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’m learning how to eat better. This recipe was great!
Great to hear you enjoyed it, Gem!
Your recipes are perfect.
Sister made it for me and I thought it was DELICIOUS!
Love this recipe and all of your others I’ve tried.
Thank you,
Keep it going
Made this & diced a tomato instead of cucumber (bc I didn’t have any ) but it was still so good!
Do you know how many calories are in a serving?
Hi Erica! The nutritional information is below the notes section.
This has become my new favorite summer salad to make for company. It’s really fresh tasting and deliciously healthy. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Colleen!
How long can you store the salad as I am only one person
Hi Irene! It keeps well for 4-5 days or use your best judgement!
Will definitely make this recipe again ! It was very refreshing! Thank you
I loved this recipe! I had one similar in Miami and I’ve been looking for a similar one because it was just so fresh and delish! Thank you! Can’t wait to share it with family :D
You’re welcome, Angie!
Hi Kate, I had to add 3+ tbsp of honey into the acidic dressing but it was still too sour. Can you advise where I might have gone wrong?
You might be sensitive to sour testing things. You can change the lemon and vinegar amount, the next time. I am a Mediterranean, I added one more fresh lemon to the recipe. Ingredients are such complements to quinoa, one of the best I tried so far. Thank you, Kate!
Trying this today using black beans. Thank you.
My first time every eating quinoa & making too.. Really crazy to do. I don’t even like salads but this recipe is delicious! I’m so surprised at how refreshing & yummy it is. Thank you!
I used sweet onion and balsamic vinegar (that’s what I had ) and the salad is DELICIOUS! This will become a regular on our Menue!
Great to hear, Susanne!
This was so good. I didn’t have quinoa on hand so I used orzo and it was perfection!
Really enjoyed this salad!
Thank you for your review, Diane!
Can you substitute quinoa with orzo? or would that not taste good?
Orange Orzo Salad with Almonds, Feta and Olives You could try this salad!
This is delicious! Thank you.
You’re welcome, Lisa!
Does anyone know the total calories per serving?
Hi Stephanie, the nutritional information is below the notes section of the blog.
So good. Just made this for a beach gathering tomorrow. I’m hoping it stores well until tomorrow. I had a question: why do you deseed the cucumber?
I find the texture is better and as the salad sits, the cucumber holds up better. I’m happy you enjoyed it!
So good! I used to make tabbouleh but now trying to stay away from gluten and I think this tastes even better! Love the idea of adding some feta on top. Thank you
You’re welcome, Mary!
I looked after the notes section and don’t see the nutritional information anywhere. Can you please share the info?
Hi Lynne, It is right below the notes section, you have to click to expand. Be sure you are allowing enough load time. It’s right above: “Did you make this recipe?”
I plan to add so e chopped mint today.
Oh my goodness !
I am not one to post comments, but D A N G, this dish is delicious!
I look forward to trying your other recipes (and Bota minis)….
Thank you !
Hi Kate. Your recipes look and sound awesome. I’m just wondering if you have any ideas about a Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad. I’m a little autistic about food, nothing kills my appetite faster than someone putting a salad of raw vegetables in front of me. Once had a cookbook with a beautiful recipe for RV&Q Salad, but unfortunately I have somehow lost that cookbook. Any ideas would be greatly received.
Kindest regards,
Ross Chatterton
I have made this recipe several times and it is always delicious! Cooking the quinoa uncovered is genius, Thanks for offering it to us!
You’re welcome, Donna!
Amazing salad! I forgo the dressing and saute the veggies slightly with only tsp. of olive oil. Cuts the calories but taste amazing!
I’ve made this recipe many times. It’s great just as it is but sometimes I change it up depending on what I have at home.
I’ve added cherry tomatoes and the feta cheese.
Today I added jalapeno and sweet basil since I had it in the garden and didn’t have parsley.
Thank you for a good and healthy recipe. Great to take to potlucks.
