pretty bland. :-/ Maybe more acid should be added? Will continue to try some of your other recipes!! Thank you for sharing!
I’m sorry you felt that way! Feel free to increase any of the flavors you like best. Thanks for sharing your experience, Jackie!
Just made this for a mediation group tomorrow, all veggies… just had a taste and very impressed, first time using quinoa, will definitely be making this again…. ps didn’t have parsley so used coriander, mint and basil combo. Thanks ☺️
Thank you for sharing, Clare! What did your group think?!
Dash of honey to the dressing, then added feta cheese just before serving!
Thanks for sharing, Patti!
We added a little goat cheese and that worked out great for us too!
salad is good for health & its look very delicious & its name very good
Thank you!
Hi,
Changing subject, I am fascinated with your dog. It looks like a dog that we have here in Australia that we call a “Blue Heeler” or a “Coolee” often referred to as blue dog. Every farmer here has one as they are great cattle dogs, often nipping the heels of cattle, hence the name blue heeler. I understood it was an Australian bred dog. Is it a common dog in USA ?
Kindest regards
Kate
Cookie is special, that is for sure! Cookie is a mix, so not sure how common. But, I do know a there are a lot of cattle dogs in the US!
Cookie sure is beautiful! We have a “purple” heeler: her daddy was a blue heeler and her mama was a red.
Ate this 4 days in a row as a side with tuna, grilled chicken & still not sick of it. Is a hit in our household. Simple & delish. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Happy to hear this one is a hit.
Red wine Vinegar contains gluten as do other vinegars. You might want to change that.
Hi Kaylene! Actually, red wine vinegar as well as other distilled vinegars are naturally gluten free. There are some that you do need to be mindful of that aren’t distilled or are malted.
I just made this last night. The biggest compliment is that my two teenage children devoured it. I did not change a thing in the recipe. And so easy to make. Thank you.
Hooray! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks so much for your review!
Are you Lebonese? You have so many great sounding Mid Eastern recipes! Just wondering. Gives you credit, you know.
I’m not, but I’m glad you like the sound of this recipe.
Shukran(thank you)! I love this recipe. The flavors of a wonderful lebanese salad! Keep the “deliciousness” coming!
Amazing! Tastes so fresh and delicious. Followed the recipe to a T and it turned out perfectly. Brought it to a potluck and it was devoured almost instantly. Definitely will be my go-to quinoa salad from now on.
Love that, Hollie! Thanks for sharing.
What are the nutrition values for this dish?
The nutrition information is below the notes section. Make sure you allow plug-ins and just click to expand. Hope this helps!
i am currently pregnant and was looking for high protein, healty meals to store in the fridge and eat whenever that insane hunger starts. I love love love this salad! I feel great after eating it and the sour/lemony taste is awesome! Thank you for this recipe :)
Congratulations, Lala! Also, so happy you love this salad. Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was great! I used just a bit more dressing and served it over a bed of arugula. A big winner at our house.
Great to hear, Karen!
This was delicious. I had leftover quinoa that I wanted to turn into a salad and found your recipe. It was completely perfect. The dressing is soooo good. I did add fresh basil and some chopped fresh tomatoes. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. We will be enjoying this again often. Reason enough to make extra quinoa every time!
Starting off the New Year with some new healthy recipes and I must say I’m blown away by this one! Didnt have parsley at the store so I left out that and the onion (I have this thing with eating raw onions….I cant lol) and this was still one of the BEST side dishes I have ever had! Best part is that my 10, 12 and 14 year old kids love it too!
I’m glad you loved it! Thanks or sharing, Julianne! A hit with the kids too, that’s great.
I’ve been making this salad so often for lunch lately, it’s amazing. I forego the red wine vinegar since I find it a little overpowering and add a little extra lemon instead. I’ve also swapped out the chickpeas sometimes for black beans or black eyes peas (some family members aren’t fond of chickpeas) and it worked out great. Love having something so healthy and tasty to grab and go for lunch. Thank you Kate!
I love it! I’m glad you can enjoy it by adjusting to your tastes. Thanks so much, Tova!
Hi Kate
I made the recipe for a baby shower it was so good. Everyone enjoyed it. Also I have an intolerance to garlic onion leeks shallots and black pepper. Do you have any suggestion as to what other seasoning I could use.
Laura
I don’t, sorry! Do you have any go-tos when you need to change it up? Those all provide a lot of flavor to this recipe. You could leave them out, but that would really impact the taste.
