This hearty quinoa salad features fiber-rich quinoa and beans, grilled corn, queso fresco, and a tangy honey-lime vinaigrette, for an easy and delicious side dish that can be bulked up with your protein of choice to make it a meal.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“My fiance & I have made this approximately 10 times. It is so good! So far it is the only quinoa dish that he actually likes. Usually when I say quinoa, he goes running. With this dish, I actually find him sneaking bites out of the Tupperware in the refrigerator.” -Allison, FoodieCrush
Even Quinoa Haters Will Love This Corn-Laden Salad!
This quinoa salad finds its flavors in the Southwest. No cactus, no coyotes, and we left the chunky turquoise at the gift shop.
Elements of this salad remind me of one I’ve had once or twice before from the Whole Foods salad bar. My version delivers plenty of zippy flavor with some earthy depth thanks to the grill.
I served this salad at my daughter’s family birthday party to several quinoa virgins who were more than pleased with their second helpings (or maybe thirds?) and think you will be too.
Enjoy!
Ingredient Notes
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Quinoa — I used both plain and red quinoa for some visual texture, but you can use whatever you’ve got.
- Corn — Grilling the corn while still on the cob sweetens even the earliest picked cobs. Normally I’ll soak the cobs while still in their husks but this day I simply went for it and tossed them straight on the grates, then husked them when cooled. If you’d like to see a bit more char on your corn, simply roast them sans husk.
- Red onion — Can be subbed with green onions for a milder flavor.
- Sweet pickled peppers — Contrasting the spunky onion flavor is a jar of DeLallo Pepperazzi™ peppers I keep stocked in my pantry (not sponsored, I just love them!). They’re pickled and a little sweet, and a little spicy, and man, I love to snack on them whole but in this salad, I’ve chopped them up for a sweet flair.
- Black beans — Drain and rinse the black beans before tossing them with the quinoa.
- Cilantro + queso fresco — I’ve given ingredient measurements for the cilantro and queso, but in my opinion, you can’t have too much of either so add more to fit your pleasure. If however, you’re simply not a cilantro lover, sub in leafy flat leaf Italian parsley or tarragon would add good flavor too.
- Lime dressing — The 4 ingredient dressing is what brings this salad all together with the tang of lime sweetened with honey. A dash or more of the reserved pickled pepper juice adds even more sweetness if you’d like.
How to Make Southwest-Style Quinoa Salad in 3 Steps
- Grill the corn. I’ve got a full tutorial on how to grill corn in its husk (which steams the kernels and prevents them from drying out). Grilling the corn will take roughly 10 minutes, so get the quinoa cooking in the meantime.
- Cook the quinoa. Don’t forget to salt the water so the quinoa is well seasoned!
- Assemble the salad. Add the cooled corn kernels and quinoa to a big bowl, add the other salad fixings, and drizzle the dressing over top before tossing.
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.
Southwest Quinoa Salad Recipe
PrintIngredients
Salad
- 4 cobs sweet corn
- 2 cups quinoa (white, red, or a combo)
- kosher salt
- ½ red onion , chopped, about ½ cup
- 6 ounces sweet pickled peppers* , chopped
- 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans , rinsed and drained
- 4 ounces Mexican queso or feta cheese
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
Dressing
- 6 limes , juiced
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon cumin
Instructions
- Grill the corn. Grill the cobs of corn in their husks over medium high heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the grill, cool and then shuck. Cut the corn from the husks and place the cut kernals in a large mixing bowl.
- Cook the quinoa. While the corn is grilling, cook the quinoa in 4 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt according to package directions.
- Assemble the salad. After cooking, set aside the quinoa to cool then add to the bowl with the corn, red onion, sweet pickled peppers, black beans, cheese, and cilantro.
- Make the dressing. Whisk the lime juice, vegetable oil, honey, and cumin together in a small bowl and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add more honey to your taste. Pour over the quinoa mix, and stir gently to coat.
Notes
Nutrition
Proteins You Can Add to Make This a Meal
More Quinoa Salads You’ll Love
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Kratoklastes
There’s a significant typo in the sentence that starts “If however, you’re simply not a cilantro lover…”
That sentence should finish “… then there’s something wrong with you.”
