Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is a versatile one dish meal or a flavorful side. It is one of our favorite dishes to make for dinner and then enjoy all week long for lunch. We serve it at cookouts, take it to picnics, and serve it alongside our favorite grilled meats and green salad. This salad, however, is a delicious vegetarian meal in and of itself. Filled with protein from the quinoa, chickpeas, and cheese, it is very satisfying. We love to portion this into single serve containers and eat it as a meal on long car trips! It beats rest stop fast food any day.
Ingredient Options
Feel free to play around with the veggies and herbs in this quinoa salad to work with what you have on hand. I didn’t have any fresh herbs while making the salad shown in the photo, and it still had loads of flavor. The addition of the jarred roasted red peppers was a happy accident! I made this while we were on vacation (the night before we were packing up to go home) and wanted to use them up so they wouldn’t go to waste. They really bring additional depth of flavor to the dish. This entire recipe was actually created in an attempt to use up those “end of vacation” ingredients!
Enjoy All Year Round
While this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad may seem like a summer dish, it can also be served warm and enjoyed all year round. Toss in some jarred artichokes and olives in lieu of any fresh veggies that are out of season. Mince up some red or white onion in lieu of green onion. Season with dried basil and/or oregano if you can’t get your hands on fresh herbs. Toss in some roasted chicken or turkey if you have it on hand. The possibilities are endless!
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
Quinoa
- 2 cups quinoa cooked and cooled
- 1 large minced garlic cloves (cook with quinoa)
Veggies & Cheeses
- 4 green onions (greens and whites) sliced thin
- 1 large cucumber sliced and cut in quarters
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes or 5 or 6 Roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas
- 1 red/orange/yellow pepper, chopped
- 5-6 jarred roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1 8oz mozzarella ball, chopped into chunks
- 8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
- chopped fresh basil/parsley optional
- lemon zest optional
Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- ½ cup olive or avocado oil
- honey to taste
- salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Additional optional add-ins
- Jarred artichokes, chopped
- olives, chopped
- dried oregano and basil or greek seasoning to taste
- minced red or white onion, soaked in the vinaigrette for at least 10 minutes to soften the flavor
Instructions
- Mince garlic and cook with the quinoa according to package directions.
- While the quinoa is cooking, chop all the vegetables and cheeses
- Mix the vinaigrette. Whisk until emulsified. Taste it! Adjust ingredients to taste.
- Add vinaigrette to warm cooked quinoa. Toss to combine.
- Add all remaining ingredients. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold!
Notes
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