I love this recipe so much! Perfect flavour balance and low in calories too. Do you think I could freeze it and defrost a serving at a time? ❤️
I don’t think this one will freeze well. The vegetables will likely get mushy once they thaw out. Sorry!
Is removing the seeds from the cucumbers necessary? Does it help it stay fresh longer?
It can help make it less watery. I hope this helps!
It helps it not get as watery. I hope this helps!
I absolutely loved this salad. My tastebuds were singing! So fresh, healthy and satisfying. The dressing is perfect. It will definitely be my go to quinoa salad! I can’t wait to make it again.
Wonderful, Linda! Thanks for your review.
This is the second time I’ve ever cooked with quinoa and it is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I’d been wanting to cook more with quinoa for years because of how healthy it is, but the only other time I cooked with it I didn’t like it. But this recipe is an absolute winner. I appreciate the clear and simple instructions on cooking the quinoa grain itself. It seems to have a perfect balance of tastes and texture.
Lemon-garlic, and a bit of a crunch, completely satisfying! My daughter enjoyed it too – and she is ultra-fussy about eating anything that resembles healthy. I’m keeping this recipe; it’s definitely a winner. Thanks!
Happy this one was a game changer for you! Thanks for your feedback, Deanna.
We served this as part of a post-tour meal at Full Circle Farm Sanctuary last weekend. It was so delicious and absolutely a hit with our guests! Thank you. =)
You’re welcome, Andie!
What red wine vinegar do you recommend..it would help if you mentioned the brand you use thanks
Definitely a family favourite!
Love to hear that, Liisa!
We absolutely love this quinoa salad, so easy for lunches (as it keeps for a few days) and tastes GREAT! Thanks a mil! x
You’re welcome, Aideen!
This was my first time cooking quinoa & I loved how it turned out. I’m not a good cook at all and this recipe makes me feel like I am. What a wonderfully tasty and easy dish. Thank you for sharing this!
I’m glad you loved it! Thanks for your review, Leslie.
Hello!! I am so excited to make this, it looks great! I am planning to make it for a training session for a local environmental group next weekend :D There will be about 30 people attending. Do you have a recommendation for sizing-up this recipe?
This should work well to size up how you need to. But, you might just need to cook the quinoa in batches or large pot.
This was DELICIOUS and so easy! I only had a 1/2 cup of parsley and I added some garlic powder at the end along with a little extra salt and pepper. I eat low carb but this was totally worth the extra carbs and I am exited to make it for a potluck. It will be a huge hit. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!!
I’m so glad you liked it, Christine! Sounds like a great way to make it work with what you had on hand.
DELICIOUS! I made this so I could take it to work for a week, keep it in an air tight container and it will last the whole week! I would recommend mincing the onion, so you don’t have an overwhelming bite. The red wine and lemon combo in amazing!
A great salad for lunch and great tip, Gwen!
If you soak a sliced red onion in cold water for about ten minutes, it loses its bite.
WOW! I never was a fan of quinoa yet wanted to try this out! It’s just out of this world! It was a great hit with both myself and my husband :)
Great to hear, Rosalyn!
This is one of my favorite recipes and is my go-to for potlucks! I add a tablespoon of pomegranate molasses. It makes all the flavors really pop!
Great to hear, Saul! Thanks for your review.
I made this for a BBQ gathering yesterday and it was yum!
I substituted coriander and baby spinach for the parsley, and I added some crushed almonds in as well.
2 ladies asked me for the recipe. :)
Thanks Kate. I’m glad I discovered your site.
Thank you for sharing! I’m happy you came across the blog, too.
Very good! I ommitted the chick peas, but very tastey! And we love tabouli and this tastes similar.
I’m glad you liked it, Beth!
I am literally eating this as I type, SO AMAZINGLY GOOD. I thought it would be too lemony (I used 2 lemons) but it is perfect.
I Did make some veggie changes but the dressing is the same. I added chopped kale in with the parsley, one whole tomato, grated zucchini, 3 cloves of garlic, and a mix of red/yellow/orange pepper to equal about one pepper. I feel like this is a great recipe as is or you can put just about anything and it would still be delicious.
This is definitely going to be a regular for me. Nice job!
Thank you, Rebecca! I appreciate the review.
Second time in a week making this delicious salad. Love the simplicity
Great to hear, Carol!
Love this one! Light and refreshing.
Thank you for your review, Karen!