Mexican-style grilled corn recipes without chili, lime and coriander (as we call cilantro here in Oz), are like apple pie made with pinecones.
I never used to like leaf coriander – until a Thai friend pointed out that it’s rare in Thai cooking to use coriander leaf without lime and chili. Now, I will use almost half a bunch of coriander (and the juice of half a lime) per serve when I make Tofu Banh Mi, or Black Bean burritos, or a big bowl of roasted corn salsa. I even add chopped coriander leaf and lime juice to home-made satay sauce (I add the coriander and lime – and a couple of extra teaspoons of roasted chopped peanuts – at the very last second before serving).
Just writing that has made me hungry… now I need to go buy some coriander.
Maria
How much frozen corn do you think should be substituted for the fresh since corn isn’t in season in PA yet??
Linda Molenaar
Wowza! I had a last minute dinner party and made this salad-pleasing to the eye and incredibly delicious! Everyone raved about it and it will be my new go to salad for entertaining! I love quinoa and loved everything about this salad.
I didn’t have time to throw the corn on the grill and ended up purchasing frozen sweet corn from Trader Joes which worked out well.
I love when I make something for the first time and it’s a big hit—thank you!!!
I’m so glad you liked it Linda, and that your guests did too. Thanks for coming back around and letting me know! Happy cooking :)
Tawana
One of my favorite salads!!!!!!
Vicki
Loved this!!!! :-)
Melissa
I made this tonight and wow was it good. Had to use canned corn and different peppers. Used more cheese and red onion as well. Seriously like a flavor burst in your mouth! Thank you for the great idea. Ps..even the 23 year old son liked it.
Amber
Hi! I’m making this tonight. Is it 2 cups of uncooked quinoa or 2 cups of cooked quinoa?
Debra
I used 2 cups uncooked and it made a ton of salad! Felt it was the right amount in proportion with the rest of the rest of the ingredients.
kayla
Definitely making this soon…and hopefully my boyfriend will enjoy it as well. Thank you Heidi!!
Heather - Butter & Burlap
Hello new favorite summer salad! I’m a sucker for anything southwest, Mexican, tex-med, and spicy! Love this recipe! So glad I stopped by your site!
Karen Kelly
Don’t you love summer flavors? This looks super delicious and would be a great make ahead salad for the week. Beautiful!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
I want to eat my weight in this salad, love all the colors! And the cilantro <– Love!
Eileen
This salad sounds fantastic! It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d make in a big batch on Sunday and pack for work lunch all week. So many intense flavors.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
I think we need to make this when you come to Pure Michigan.
nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
Helllllooooo summer. Beautiful, refreshing and healthy, just the way I like my summer dishes.
Gaby
What a wonderful combination, great summer recipe!!
Annalise @ Completely Delicious
Perfect for this time of year. I think I could eat this for dinner every night till October!
Cecile @ Mywww.myyellowfarmhouse.com Yellow Farmhouse
I really like the combination of ingredients – and the sauce with cumin, honey and cilantro sounds delicious!!
And bonus, it’s so easy!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
This is pure summer deliciousness!! Loooooving this idea!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Heeeeck yes! I’m partial to New England Clam Chowder, too. And though I don’t have roots in the southwest, I’m totally feeling this salad!
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog
I love those peppers too, and this salad looks delish, a total crowd pleaser that I need to try!
Me too, Phi. I love their pucker of spicy sweet.
Maria
I will be making this all summer long!
Amber Harding
Hey Heidi, lovely salad you’ve stirred yourself there, healthy and various ingredients in a perfect blend. Totally fell for it!
Me too Amber, I’ve been eating it for lunch all week.
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
We LOVE this kind of salad here! Southwest, Tex-Mex, Mexican are all big favorites. The more cilantro the better!
See Michelle, I need to make more Tex-Mex! I’m all about Mexican but I too often skip over that tasty style. And I feel bad for people that don’t like cilantro, it’s one of my favorites.
Sandy@RE
OK. I want this salad for dinner tonight. Looks fabulous, Heidi!
Meg @ The Housewife in Training Files
This salad is right up my alley – anything with southwest flavors and I come running!