Healthy Quinoa Recipes coming your way! I’m sharing my favorites, plus a new Quinoa and Veggie Salad that’s packed with flavor and a honey-lime dressing.
Healthy Quinoa Recipes: Quinoa Salads
I love quinoa, and my whole family does too—we eat it all the time! If you join us for dinner, you’ll probably find quinoa on the table.
This quinoa salad is a family favorite, along with many others. Here’s a list of our favorite quinoa salads for some meal inspiration:
- Quinoa Salad with avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lemon-basil dressing.
- Caprese Quinoa Salad with mozzarella, tomatoes, avocado, and balsamic dressing.
- Quinoa Fruit Salad with fresh berries, mango, and citrus dressing.
- Kale and Quinoa Salad with berries and sweet balsamic dressing.
- Thai Quinoa Salad with mango, veggies, herbs, and peanut dressing.
- Sweet Potato-Quinoa Salad with roasted potatoes, avocado, and lemon dressing.
- Citrus Quinoa Salad with pistachios, citrus, and lemon dressing.
- Southwest Quinoa Salad with black beans, roasted corn, and cilantro-lime dressing.
- Quinoa Corn Salad with avocado, corn, beans, cilantro, and chipotle-lime dressing.
- Quinoa and Almond Salad with almonds, sunflower seeds, apples, and raspberry dressing.
- Greek Quinoa Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, feta, and Greek dressing.
- Quinoa Apple Salad with apples, pears, pistachios, cranberries, and lemon-poppy seed dressing.
Healthy Quinoa Recipes: Savory Entrees
Quinoa is great in so many savory dishes, not just salads. Here are our favorite quinoa dinner ideas:
- Quinoa Tacos with black beans, corn, tomatoes, and enchilada sauce
- Crockpot Quinoa with peppers, onions, and fajita seasoning
- Quinoa Enchilada Bake with Ground Turkey and Cheddar cheese
- Mexican Quinoa with butternut squash and black beans
- Chicken Quinoa Bowl with grilled chicken and mango salsa
- Bruschetta Chicken served over quinoa
- Crockpot Chicken Quinoa Soup with veggies and fire-roasted tomatoes
Healthy Quinoa and Veggie Salad
Now that we’ve talked about quinoa, let’s dive into this easy veggie quinoa salad recipe!
My top tip for chilled quinoa salads is to make the quinoa ahead of time. Once the quinoa is cooled, prep time goes faster. Waiting for quinoa to cook and cool takes time, so do it in advance!
If you’re making the quinoa and salad at the same time, here’s a quick cooling trick: Spread the cooked quinoa on a sheet pan in an even layer. Put it in the fridge (or freezer) for 10-15 minutes until it cools to room temperature.
Featured Comment
“I’ve been making this each Sunday night for weeks as a “prep” lunch for my husband and I. It’s a great way to keep lunch healthy and not get the 3pm sleepy feeling.”
– Karrie
Healthy Quinoa Recipes (Tips)
New to quinoa? Try some of these tips for success:
- Rinse quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water for 30 seconds to remove the bitter coating. Some quinoa comes pre-rinsed, so check the package.
- Let sit: After cooking, let it rest covered for 10-20 mins so the grains fully pop.
- Adjust liquid: If liquid remains, drain it. If quinoa isn’t tender and the liquid is gone, add a splash more.
- High in protein: Quinoa has about 24 grams of protein per cup.
- Season well: A little salt brings out the flavor in both the quinoa and the salad.
Storage
These healthy quinoa salads don’t keep well with dressing and avocado mixed in. Add dressing only to what you’ll eat.
Store the salad (without avocado) in the fridge for up to 3 days.
More Grain Filled Salads
Healthy Quinoa Recipes: Healthy Quinoa and Veggie Salad
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup white quinoa thoroughly rinsed
- 3 ounces (4 cups) baby spinach coarsely chopped, lightly packed
- 1 (15.25-ounce) can corn drained, or 1-1/2 cups frozen corn (thawed)
- 1 (15.25-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 5 to 6 green onions chopped, 3/4 cup
- 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large ripe avocado optional
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey use another sweetener for vegan
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 large limes
Instructions
- Prepare quinoa by rinsing it under cold water in a fine-mesh sieve to remove the bitter saponin coating. Combine quinoa and 2 cups water in a small pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon salt, reduce heat to low, and cover the pot. Simmer 10–15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, keep quinoa covered, and let stand 10–15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and place in the fridge or freezer to cool to room temperature. Quinoa can be prepared 3–4 days in advance.
