Bright flavor and bold bites are what make this healthy quinoa salad packed with chickpeas, black beans, mango, and avocado in a limey dressing an easy side dish or simple vegetarian meal. Even better, it’s great for meal prepping as the hardy ingredients last several days in the fridge.
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“Delicious! Was looking for a vegetarian dish to have as a main course and this is perfect!” -Jodi, FoodieCrush reader
This recipe is brought to you by Kroger
My Favorite Quinoa Salad That Doubles as a Main or Side
I’m a firm believer that you can’t have too many good salad recipes. I love big, healthy, hearty salads that make a meal, like my Italian chopped salad with marinated chickpeas or my Nicoise salad.
This vegetarian quinoa salad is no different. Protein-packed quinoa is loaded with fresh ingredients like avocado, mango, red bell peppers, and herbs from the produce aisle, then stacked with organic beans for added protein.
Quinoa salads like this one are a favorite healthy side dish that can easily slide into the all-in-one plant-based meal category too. They’re fast to make but last all week in the refrigerator, making them a meal-prepper’s dream for lunch, dinner, or as a quick, satisfying snack.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Don’t be alarmed by the amount of dressing called for in this salad. Quinoa is absorbent, and the dressing is where each of the grains gets its flavor.
Give your mango and avocado time to ripen by purchasing them 1-2 days before making this salad.
Rinse quinoa or it will taste bitter. Quinoa is often sold pre-washed but if you’re not sure, it’s safest to rinse and drain it in a colander before cooking to remove it’s natural coating as it can taste bitter.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
Adding fresh veggies and fruit to the diet are essential to healthy living. Luckily, Kroger’s abundance of organic and sustainably produced fruits and vegetables in their produce aisles make it easy and economical to add to every meal or grab as a snack on their own.
This salad combines some favorite fresh produce with a few of my go-to Simple Truth Organic pantry items to make a side dish salad that works all year long, no matter what the season.
- Simple Truth Organic quinoa — Quinoa is easy to cook and flavor neutral so it melds in nicely with just about anything you add it to, making it a perfect base for this easy to make salad. Use Simple Truth Organic white or red quinoa, or a combination of both.
- Herbs and veggies — I used a blend of red bell pepper, red onion, avocado, cilantro, and mint for a blend of fresh flavors and textures that make this quinoa salad recipe anything but boring.
- Mango — Fresh or frozen mango adds some sweet juiciness that pairs well with the lime dressing and fresh vegetables.
- Simple Truth Organic black beans and garbanzo beans — Black beans and garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) not only add flavor and bite to this salad, but are a good source of vegetarian protein too. Using Simple Truth organic canned beans saves time and convenience (no soaking required) and are sustainably grown and harvested for better piece of mind.
- Lime dressing — A blend of oil, lime juice, minced jalapeño, chili powder, champagne vinegar, and a pinch of sugar make for a boldly flavored dressing.
How to Make the Best Ever Quinoa Salad
Step 1: Cook the Quinoa
Conventional teachings instruct the home cook to prepare quinoa the same as rice, in portions set to a formulaic ratio that’s brought to a boil, then covered and simmered until done. Personally, I rarely find success cooking it that way and end up adding more water as it cooks, and more water, sometimes ending in a gummy mess.
Instead, I follow the idea of cooking quinoa just like pasta, in a pot of water at a rolling boil, checking for doneness and those little quinoa finally emerge and the quinoa is a tender bite. Then, I use a fine mesh strainer to drain. If serving warm, fluff with a fork and cover the pot with a dish towel and top with a lid to absorb some of the excess moisture as it keeps warm. If eating the quinoa at room temperature, spread the quinoa on a plate or a baking sheet to cool and dry so it doesn’t get clumpy and gummy.
Heidi’s Tip: 1 cup of dried quinoa typically yields about 3 cups of cooked quinoa.
Step 2: Add the Beans and Veggies
Be sure to use cool quinoa before adding your raw vegetables. If you favor a nuttier flavor, toast the quinoa before boiling it. To toast the quinoa, add it to a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Then, cook the quinoa as directed.
Rinse and drain the beans before adding them to the salad. Cut the vegetables and fruits into similar bite-size pieces, making it easy to get more flavors in each forkful.
