Southwest Quinoa Salad

Quinoa salad recipes are perfect in so many ways!

• They’re a great way to add more plants into your diet.
• They’re flavorful.
• Easy to customize
• So easy to make.

Hot or Cold Quinoa Salad

This salad was soooo good I ate it for both lunch and dinner the following the days after photographing.

Adding chicken one day, as well as warming it up and adding a sprinkle of cheese on the next day.

I couldn’t get enough and I have a feeling it’s going to be my new go-to. Whether you’re looking for a side dish for a backyard cookout or an easy meal prep lunch or dinner recipe.

Salad Ingredients

• quinoa – white, tri-color, red quinoa all work. Whatever you have on hand really.
• black beans – I used canned black beans, low sodium and rinsed.
• corn – fresh or canned is best here.
• bell peppers – diced or chopped, depending on how much texture you want. Red and orange are my favorite varieties for this recipe.
• red onion – adds a good bite, and I love the way the purple color balances the colors out too.
• cilantro – we’re using cilantro in the dressing but I like to add finely chopped cilantro into the salad as well. You could always omit if you’re not a huge cilantro fan.

Cilantro Lime Dressing

This dressing is SO good. You just need cilantro, olive oil (or avocado oil), limes, garlic, onion powder plus salt and pepper.

It’s simple, doesn’t have any added sugar and I like to add a bit of spice in there as well with cumin and chili powder. If you want extra heat, you can add in some cayenne pepper.

Perfect for Meal Prep

Who doesn’t love already having lunch or dinner ready to go? Quinoa salads make the best meal prep salads.

Just a Few Steps

• Make the quinoa and let cool.
• Prep the veggies.
• Make the dressing.
• Mix everything together.

Canned Veggies

Use canned black beans and corn to cut down on meal prep time. Most of the work comes from chopping the veggies, making the quinoa and blending up the dressing.

Instant Pot Quinoa

I used my Instant Pot to prep the quinoa, which not only saves some time but now you get bonus points for the pot of quinoa not boiling over while attending to the veggies. Seriously I swear it happens every time and the Instant Pot saves me. 

TO COOK: Place 1 cup rinsed quinoa in Instant Pot with 1 1/2 cups water or broth. Cook on high for one minute, natural release pressure for 10 minutes. Unlock lid, stir and done!

Ways to Enjoy

You can eat this quinoa salad chilled if you’ve made it ahead of time.

You can also warm it up and add some cheese (dairy-free if vegan).

It would also make a great filler for tacos, or added into a bowl of greens for more of a salad quinoa bowl recipe.

Storing

Quinoa salads are one of my go-to healthy meal prep recipes because they last a full week in the fridge. The flavors from the salad dressing soak in and just get better with time.

This recipe keeps best refrigerated in an airtight container in the fridge, best used within 7 days.