Loaded with the nutrients of vegetables along with a zesty and flavourful dressing, Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, is a delicious salad that can be made in under 10 minutes. Serve it on its own or a side dish for your weekend brunch.
If you like to binge on refreshing salads for a light meal, then do check these out – Chicken Cranberry Salad, Broccoli Apple Salad, Watermelon Feta Salad, Cucumber Avocado Salad, Som Tam Salad, Grilled Paneer Quinoa Salad or Ramen Noodle Salad.
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About This Recipe
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is a salad loaded with Middle Eastern flavors. It requires basic ingredients from the pantry, is customizable, and comes together in under 10 minutes.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is filling and at the same time very light on the stomach. Even on the days when I have no mood to cook, yet want to eat something that satiates my taste palates, this easy and healthy salad comes to my rescue.
All you have to do is cook the quinoa and mix it with other ingredients and your delicious and healthy salad is ready.
This salad hardly takes 10 minutes to get ready, if you have ingredients ready at your kitchen counter. If you think that this salad is so easy to make, wait till you see the zesty dressing recipe, it’s even easier than that.
If you are looking for a non-vegetarian version of this Mediterranean Salad, you can even add shredded chicken, grilled shrimp, or pieces of grilled chicken in this salad.
This Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is,
- Healthy
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-Free
- Have Punchy Flavours
- Light + Fresh + Bright
- Crowd Pleaser
- Great for Meal prep
- Easy to make
Ingredients
This is an easy salad that gets ready in just 10 minutes. The only thing that takes time is to prep for this salad, such as get the ingredients ready, chop the vegetables, boil the chickpeas, and cook the quinoa.
You can leave the ingredients which you don’t like or which are not easily available to you.
For this salad, we will need:
Quinoa – It is one of those food ingredients that is becoming very popular recently due to its nutritional benefits. High in Protein, it is a great substitute for rice too.
You can either use white quinoa or add the mixed color quinoa to this Mediterranean style quinoa salad, it will lend a beautiful color and nuttier taste to the salad.
Check out my Instant Pot Quinoa recipe to cook quinoa perfectly.
You can also use Broken Wheat and Couscous instead of Quinoa. Even these two works great in this salad recipe.
Chickpeas – Another source of protein, chickpeas or garbanzo beans add a nice soft crunch to this salad. Soak them overnight and boil until they become soft. Check out my Instant Pot Chickpeas recipe to perfectly cook these.
To save time, use canned garbanzo beans.
Veggies – For the veggies, I have used cherry tomatoes, cucumber, onion, red bell pepper, and parsley. You can even add red onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, carrot, corn, etc.
Add any greens of your choice such as Arugula, Spinach, messaged Kale, Chard, Mixed Greens, etc.
You can even add diced avocados and mix it all.
Olives – Olives adds a great taste to this salad, so don’t miss on this one.
Feta Cheese – Crumbled soft feta cheese is a must in Mediterranean dishes. If you are looking for a vegan option, you can skip it.
Pine Nuts – These are a must for the crunch, but if you don’t have pine nuts, you can add walnuts or almonds to this salad.
Dressing – To make this salad full of flavor, here we have a simple dressing that is made with a combination of just 5 ingredients – extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and balsamic vinegar. Crushed garlic can also be added to the dressing if you like garlicky flavor in your salads.
Make a batch of my Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing and use it in this Quinoa Salad. Even Lemon Garlic Dressing will taste great here.
How to make Mediterranean Quinoa Salad?
Start by preparing the ingredients. Cook ¾ cup of dry quinoa in a pot as per the packet direction or use my Instant Pot Quinoa recipe to cook it perfectly. ¾ cup of dry quinoa will yield 2 cups of cooked quinoa. Make sure to cool the quinoa for a few hours before using it in the salad.
If you are cooking the chickpeas from scratch, soak the dry chickpeas in water for 6-8 hours for better cooking. Cook them in a traditional Pressure Cooker or in an Instant Pot. Check out my Instant Pot Chickpeas recipe for perfectly cooked chickpeas. To save time, you can use canned chickpea too. Just drain the can, rinse the beans well and use them in the salad.
Cut the bell peppers into cubes. Discard their seeds. Chop the cucumbers into small cubes. You can choose to keep the skin on or peel it. I like to use Persian cucumbers as they are seedless and juicy. Cut the grape tomatoes in half. Chop the onion and slice the olives.