Step 3: Toss the Salad with the Dressing
Gently toss the salad after dressing it so the avocado doesn’t turn into mush.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Healthy Quinoa Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lime juice (from about 4 limes)
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar*
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder (or cumin or allspice)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 jalapeño , seeded and minced
For the Quinoa Salad
- 1 ½ cups white or red quinoa , rinsed
- 3 cups water
- 15 ounces canned black beans , rinsed and drained
- 15 ounces canned garbanzo beans , rinsed and drained (or cannellini beans or Great Northern beans)
- 1 red bell pepper , stemmed, seeded, and chopped into ¼-inch pieces
- 1 mango , peeled, pitted, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
- ½ small red onion , peeled, and cut into ¼" pieces
- 1 avocado , peeled, pitted, and cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped mint
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer under cold water first. Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer under cold water. Add the water to the pan with the quinoa and kosher salt. Boil the quinoa like pasta, until al dente and the centers become transparent, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 12 minutes. Drain, fluff with a fork, and return the quinoa to the pot, cover with a kitchen towel and a lid and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Spread the quinoa on a rimmed baking sheet and let cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Pour the can of black beans into a strainer and rinse well with water. Drain and add to the quinoa bowl. Repeat with the garbanzo beans. Add the bell pepper, mango, red onion, avocado, and herbs.
- To make the dressing, whisk the oil, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, chili powder and kosher salt in a small bowl. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed to taste. The dressing should taste pretty bold, but balanced.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to mix. Allow the flavors to meld for about 20 minutes or up to overnight. Quinos salad is best within the first day, but can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Protein Add-Ons
If you’re craving another layer of clean protein to make this an even more robust meal, feel free to add any of the following:
More Healthy Quinoa Salad Recipes to Try
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This recipe is sponsored by Kroger. As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
Alyssa
This is SO DELCIOUS. I used Whole Foods frozen organic quinoa as a short cut. Because that meant less quinoa from what the recipe yielded, I used 1/3 cup (olive) oil instead of the 1/2 cup it called for. I could’ve probably lessened even more to a 1/4 cup. Besides that, I kept everything else the same. It’s perfect.
Good to know about the frozen quinoa to make things faster! Thanks for the comment and 5 stars!
Lisa
Absolutely delicious! I used frozen mango because I needed to use it up. Otherwise, made it as directed.
Hayley
Thank you, Lisa, we’re happy you enjoyed it!
Kathleen Taylor
Hi Lisa- Because you used frozen mango, did you thaw it first, and if so, for how long? How was the texture??
Sarah Murphy
Really not that healthy if you’re using vegetable oil or canola oil. You should not be using sugar either…. Alternatively you could use coconut or avocado oil and a healthy sugar substitute like monk fruit sugar
Joanne E Campbell
I should have skipped the onion even though i only used a quarter of one. right now it is the only thing i can smell. use canned peaches. the mango is to unreliable in terms of ripeness. I did use cumin. I did not use jalepeno because i just don’t like it, lol. this feeds alot of people!!
Ashly Rivera
oh this recipe was sooo amazing and a game changer ! I added corn and Cucumbers, and fresh parsley to it, and omitted the avacado and red onion. It was sooo sensational and the flavor was so good, everything paired together so perfectly, very balanced I was surprised how delicious and flavorful this was ! I also did one cup of Quinoa and it worked perfectly!
Sounds great Ashly! Glad you enjoyed :)
Kara
Great ingredients and flavor! The only change I would make next time is using less quinoa. It felt like 1.5 cups was a little too much, so maybe decreasing to 1 cup would do better.
Lana
This was delicious! Will definitely make again. We did not have mint or cilantro, but it was great even without those.
Samantha
Do you happen to know roughly what a serving size equates to? Like is it 1 cup? Thanks in advance.
Hayley
Hi Lana, this salad yields about 4 1/2 cups of quinoa. I hope that helps!
Kristen
I didn’t have mango, but I had a can of peaches so I made that swap with much delicious success. I also omitted the oil with no issues. This was pretty quick and easy and so healthy! I’m taking a huge bowl to share with friends right now. Thank you for coming up with this. Mmm!
Gina Golden
Loved it, it paired perfectly with grilled kabobs. I used tri-colored quinoa, shallots instead of red onion, garlic in place of jalapeno, and substituted cumin for chili powder. I had white wine vinegar on hand. Definitely better the first or second day, after that it was soggy.
Jodi
Delicious! Was looking for a vegetarian dish to have as a main course and this is perfect! Thank you!
Mariella
Very yummy salad. Didn’t have mangoes so I used apples
Greta
Loooooved this recipe!! We all loved it at home… could not find champagne vinager at the store so I used white wine vinager. Turned out delicious ! Thank you!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thank you! Good call on the sub!
Stephanie
Such a good and refreshing salad!!! I added some feta- fantastic !!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for the comment Stephanie, thank you for making and glad you liked it!!
Allison
Does the jalapeño go into the dressing or the salad? I’m guessing it doesn’t really matter…
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
I like it in the salad
comet
Its really testy and Healthy Quinoa Salad…Thank you for share…
Elizabeth Russell-Jones
We loved this. We didn’t have access to a mango during the quarantine but we had everything else in our refrigerator/pantry. It was a great side to our grilled chicken!
Sarah
Is the nutrition info for a side dish or a meal?
This is for a side dish.