Garden Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
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This garden quinoa salad is packed with fresh vegetables and tossed with a bright lemon vinaigrette. It’s a healthy quinoa salad that’s perfect for meal prep, lunches, or a light dinner.
It's also a super flexible salad; add in whatever garden vegetables you like. Plus it tastes great warm or cold.
This Garden Veggie Quinoa Salad originated in a recipe that I got from a friend named Kim. I changed up the dressing some and had a fun discovery that made it into the super versatile quinoa salad that it is today.
One night, we had college students over for a meal kind of spontaneously so I didn't have food ready. I thought about making this Quinoa Salad because it comes together in a jiffy, but realized I only had frozen broccoli in the house. Well, frozen broccoli and I aren't friends, and it didn't sound like the quinoa salad would like it either, so I was stumped. For a bit.
I ended up picking some lettuce from our aeroponic gardens, added some more lettuce and tomatoes that a friend had so graciously given us the day before and whipped up what is now “Adrienne's Garden Veggie Quinoa Salad.”
Why You'll Love this Garden Quinoa Salad
First of all, this salad is a whole food. Nothing processed.
It's also easily adaptable to special diets. It's Whole30 compliant, can be made low-carb, paleo, or AIP with the use of cauliflower rice instead of quinoa, it can also work for the THM eating plan and is an S when made with cauliflower rice, or a crossover done with the quinoa.
It's fast. Especially if you have a pressure cooker for cooking the quinoa.
It's LOADED with veggies. I love hearty cooked vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, but salads? Not so much.
But salads, even with the bestest of dressings (like this Dairy-Free Ranch or this Dairy-Free Avocado Dressing) can get a bit boring, so sometimes you want something different. Enter this heavy-on-the-veggies Quinoa Salad. Many quinoa salads out there are pretty heavy on the quinoa, but this one is heavy on the veggies an lighter on the quinoa so you can serve this up to your family knowing that with every serving they're getting a huge helping of nutrition.
A Note About Quinoa
Quinoa is funny grain that's technically really a seed. Plus it's hard to spell and pronounce. It's pronounced “keen-wa”: not “Keen-oh-ah” or “quin-oh-ah.”
It's also very versatile. It works with so many other ingredients due to its adaptable nature. For example, it's great ingredient not only in this salad, but also in this Dairy-Free Quiche with Quinoa Crust.
Ingredients
- quinoa
- raw veggies (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, etc.)
- butter (omit or use coconut oil for vegan)
Dressing
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- garlic (or more; minced)
- salt
- black pepper
- dried parsley (or fresh)
- onion powder
Directions
Make the dressing and set aside. Prepare the vegetables. Cook the quinoa. Let the quinoa cool a bit and then add the vegetables and the dressing, and toss to coat.
Recipe Notes and Special Diet Options
- Quinoa rinsing and toasting: Unless the quinoa package states that the quinoa has already been rinsed, you definitely want to do this. Quinoa has a coating called saponin that is bitter and should be removed before cooking. You can skip the toasting step if you like. It adds more depth to the final dish.
- Vegan/Dairy-free: Use coconut oil for the butter or omit butter.
- Low-Carb/Keto/ AIP: You can turn this recipe into a keto version by using cauliflower rice instead of quinoa.
- Trim Healthy Mama: This recipe is a crossover as written, but an S if made with cauliflower rice.
- Veggies: You can use any vegetables you like, but the ones pictured are a great flavor combination.
- Dressing: 1 cup of dressing makes for a nicely-flavored salad but we like our dishes with more oomph so we add more dressing to the salad.
- Temperature: You can make this recipe with cold quinoa as well, but the vegetables won't wilt. Either way works, but we prefer the wilted option.
Garden Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Quinoa and Veggies
- 1 1/2 cups raw quinoa (cooked according to directions)
- 2 cups water
- 12 cups raw veggies (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, etc.)
- 1 tablespoon butter (omit or use coconut oil for vegan)
Dressing
- 2/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic or more; minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 20 grinds black pepper
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley or 1/2 cup fresh
- 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
Instructions
- Rinse and drain quinoa, if needed.
- Wash and finely chop the vegetables.
- Toast the quinoa, if desired, in a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Add water, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
- Simmer until the water is fully absorbed and the quinoa is tender, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Place quinoa in a large bowl.
- Stir in butter.
- Set aside to cool a bit.
- Combine all dressing ingredients in small bowl.
- Add the chopped vegetables to the warm quinoa. Pour at least 1 cup of the dressing over the top and stir well to combine.
Notes
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- Vegan/Dairy-free: Use coconut oil for the butter or omit butter.
-
- Vegetable options: You can use any vegetables you like, but the ones pictured are a great flavor combination.
-
- Dressing: 1 cup of dressing makes for a nicely-flavored salad but we like our dishes with more oomph so we typically add more than that.
-
- Quinoa Temperature: You can make this recipe with cold quinoa as well, but the vegetables won't wilt. Either way works, but we prefer the wilted option.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Note: Nutrition count will vary depending on which vegetable you use.
Do you like quinoa?
Have you had quinoa salad before or not, and if so, did you like it?
How is something with butter, Vegan?
Hi there. Thanks for reading and thanks for the heads up! We had a lot of information that didn’t get transferred over when we moved the recipes to a new platform. I just added that information into the recipe and the notes. Thanks again and hope you like it. The images really don’t do it justice. I hope to have them redone soon. 🙂
Don’t see the recipe for the butter dressing called for. Did a search on your blog, but didn’t find it there either. Am I missing it somehow?
Hi there. There’s a dressing recipe in w/ the salad. The heading isn’t bolded but we’re doing work on recipes now so hopefully it will be soon. Let me know if you don’t see it and hope you like it!
Oh, duh! Thanks!
No problem! Hope you like it!
I made this last night for my family and HOLY SMOKES!!! It was a huge hit, even with my 12-year old food critic! The dressing is a perfect complement to the fresh veggies and quinoa and my family loved it so much, I ended up having to make a second batch. My meat-eating family members were able to add some grilled chicken, making this the perfect meal for all of us. Thank you, Adrienne, for another healthy option for my entire family.
Thanks so much, Melynda! This made my day! I LOVE the idea of adding the grilled chicken! My 12 yo critic likes it too!
It looks like a wonderful salad with all those vegetables and the protein of quinoa! Perfect for the late summer when the garden is still plentiful
We love it! Hope you do as well! Yes, it’s very much a great option for late summer / early fall veggies!