Toast the pine nuts or any other nuts that you are using in a pan or oven. You can toast a big batch and store it in an airtight container and keep using them in your recipes. Make sure to toast them on medium heat.
Add all the ingredients to make the salad except feta cheese and pine nuts in a bowl and toss well.
Add the dressing ingredients that is ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl and mix well.
Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
Top the salad with feta cheese and pine nuts just before serving.
Pro Tips By Neha
If you do not like a particular ingredient in this salad, you can skip it. It won’t make a big difference.
You can add leafy greens such as Kale, Spinach, Arugula for extra nutrition and taste.
Add sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes in this salad.
This Mediterranean Salad remains fresh for long, making it apt for picnics, pot lucks, and barbecues. It is a great salad for meal prep too.
Make it vegan by replacing feta cheese with avocado.
Variations
You can also add on some more ingredients in this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad to make it even more filling and wholesome,
- Add some proteins like – Soft or Hard Boiled Eggs or Tofu
- Bread Croutons
- Make it with 3 beans instead of just garbanzo. Use cannellini beans, red kidney beans, white beans, or any other of your choice.
- Add roasted peppers instead of raw.
- You can add in other veggies such as Summer Squash, Eggplant, etc.
- Replace feta cheese with avocado to make this salad vegan.
- Add shredded boiled or grilled chicken or even shrimp.
- Add Arugula Leaves, Spinach, Massaged Kale, or even Fresh Basil Leaves for an added flavor.
Storing Suggestions
If you have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 3 days.
The beauty of this Quinoa Salad is that it tastes even better the next day. The more you keep it, the more flavourful this salad becomes.
This Mediterranean salad will remain good for 3 days. After that, the taste will differ and won’t taste as good as the fresh one.
I would not recommend you to freeze this Quinoa Vegetable Salad, as if you freeze it, the freshness and the texture will not remain the same. Instead, you can cook the quinoa and freeze it. Stir up the vegetables and feta cheese in the quinoa when you want to serve the salad.
Serving Suggestions
This delicious and full of flavor Mediterranean style Quinoa Salad tastes great on its own for a light lunch or dinner. Serve it cold or at room temperature as per your preference.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is even great to serve as a side dish along with grilled chicken or fish, and also great for backyard parties, potluck, dinner parties, and BBQs. You can even serve it as a side with your Continental brunches.
As it is a light salad, you can serve it as a side with a hearty soup or sandwich. But there is one way I like to serve it, along with Hummus and Pita Bread. Tastes the best!
If you are making it for a big crowd, and want to keep it fresh and crunchy, then you can cook the quinoa and cut the veggies, and store everything in a separate airtight container in the fridge. Once you are ready to serve, mix everything well along with the dressing, and serve fresh.
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Recipe Card
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- ½ cup cubed red bell pepper
- ½ cup cubed cucumber
- ½ cup halved grape tomatoes
- ½ cup chopped onions
- ½ cup sliced Kalamata olives
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 50 g Feta cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts (toasted)
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Start by preparing the ingredients. Cook ¾ cup of dry quinoa in a pot as per the packet direction or use my Instant Pot Quinoa recipe to cook it perfectly. ¾ cup of dry quinoa will yield 2 cups of cooked quinoa. Make sure to cool the quinoa for a few hours before using it in the salad.
- If you are cooking the chickpeas from scratch, soak the dry chickpeas in water for 6-8 hours for better cooking. Cook them in a traditional Pressure Cooker or in an Instant Pot. Check out my Instant Pot Chickpeas recipe for perfectly cooked chickpeas. To save time, you can use canned chickpea too. Just drain the can, rinse the beans well and use them in the salad.
- Cut the bell peppers into cubes. Discard their seeds. Chop the cucumbers into small cubes. You can choose to keep the skin on or peel it. I like to use Persian cucumbers as they are seedless and juicy. Cut the grape tomatoes in half. Chop the onion and slice the olives.
- Toast the pine nuts or any other nuts that you are using in a pan or oven. You can toast a big batch and store it in an airtight container and keep using them in your recipes. Make sure to toast them on medium heat.
- Add all the ingredients to make the salad except feta cheese and pine nuts in a bowl and toss well.
- Add the dressing ingredients that is ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste in a small bowl and mix well.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
- Top the salad with feta cheese and pine nuts just before serving.
