Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
A Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe that can be served warm or cold! Healthy, delicious, easy, greek quinoa salad that’s great as a side! This post is sponsored by our friends at Bob’s Red Mill.
Quinoa Salad is the perfect easy side dish for meal prep or bringing to a BBQ!
Gluten free, light, and refreshing- this easy summer salad is delicious and loaded with flavor while being simple to make!
This hearty quinoa salad is lower calorie, filling, veggie loaded and so delicious!
Using quinoa in a cold salad is perfect for summertime and sure to be a hit at any BBQ potluck you attend!
liz’s top tips for Mediterranean quinoa salad
- We recommend rinsing quinoa before cooking as it can remove its bitter taste. You don’t need to soak quinoa because it can make the quinoa too mushy when you cook it.
- Always use fresh lemon juice! The bottled kind won’t taste as good.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Quinoa: You can sub in red quinoa in this recipe.
Red Onion: Red onion is optional. Feel free to omit it.
Kalamata Olives: We haven’t tried this recipe with any other olives besides kalamata olives. I’m not sure how it would taste with a substitute.
Cherry Tomatoes: You can use finely chopped tomatoes or plum tomatoes. Regular tomatoes might result in a mushy salad. We recommend using cherry tomatoes.
Cucumbers: We haven’t made this recipe without cucumber but I think it would work.
Feta Cheese: You can substitute feta with goat cheese or omit the cheese to make this dairy free
Olive Oil: You can substitute olive oil with avocado oil.
Lemon Juice: Do not use bottled lemon juice. Use fresh lemon juice. You can substitute with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar.
Dried Herbs: You can substitute dried herbs with fresh herbs. Use 2x the amount of fresh herbs.
Red Wine Vinegar: A tablespoon of red wine vinegar would be a nice addition to this recipe.
Add Ins: This recipe is very versatile! Add in more veggies, spices, cheeses- really anything you like! You can also try this CopyCat Costco Quinoa Salad.
Dressing: I haven’t tried this with other dressings, but I think it would work. This recipe doesn’t need dressing as it has olive oil and spices in it. It would go great with a greek dressing or Italian dressing. Check out these Healthy Salad Dressings!
We love cooking with Bob’s Red Mill organic grains and flours. They’re affordable, healthy, and can be used in so many ways.
From this quinoa salad to Easy Farro Salad Recipe, Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal, and even Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal – our pantry is filled with Bob’s Red Mill goods to make all our favorite recipes.
How To Make Mediterranean quinoa salad
- Cook quinoa per instructions in water. While quinoa cooks, chop your red onion, olives, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.
- Once quinoa has cooked, add to a large bowl with chopped veggies and remaining ingredients. Toss until combined & enjoy!
How to Serve Cold Quinoa Salad
Cold Quinoa Salad goes with pretty much anything. It’s perfect for a BBQ side dish or for meal prepping.
Here are some of my favorite thing to serve this Quinoa Salad with:
- Greek Chicken Kabobs
- Balsamic Grilled Chicken
- Lemon Salmon
- Healthy Pulled Pork
- Green Beans Almondine
You can also serve this quinoa salad with our Healthy Chicken Salad for a no cook, cold lunch!
Storage
Quinoa Salad is best eaten fresh right after you make it.
How long does quinoa salad last? Quinoa salad can stay in the fridge for up to 5 days. After that, it will start to get a bit soggy and the veggies will not be as crisp.
Can you freeze cooked quinoa salad? Do not freeze quinoa salad. It will not be good if frozen. (Tomatoes and cucumbers don’t freeze well)
Other healthy side dish recipes:
If you’re looking for other side dish recipes, check out these:
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup red onion finely chopped
- ½ cup kalamata olives chopped
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes quartered (1 pint)
- 1 ½ cups cucumbers quartered
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed, low salt
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of one lemon)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme optional
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook quinoa per instructions in water.
- While quinoa cooks, chop your red onion, olives, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.
- Once quinoa has cooked, add to a large bowl with chopped veggies and remaining ingredients.
- Stir until combined & enjoy!
Great, my family enjoyed it. I purchased quinoa that was already rinsed so I could skip this step and had no problem with bitterness.
The only thing I did not have was the Black Olives. but is was IS yummy. I expect I will enjoy it again tomorrow….siince my” mom sitter ” did not arrive in time for dinner aah well such is life in the fast lane .
YUMMY think I will make this one tonight !
and I had to laugh The perons plate had 8 ribs ! That is a lot of rubs! !