Easy Quinoa Salad with Feta

This Easy Quinoa Salad with Feta is such a healthy option for lunch, meal prep, or for your next picnic! Packed with nutritious ingredients like high-protein quinoa, fresh vegetables, filling black beans and a lemon and apple cider vinegar dressing. It's simple and delicious!

This quinoa salad is perfect any time of the year.

For any meal, any occasion - it totally rocks.

It's perfect for lunch meal preps or for when you're having a picnic or potluck and need a really BIG salad.

This quinoa salad recipe is packed with vegetables and beans.

If you're into a quinoa and fruit salad, you might want to check out is this one that's loaded with delicious fruit:

Summer Quinoa Salad with Blueberries and Mango.

So yummy!😋

Here's what you'll need to make this Quinoa Salad with Feta:

• Quinoa - about 3 cups cooked
• Red pepper
• Celery
• Cucumber
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup of feta cheese

And for the quinoa salad dressing:

• Olive oil
• 1 lemon
• Honey - the liquid kind
• Apple cider vinegar (or use red wine vinegar if you don't have the apple cider kind)
• Salt and pepper
• Green onions

See recipe card below for quantities and instructions.

What to serve with this Quinoa Salad with Feta:

Honestly, this easy quinoa salad is perfect just on it's own (see below for why it's so freaking awesome).

But sometimes, especially if I'm using the salad as part of a meal prep, I'll add a protein of some sort.

Here are some protein-packed options for what pairs well with quinoa salad:

• Chicken - my go-to recipe for chicken breasts in a meal prep (or for a weeknight dinner) is this simple recipe for Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Breast
• Eggs - hard boiled
• Halloumi cheese - check out this recipe for Grilled Halloumi Salad with Tomato and Parsley
• Hummus
• Shrimp - here's a recipe for Easy Sweet and Spicy Shrimp that would be a delicious pairing
• Tofu
• Tuna

This is a great salad to make for meal prep too because it keep for about 3 days in the fridge.

Is quinoa salad good for you?

Yes, quinoa salad is a healthy option for sure.

Fun fact: Quinoa itself is technically a seed. I know, right?!

The quinoa plant belongs to the amaranth family - a naturally gluten-free option!

The quinoa seeds provides a ton of nutrition, mainly:

• Protein
• Fibre
• B vitamins - B6, B2, B1
• Folate
• Minerals - manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc

It's also economical, easy to cook, and really versatile (aka you can do a lotta stuff with it.)

When you first go gluten-free, adding quinoa to your life opens up a ton of healthy possibilities.

Make ahead tips:

Cook the quinoa

To save some time the day of, you can cook the quinoa 1 day before putting this salad together.

Follow the instructions on the container of quinoa you have at home or use my proportions and steps for cooking quinoa:

• Use 2 cups of water for every 1 ¼ cup dry quinoa
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low
• Cook with the lid on for about 15 minutes
• Remove from heat and fluff with a fork
• This makes approximately 3 cups of cooked quinoa

Cooking the quinoa in some broth - either chicken or vegetable broth (low sodium) - adds some extra flavour.

I like cooking the quinoa in vegetable broth for this recipe.

Cooked quinoa will stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days.

You can also freeze cooked quinoa.

After cooking and cooling the quinoa, place in a ziplock bag or container with an air-tight lid. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Take out of the freezer the night before you want to use it so it can thaw in the fridge.

I don't recommend freezing this quinoa salad recipe though as the tomatoes don't do well with the freezing and thawing process.

Prep and chop the vegetables

You can wash and chop all the veggies the day before too.

Chop the celery, dice the cucumber and red pepper, and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

Keep the prepped veggies covered in the fridge until you're ready to put the salad together.

Make the salad dressing

You can whisk up the salad dressing and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it too.

• If you're making this quinoa salad for meal prep, you can make the dressing the day before and keep it in the fridge.

• If you're making this quinoa salad to be eaten as part of a meal in one sitting (lunch, dinner, potluck, etc), you can whisk up the dressing up to 3 days before.

Variations

One of the best things about quinoa salad is how many different vegetables and fruits go with quinoa.

There are so many healthy options - the yummy combinations feel endless!

Here's a list of my favourite vegetables, fruit and beans that go well with quinoa in a salad:

• Apple
• Arugula
• Avocado
• Beets
• Black beans
• Blueberries
• Chickpeas
• Corn
• Cranberries
• Cucumber
• Dill
• Edamame
• Fennel
• Feta
• Goat cheese
• Grapefruit
• Green beans
• Jicama
• Olives
• Oranges
• Lemon
• Lentils
• Lettuce
• Mango
• Mint
• Nectarine
• Parsley
• Pomegranate seeds
• Roasted vegetables - warm quinoa salad is a thing!
• Romain lettuce
• Spinach
• Sweet potatoes - roasted
• Tomato
• Watermelon
• Zucchini

Here's a few combinations of flavours that make for a yummy and healthy quinoa salad:

• Black bean mango
• Cranberry and feta cheese
• Kale and chickpea
• Kale and cranberry
• Kale with sweet potato
• Lemon chickpea
• Lentil and chickpea
• Lentil and sweet potato
• Mango anad avocado quinoa salad
• Tomato and cucumber
• Roasted sweet potato and pomegranate seeds

Top tips:

1. This recipe make a lot. That's why it's perfect to make for lunches for the week ahead or any meal prep.
2. If you're making it to take to a potluck, get a big container out with a lid and this salad travels well.
3. See below in the comments because this salad can be a great way to use up some romaine lettuce, for example.
4. If you have vegetables in the fridge that are looking a little sad (aka wilting), you can probably throw them into this quinoa salad so they don't go to waste.

If you do make this quinoa salad and love it, please rate and comment below.

I love to hear from you🙋‍♀️

~April

PS. Looking for more gluten-free, healthy recipes for supper? Check these out:

• Healthy Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup (no beans)
• Easy Winter Soup with Beans
• One Pan Chicken Breast with Zucchini and Peaches
• Spinach and Citrus Salad with Sweet and Spicy Almonds
• Easy Sweet and Spicy Shrimp
• Easy Spiced Chicken Salad with Brown Rice
• Healthy Taco Salad with Ground Beef and Kidney Beans
• Starbucks Chicken and Vegetables Protein Box Copycat

This post was originally published on November 8th, 2021. Updated copy and recipe tested and re-posted March 9th, 2022.