Kathy
We love this salad and make it all the time. We sometimes use black beans and avocados instead of chickpeas and that’s great too. Thanks for all your delish recipes!
You’re welcome, Gretchen!
Can I replace the parsley with cilantro?
I prefer it as written, but you can try it!
I just did this. Trader Joe’s was out of parsley so I used cilantro. It is still very good, but it was a bit better last time I made it with the parsley.
Is it ok to add corn?
Sure, let me know what you think!
I love this salad! I have made it so many times…at least twice a month! Sometimes I add some crumbled feta cheese. So yummy!
I’m in the UK and have the age-old problem of converting US cups to grams! I’ve searched online for the answer but they range from 1 cup = 123g to 200g, so I still don’t know. Also, I imagine 1 cup of uncooked quinoa would weigh more in grams than 1 cup of parsley. How can I work this out? Or do you have a metric version of this recipe anywhere? I’d love to make this for a shared lunch tomorrow, but need to get it right! Thank you :)
Love this salad I make it once a week as I love it so much
Thank you for your review, Pauline!
This is THE BEST quinoa salad. Puts all the restaurant/deli/store ones I have purchased to shame! Don’t forget to add the feta. That took it up another notch!
Great to hear, Brandy! I appreciate your review.
This is really very good, I could eat this every day. I followed the recipe closely and I will make it for Thanksgiving
Wow just made this and my gut is thanking you after eating so much junk over the holidays! Only thing I did differently was roast the chickpeas with some tumeric for a bit because I have done that before for a different recipe and like the taste and texture. Thanks for the keeper recipe!
This is such a great salad! It is healthy and delicious. My whole family loves it and I regularly get requests to bring this to BBQs and potlucks. We like to serve it with some crumbled feta on top.
Can you use lemon juice that’s sold in a container instead of from fresh lemons?
Hi there,
I’m planning on cooking this salad up for work lunches, and would love to layer in a mason jar.
Can you suggest how I might best layer the ingredients (ready to toss in my lunch bowl)?
Thanks!
This is a wonderful Quinoa Salad. I made it a bit easier by using persian cucumbers (no peeling or seeding). It comes together really easily and the lemon juice (meyer lemons are in season now) added a delicious freshness to it.
Thank you for a such a healthy salad to add to my rotation!
I’m crazy for the quinoa salad! So yummy! I used half the quinoa but that’s just me. If you like lots of quinoa go for it!!
I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is so refreshing and good!! Thank you for this!
Love this, I add cukes, tomatoes and feta!!
This recipe is delicious! Thank you for sharing :)
Can’t get enough of this salad!!! It’s so delicious!
I always add sultana raisins, and if I have them, black olives.
Fantastic salad. Thanks for the recipe.
Omg this is my favourite salad now, it’s so good I’ve been making it almost everyday so healthy, very filling and delicious
My go to summer dish for those hot nights. Mix with some tuna and light delicious and healthy!
This is one of my favorite lunch prep recipes! I normally serve it in a romaine lettuce leaf with feta and top and it’s just perfect. As always, Cookie and Kate’s recipes are amazing.
Obsessed with this salad! I add extra lemon juice
This is my go-to quinoa salad recipe. It’s delicious! Every time I take it to potluck someone asks me for the recipe. It’s great as is, but sometimes I add additional fresh herbs like mint and dill.
I’ve been making this as a make ahead lunch for my husband and I, it is hands down my favorite quinoa salad ever! I cut down the olive oil to 1/8 cup, use chopped spinach instead of parsley, and juice a single lemon. It’s so so good, especially with a little drizzle of balsamic glaze. Thanks for sharing!
This was lovely and thank you for the clear instructions on how to cook the Quinoa- it came out perfect. Made it for the week and it was gone in one seating; my family loved it! This will be a staple in our fridge.
A big thank you from Nairobi Kenya!
Lute
Oh no!!! Please delete that last comment. I accidently posted it on the wrong recipe! I haven’t tried this one yet! So sorry!!!