Go-To Quinoa Salad

This versatile quinoa salad recipe pairs crunchy veggies with a zingy dressing! It’s ideal as a side dish, for lunches, picnics, and more.

Here’s a workhorse salad that’s fresh, delicious and ultra versatile: this deli-style Quinoa Salad! There are loads of ways to make a salad with this fluffy grain and after experimenting for years, we’ve found the one. This recipe is delightfully refreshing, a jumble of crunchy, colorful veggies, fluffy quinoa grains, and a zingy Dijon mustard vinaigrette. It’s vegetable-packed, making it a great way to add veggies as a dinner side dish, lunch idea, or even picnics or potlucks. Come, experience the magic!

Tricks to cooking & cooling quinoa

Quinoa can be little tricky to get right: even for seasoned cooking pros! It can easily come out waterlogged and soggy. We’ve got a few tips for how to cook quinoa so it’s fluffy and ready for this quinoa salad:

• Use our optimized water ratio for fluffy grains. Most recipes for quinoa suggest a ratio of 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water, but can come out soggy. After extensive testing, we’ve developed a new quinoa to water ratio: try 1 cup quinoa to 1 ¾ cups water. Simmer it up, and it makes for fluffy grains that aren’t waterlogged.
• Cool before using in the salad: here’s a trick! You can’t use dump the freshly cooked grain right in the salad: it’s too hot and moist. Instead, we’ve got a trick: place it in a single layer on a baking sheet, then pop it in the freezer for 2 to 3 minutes. Then you can use the room temperature quinoa right away!
• Or, make the quinoa in advance. If you like, you can make the quinoa up to 1 day in advance and refrigerate until serving: then you can skip the cooling step.

This quinoa salad recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free and vegan (without the optional feta cheese).

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 1 cup finely chopped curly parsley
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 English cucumber, diced (peeled if using a standard cucumber)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 to 1 bunch Tuscan kale* (aka Lacinato or dinosaur kale), chopped into bite sized pieces
• 3 green onions
• ¼ cup minced shallot or red onion, (optional)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Fresh ground black pepper
• ⅓ cup feta crumbles, optional

Instructions

1. Make the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa using a fine mesh strainer, then drain it completely. Place it in a saucepan with 1 ¾ cups water and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer where the water is just bubbling for about 15 to 18 minutes, until the water has been completely absorbed. (Check by pulling back the quinoa with a fork to see if water remains.) Turn off the heat and let sit with the lid on to steam for 5 minutes, then fluff the quinoa with a fork. (This step can be completed the day before; refrigerate the quinoa until ready to make the salad.)
2. Cool the quinoa to room temperature: If making the salad immediately after cooking the quinoa, here’s a trick: dump the quinoa onto a baking sheet and spread it in an even layer. Pop it in the freezer for 2 to 3 minutes until cooled to room temperature. 
3. Chop and season the vegetables: Chop the parsley, tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, Tuscan kale, and onions as noted in the ingredient list above. Mix them in a large bowl with the remaining ¾ teaspoon kosher salt and the dried basil. 
4. Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey or maple syrup, vinegar, and Dijon mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until fully combined and an emulsion forms. 
5. Mix the salad: Stir together the quinoa, vegetables and dressing. Eat immediately, or marinate 30 minutes to 24 hours before serving (then taste and add additional salt if needed). Stores 3 to 5 days refrigerated.