- Add all dressing ingredients to a jar, including 1/2 teaspoon lime zest and 4 tablespoons lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, I add 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (use less if using table salt) and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; add to preference. Seal jar and shake vigorously to combine. Store in the fridge until ready to use. If making the dressing in advance, don’t be concerned if it separates or forms clumps—this is just the olive oil solidifying, which it does at cold temps. Remove from fridge 20–30 minutes before you need it; then shake it to remix.
- Lay the spinach out on a cutting board and run a knife through a few times to get a coarse chop. Drain corn or thaw frozen corn. Drain and rinse black beans. Halve cherry tomatoes. Chop the green onions and cilantro. Dice avocado if using.
- In a large bowl, toss together quinoa and spinach. Top with corn, black beans, cherry tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and avocado. This salad doesn’t sit well with the dressing and avocado mixed in. Toss and add dressing to only what you’ll be eating at this time. Taste and adjust seasonings. Toss and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I LOVE a good quinoa salad. This looks fabulous! You have rekindled my quinoa salad desires and I am going to have to do something about it soon!
Thanks Aubri! Let me know if you give this a try!
Quinoa is still fairly new to me so I love finding yummy recipes! This is so colorful, and the pictures are gorgeous! Thanks so much for linking up to Freedom Fridays ….. I’ve pinned this and shared it on FB 🙂
Thanks so much for the pin and facebook share Jamie! Have a wonderful week 🙂
this looks wonderful and delish! beautiful styling and photos too!! thanks for sharing
Thanks so much Julianaloh, it’s a great salad to kick off a healthier 2014!
Chelsea, this looks absolutely gorgeous! I am probably the only one around that has not tried quinoa. Now, I am going to. Everything about it looks very appetizing. I’ve just never found a great recipe… until now! I’ll let you know when I make it… pinned and printing out. (=
Thank you so much Gloria! Oh I’m so excited you are going to try it and finally try quinoa! I hope you like it. My husband wasn’t sure about it at first, but he likes it now and I’m pretty obsessed with it! Thanks again 🙂
I’ve never tried it either, but Thursday I’m going to make this!!!!
I love quinoa, this is my kinda salad. Packed with veggies and nutrients with a “side” of quinoa! 🙂 Pinning and sharing, thanks Chelsea!
This looks so amazing! I bet I could talk my man into eating quinoa if it came with black beans and cilantro, two of his Cuban-self’s very favorite things!
Haha! That’s the smart way to do it! Thanks for stopping by Natasha 🙂
I have just recently started getting on the quinoa bandwagon and this salad looks delicious! It has everything I have committed to eating more of in my life! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so in need of this right now. I’ve been stuffing my face with so many horrible foods the past month, I seriously can’t bear to think about exactly how much it’s been! Great dish and great pics!
Happy New Year:) This salad looks great Chelsea! We usually try to eat a lot of veggies and salad but definitely over indulged on heavier meals and treats over the holidays so a detox salad sounds perfect:) Love quinoa but have never tried cooking it directly with tomato bouillon but it sounds fantastic and really flavorful!
Thanks Kelly! Happy New Year to you as well! 🙂 I’m in the same boat haha, trying to bring in more healthy meals. I love the tomato bouillon in it, you’ll have to let me know what you think if you end up giving it a try!
Yum, I love salads like this! We eat pretty healthy all the time (with indulgences – don’t get me wrong!) but I love this time of year when everyone is posting such great healthy recipes! And this looks delicious!
I love it too! So motivating to get back on track. Like your delicious couscous salad, I need to try that out next!
What I love about these salads is how incredibly full they make you feel while being so light at the same time,Thank you so much Ms. Chelsea I’ll be making this soon.Xoxo