Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is a wonderfully filling and healthy dish that you can make for lunch, dinner, or as a side dish! It’s incredibly versatile and packed with vibrant Mediterranean ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, black olives, bell peppers, feta cheese, parsley, mint, and Greek Dressing.
If you love quinoa recipes, try out Cajun Shrimp and Quinoa and Quinoa Jambalaya.
Table of Contents
Need a vegetarian recipe that’s loaded with protein and nutrients and doesn’t skimp out on flavor? Mediterranean quinoa salad is the dish for you! There’s about 8 grams of protein in a single cup of cooked quinoa, and this recipe’s got 3 cups total, which yields around 24 total grams of protein.
Protein isn’t the only claim to fame that quinoa has. It’s also loaded with plenty of vitamins and nutrients including fiber, folate, iron, vitamin B6 and so much more. The best part? It’s also delicious! Personally, I have the hardest time sacrificing flavor for health benefits, which is why I love tossing together this salad.
There are so many different ways to enjoy this flavor-packed quinoa salad! Serve it for breakfast with a fried egg on top, meal prep it for your lunch at work, or toss it together as a quick and easy dinner on meatless Mondays. If you’re a carnivore like me, you can also definitely add some chicken, shrimp, or salmon on top to make it even more filling.
Ingredient Notes
Quinoa – Any brand will work. I do recommend buying uncooked quinoa that has traditional cooking instructions rather than the plastic packs that go in the microwave – that quinoa tends to come out mushy.
Cherry Tomatoes – Grape tomatoes work just as well.
Cucumber – You can peel the cucumber if you’d like, but the skin is loaded with vitamin A.
Red Bell Pepper – Did you know these peppers are rich with both vitamin A and beta-carotene?
Sliced Black Olives – Be sure to thoroughly drain them before adding them to the salad. Otherwise, you’ll have lots of added moisture.
Crumbled Feta Cheese – Let’s be honest – you can measure this with your heart. I tend to add a little extra feta to most of my recipes that call for it!
Herbs – Freshly minced parsley and mint lend the most amazing natural flavor to this salad.
Greek Dressing – While you can certainly use a store-bought bottle in a pinch, this homemade salad dressing is SO easy to make and really creates the best flavor for this simple salad.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Cook the quinoa. Cook your quinoa according to the package instructions. Fluff it before transferring it to a bowl. Be sure to let it cool for a little while before adding your veggies and feta cheese!
PRO TIP: Use chicken or vegetable broth to cook the quinoa with instead of water, and add a pinch salt. This will give your quinoa such amazing flavor.
Prep the veggies and herbs. While the quinoa is cooking, use that time to dice the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and red onions. Mince the fresh herbs and set them aside. Measure all of the remaining ingredients so they’re ready to go when you are.
Assemble the salad. Once quinoa is cooled to room temperature, it’s time to assemble the salad! Mix in the chopped veggies, crumbled feta cheese, fresh minced herbs, and Greek dressing. Serve or store, and enjoy!
Storage Recommendation
Mediterranean quinoa salad will stay good in the fridge for about 2-3 days. Just be sure to keep it in an airtight food storage container. After day 3, the veggies tend to go limp and lose their original crispness that makes the textures in this quinoa salad so good. Be sure to enjoy your leftovers/meal prep within that 2-3 day window!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, absolutely. You can cook quinoa ahead of time and then add all the veggies, feta and the dressing to it when you’re ready. If you want to prepare the whole salad ahead of time, that will work as well but don’t make it more than 1 day ahead of the veggies will be soft and wilted. Make sure to store it in the air-tight food storage container with a lid and in the refrigerator.
Of course! You can mix in leftover chicken or cook some chicken to add to the salad. It will taste great in this quinoa salad, especially if you make some Greek Marinated Chicken. Salmon is another great protein that’ll go wonderfully with this salad. You can make Balsamic Glazed Salmon, Whole Salmon Filet, or Blackened Salmon. To make it easy on yourself, you can even add some chopped rotisserie chicken.
Technically, soaking quinoa is not necessary but if you notice digestive issues after eating quinoa, you could benefit from soaking it before cooking. Soaking quinoa first helps remove phytic acid, which may make it easier to digest.
To soak it: use a fine mesh strainer to rinse quinoa under cold running water. Add it to a mixing bowl and add cold water, about twice the amount to water and you’ve added quinoa. Let it soak for at least 2 hours, but you can also soak it overnight. Strain off the water when you’re ready to cook, rinse it, and then cook as instructed. Note: soaked quinoa will cook faster and you will need a 1.5:1 ratio of water:quinoa!
Serving Suggestions
Breakfast – Good morning! Start your morning off with some nutrients when you serve this quinoa salad beneath a fried egg. You can also add it to your favorite Breakfast Tacos.
Lunch – Enjoy it as is or top it off with chicken, shrimp, or salmon. You can also add it to your favorite leafy salads or veggies wraps!
Dinner – Again, you can always just enjoy this salad all by itself for dinner and be wholly satisfied. It’s also a wonderful healthy side dish for Greek Chicken, Salmon, and many other chicken and seafood dinners.
More Quinoa Recipes To Try
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Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa (will make about 3 cups cooked)
- 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives drained
- 2/3 cup crumbled Feta cheese
- 3 tbsp fresh minced parsley
- 2 tbsp fresh minced mint
- 1/2 cup Greek dressing
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to the package instructions, fluff it, and transfer into a bowl. Let it cook for a few minutes before adding chopped vegetables and cheese. Pro Tip: use chicken or vegetable broth to cook the quinoa and add a little salt. This will give your quinoa a nice flavor.
- While quinoa is cooking, dice tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and red onion. Mince parsley and mint and set aside. Measure remaining ingredients so it's all ready to go.
- Once quinoa is cooled, mix in vegetables, feta cheese, herbs, and Greek dressing until thoroughly incorporated.
Storing:
- Store quinoa salad in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. This salad will last about 2-3 days in the refrigerator, any longer than that and the fresh veggies just won't be good and quinoa will start to dry out.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in January, 2023.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I made this yesterday and it was so good!