This Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad is an easy quinoa recipe that comes together in less than 30 minutes. Flavored with a bright and herb infused zesty dressing. This healthy recipe is vegan and gluten-free!
Healthy Vegan Quinoa Salad
Whenever I bring up the word salad with my clients, it instantly makes them think of bowls of lettuce and tomato. And if you ask me, I agree with them, that’s a boring salad. But luckily, there is more to this world than boring salads.
Enter quinoa, one of my favorite salad additions, but also a great salad base that cooks up in just 15 minutes, happens to be gluten-free, and is nutrient dense. Quinoa provides more fiber and protein compared to other grains, which can make salads like this way more filling and satisfying.
And if you need more things to do with quinoa, you can work them into soups and even cookies.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This is an all in one meal that is balanced with enough whole grains, protein, vegetables and healthy fats to keep you feeling full for a long time.
- The combination of the fresh cilantro and lime make for a very delicious salad that screams spring time.
- This recipe is super easy to put together and a great way to use up leftover quinoa and vegetables you might have in the fridge.
Key Ingredients
- Quinoa: Cook your quinoa in advance to give it time to cool
- Cilantro: Use the leaves and stems for this
- Scallions: Make sure to remove the root end
- Garlic: Feel free to use fresh or jarred minced garlic depending on how intense you want the flavor
- Vegan Yogurt: Unsweetened plain is best
- Lime: We’ll need both zest and juice for this
- White Beans: Extra protein to help compliment the quinoa
- Cucumber: Deseed your cucumber if you plan to meal prep with it, this will prevent your salad from getting soggy
- Onions: If you are not a fan of raw onions, you can either grill or cook them ahead of time or replace with more scallions
How to make this quinoa salad
Cook your quinoa first! If you have never cooked quinoa before or feel you never get it right, I highly recommend this article on how to cook your quinoa perfectly every single time. Once your quinoa is cooked, make sure that it is fully cooled before prepping with the other ingredients.
To prepare your sauce, combine all of your sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
To assemble your salad, add your quinoa, beans and vegetables to a large mixing bowl and toss together. Pour your dressing overtop and toss to combine and coat.
Tips for making this salad
- Make sure you allow your cooked quinoa time to cool before preparing this salad. Mixing the warm quinoa with some of the other cool vegetables like cucumber will make it a little weird.
- Don’t discard the stems of your cilantro, this has a lot of flavor and nutrition. The stems will still blend well into the dressing, so no worries!
- If you are making this salad for meal prep, store the base of your salad separate from your dressing to make your salad last much longer! If you store your quinoa and your dressing separately, they will last for up to 4-5 days in the fridge.
- You can save some time by using quick cooking quinoa. I love using frozen quinoa from the store to help speed up the cooking process. This is also a good tip for those that struggle cooking quinoa.
More Quinoa Recipes
Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: One Bowl
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes and tossed with a delicious herb infused zesty dressing.
Ingredients
- 1cup quinoa, uncooked
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, with stems
- 1 scallion, end removed
- 1–2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¼ cup plain unsweetened plant based yogurt or extra virgin olive oil
- Zest of one lime
- Juice of two limes 2 limes
- ½ tsp coriander
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1, 15 oz can of white beans, rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup red onion, finely diced
- ½ cucumber, deseeded and chopped
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to the package. Once cooked, fluff your quinoa and allow to cool.
- Prep the cilantro lime dressing by placing your cilantro, scallion, garlic, yogurt, lime juice and zest, coriander, white wine vinegar and maple syrup in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- To a bowl add in your quinoa, beans, onion and cucumber and toss together.
- When ready to serve, pour your dressing over top and toss everything together once more to combine.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste then serve or allow to chill in the fridge.
Notes
Make sure you allow your cooked quinoa time to cool before preparing this salad. Mixing the warm quinoa with some of the other cool vegetables like cucumber will make it a little weird.
When making your dressing, use the leaves and stems for your cilantro. Your stems have a good deal of nutrition and flavor, so no need to discard for this recipe.
If you are making this salad for meal prep, store the base of your salad separate from your dressing to make your salad last much longer! If you store your quinoa and your dressing separately, they will last for up to 4-5 days in the fridge.
Keywords: dinner recipes, quick and easy, quinoa salad recipes
Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought in the comments below! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats
★ Catherine
this mf gas. no cap. A real one like me don’t mess with vegan ish but this is next level.
★★★★★
Haha, glad you enjoyed it. The highest compliment!
Can I use a different spice if we don’t like cilantro?
Which would be best? Parsley or basil?
Yes! You can absolutely try with a different herb. A combo of parsley and basil actually would work really well for this. 🙂