Summer Quinoa Salad

Summer Quinoa Salad is a healthy and easy to make salad that’s full of summer’s best vegetables! Dressed in a lemon vinaigrette, it’s a fresh and flavorful salad that’s perfect for lunch, a side dish or even a meatless dinner!

It’s hard to believe it’s the last week in July. School is starting up again in a couple weeks, which seems early since there’s still plenty of summer left. Even though I’m already seeing pumpkin and fall recipes on Pinterest, I refuse to push the seasons. Especially summer, it’s my favorite. Instead, I’ll be pushing you to make this Summer Quinoa Salad and to keep taking advantage of all the wonderful summer produce that’s available.

This Summer Quinoa Salad is one that works great for meal prep. It can be used for lunches during the week or a lighter dinner. This is a vegetarian salad, which can also be made vegan simply by swapping out the honey for agave in the vinaigrette. Despite the lack of animal protein in this salad, there’s plenty of plant based protein. 

Both quinoa and chickpeas supply the protein and heartiness in this salad. Based on four servings, you’ll get nearly 10 grams of protein from the chickpeas and another 4 from the quinoa. Pair that with the fiber and you’ll be feeling quite satisfied. 

As for the summer vegetables, there’s cucumbers, tomatoes, corn and basil. All of this is tossed together in a lemon vinaigrette which gives the salad a bright, fresh flavor. If you’re like my husband and quinoa’s not your thing, give this Summer Vegetable Orzo Salad a try or swap out the quinoa with orzo.

I often prefer to use quinoa instead of rice in salads like this because to be honest, I stink at cooking rice. Mine always ends up gummy and sticking to the bottom of the pan. Quinoa however, I’m a rockstar at cooking. Below is the method I use and it works every time. 

How to Cook Quinoa

1. Measure out 1 cup of quinoa. Pour the quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse it under water. Rinsing the quinoa removes the bitter residue on the outside of it. 
2. Dump the quinoa into a saucepan and cover it with 2 cups of water. Add in salt to taste and stir. 
3. Bring the quinoa to a boil. Once it’s boiling lower the heat and let it simmer with the lid on for approximately 15-20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let it rest with the lid on for another 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff the quinoa and season as needed, unless you are using it in another recipe, such as this Summer Quinoa Salad.

For this recipe you’ll want to let the quinoa cool completely. I like to make it a day ahead of time, but chilling it in the fridge for an hour will be plenty of time. Once the quinoa is cooked there’s not much work left to make the salad. Add in the vegetables, pour on the vinaigrette and stir everything together until it’s coated.

If you’re going to serve this quinoa salad as a side dish, here are some suggestions for what to serve with it.

What Should I Serve with the Summer Quinoa Salad? 

Lemon Dill Grilled Shrimp with Yogurt Herb Sauce

Chipotle Maple Grilled Salmon

Brazilian Steak Kabobs

Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes

More Quinoa Salads

Stone Fruit Quinoa Salad

Harvest Quinoa Salad

Winter Quinoa Kale Salad

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Yield: 4 servings

Summer Quinoa Salad

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa
• 1 cup chopped Persian or English cucumber
• 1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup corn, fresh or frozen and defrosted
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the salad in a large serving bowl.
2. In a small jar add all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Cover with the lid and shake until well combined. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and stir until everything is coated. Taste for seasoning. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 283Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 119mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 7gSugar: 10gProtein: 14g