Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

This crowd-pleasing Mediterranean Quinoa Salad (also called quinoa chickpea salad) is my favorite cold quinoa salad recipe to make! It’s loaded with healthy ingredients and classic mediterranean flavors.  

This easy quinoa Mediterranean salad embodies fresh Mediterranean flavors with garbanzo beans, quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes, purple onion, red bell peppers, artichoke herts, kalamata olives and lots of fresh basil    It’s light and delicious and perfect for summer dining alfresco.

I make this quinoa Mediterranean salad recipe about once a week.  I love having a big healthy salad like this chilling in the refrigerator so I’ve got lunch covered for a few days.  It’s healthy, light, delicious and filling.  It calls for cooked quinoa, so if you’ve never made quinoa before, you can check out my link on how to make quinoa so it turns out perfectly fluffy every time.  

Quinoa Mediterranean Salad Recipe

This cold quinoa salad is one of my favorite salads to make. Here’s what you’ll need…

• Cooked quinoa  – I like to use tri-color quinoa for this salad, but any quinoa will do.
• Cucumber – I love the freshness and crunch of cucumber in this salad
• Red pepper – The flavor of red pepper is the sweetest, but any color can be used.
• Red onion – You can use green onion if you prefer it over red onion.
• Tomatoes – I like to use heirloom or regular cherry tomatoes, but you can chop up regular garden tomatoes to toss in if you don’t have cherry tomatoes on hand.
• Canned garbanzo beans – I use low sodium or no sodium canned chickpeas.
• Marinated artichoke hearts – These add a little perk to this salad.
• Kalamata olives – I love kalamata olives and they add so much flavor to this salad.
• Fresh basil – Adds a fresh pop of flavor.
• Vinaigrette – The vinaigrette that I use for this salad is light and delicious, but you can use whatever dressing you prefer. This Greek Salad Dressing, Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette, Italian Salad Dressing, and Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing also work well with this quinoa chickpea salad.

 How to Make It

1. Make dressing. Combine ingredient in a mason jar and shake well.  Refrigerate before serving.
2. Cook quinoa. Add water and quinoa to saucepan and bring to a boil. Place lid on saucepan and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool in pan.
3. Prepare vegetables. Chop ingredients and place in large bowl.
4. Toss ingredients. Add the cooled quinoa to the bowl and toss.  Drizzle with enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the salad ingredients.
5. Chill. Best if chilled before serving. Serve with extra vinaigrette if desired.

Quinoa Salad Dressing

This quinoa chickpea salad is loaded with a really great combination of ingredients that are lightly tossed with this delicious Healthy Citrus Vinaigrette!   To make the dressing, just place all of the ingredients in a mason jar. With the lid tightly sealed, shake until the ingredients are well blended.

Benefits of Quinoa

• Quinoa is rich with plant protein, iron, fiber, antioxidants and  phytonutrients.
• Quinoa is one of the most protein rich foods we can eat.  And it contains 9 essential amino acids.   

White Quinoa vs Red Quinoa

What’s the difference between white quinoa vs red quinoa? Red quinoa has slightly less protein than the pale quinoa with 5 grams of protein per 1/4 cup compared to 7 grams of protein per 1/4 cup for the pale (or golden) quinoa.  But red quinoa trumps the golden quinoa by providing double the amount of fiber per 1/4 cup with 5 grams of fiber, compared to the 2 grams of fiber that the golden quinoa provides. You can use either white or red quinoa for this salad.

Looking for more quinoa salad recipes to make? 

• Best Quinoa Salad
• Quinoa Black Bean Salad
• Southwest Quinoa Salad
• Spinach Quinoa Salad
• Mexican Quinoa Salad
• Asian Quinoa Salad
• Mango Arugula Quinoa Salad
• Crunchy Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
• Beet Kale Quinoa Salad

Want more ideas?  Check out all my healthy quinoa salad recipes.

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Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

This crowd-pleasing Mediterranean Quinoa Salad (also called quinoa chickpea salad) is one of my favorite quinoa salad recipes!  It's rich with healthy ingredients and classic mediterranean flavors.  

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 12-14 heirloom or regular cherry tomatoes
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 12 - 14 kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced into ribbons
• 1/2 cup vinaigrette

For the Vinaigrette

• 1-1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or honey)
• 2/3 cup light olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place the quinoa in a sieve and rinse under cold water for just a minute.
2. Place the quinoa in a saucepan with 2 cups water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about 15 - 18 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let set in the pan for about 5 minutes then fluff with a fork or spoon.
5. Transfer the quinoa to a bowl or cookie sheet covered with wax paper and place in the refrigerator to cool.
6. Place all of the prepared ingredients and the cooled quinoa in a large bowl.
7. Add the vinaigrette and lightly toss to incorporate.
8. Chill before serving. Serve with extra vinaigrette if desired.

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE

1. Place all of the ingredients in a mason jar. With the lid tightly sealed, shake until the ingredients are completely blended together.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 400Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 488mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 6gSugar: 9gProtein: 8g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations.