Avocado Quinoa Salad

This Avocado Quinoa Salad recipe is crowded with tricolor quinoa, purple cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, spinach, green onion, sweet peppers, avocado and cilantro all tossed in a tasty avocado lime vinaigrette. It’s a satisfying salad that’s quick and easy to make.

This quinoa salad with avocado is nutritious, delicious and makes a healthy lunch, light dinner, or as a side to serve with grilled chicken or fish.

Our quinoa and avocado salad is an easy salad to prep ahead of time. Just make the dressing a day in advance, cook the quinoa and chop the ingredients and store in airtight containers in the refrigerator until you’re ready to toss it all together.

Quinoa And Avocado Salad Recipe

 Spinach Lentil Quinoa Salad recipe is a tasty mix of ingredients all tossed in an amazing vinaigrett

• Cooked quinoa. We use tri color quinoa for this recipe.
• Spinach. Use baby spinach for this recipe, but you can use arugula or a 50/50 mix of spinach and arugula
• Cabbage. We use purple cabbage for this recipe, but you can use green if you prefer.
• Cucumber.Crispy cucumber add a lot of crunch to this salad. We use English cucumber for this recipe. English cucumbers don’t need to be peeled or have their seeds removed. You still will want to rinse the cucumber under water after you remove the plastic though. If you use a garden cucumber, you’ll want to peel it and remove the seeds using a spoon before slicing it. English cucumber have thinner skins and fewer seeds and taste less bitter.
• Carrot.  A little grated carrot adds color, flavor and nutrients to this salad.
• Sweet Peppers. Sweet red peppers add so much flavor to this salad!
• Onion. We use green onion for this salad, but you could use red onion if you prefer. If you want to mellow the flavor of red onion, just soak sliced onions in a bowl of water for about 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. The drain and pat dry. 
• Avocado.  Use Haas avocado which is rich, buttery and flavorful.
• Herbs.  We toss in fresh cilantro to this salad because it goes nicely with the lime vinaigrette. Omit it if you don’t care for cilantro, or toss in fresh parsley or basil instead if you like.
• Vinaigrette. The avocado lime vinaigrette that we use for this salad is light and delicious.

Find printable recipe with the measurements below.

Variations

• Add Chicken. Add grilled, poached or rotisserie chicken to the mix to make it a more substantially filling meal.
• Cheese. Sprinkle in cheddar, Jack or Cotija cheese.
• Veggies. Use green cabbage instead of purple, use kale instead of spinach, or add celery or tomatoes.\
• Beans. Toss in black beans, garbanzo beans or cannellini beans to add some plant protein to the mix.
• Nuts. Add raw or toasted marcona almonds or almond slices, or pistachios.

How To Make Quinoa Salad With Avocado

1. Blend Dressing. Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 
2. Cook TriColor Quinoa. This is my go-to recipe for how to make quinoa. I always use 1 cup dried tri color quinoa (rinsed) to 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then put lid on pot and reduce heat to low simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes then remove from heat. Set aside for 20 minutes for all of the liquid to evaporate before fluffing quinoa. This waiting for 20 minutes after cooking quinoa will give you light fluffy quinoa.
3. Prep Ingredients. Rinse cruciferous veggies, celery, carrot, onion and tomatoes under cold water and pat dry.  Chop cruciferous veggies, slice celery, grate carrot, slice tomatoes in quarters and slice onions. You can soak the sliced onions in a little jar covering them with water for about 15 minutes before tossing them in the salad. This mellows the bite of onion quite a bit.
4. Toss Ingredients. Add the prepared ingredients to a large bowl. 
5. Dress Salad . Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss to lightly coat the ingredients.
6. Chill. Salad is best if its chilled before serving. Serve with extra vinaigrette if desired.

Tips

• This salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It stores best if it hasn’t been tossed with the dressing already. If properly stored, it can last up to 5 days.
• The tricolor quinoa can be cooked ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
• The salad can be prepped 1-2 days ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until you’re ready to toss with dressing and serve.

For The Avocado Lime Vinaigrette

Add the lime juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, maple syrup, cumin powder and avocado to a blender and blend until soothe. Add the chopped cilantro and pulse a few times to break the cilantro up into smaller flecks. If you don’t want to add the avocado to the vinaigrette, then you can whisk the ingredients in a bowl or add everything to a mason jar, seal the lid and give it a good shake.

• Fresh Lime Juice. Don’t use bottled lime juice. Fresh is always best!
• Olive Oil.  I use extra-virgin olive oil, but you could easily swap that out and use avocado oil if you prefer.
• Garlic.  Garlic always adds a nice flavor to salad dressings!
• Pure Maple Syrup. I use pure maple syrup to add a little sweetness to the mix, but you could use honey instead.
• Dijon Mustard. Adds flavor and helps to emulsify the dressing.
• Cilantro.  This is totally optional. But, if you have some fresh cilantro on hand, by all means, chop it up and toss it in. It’ll add a delicious pop of flavor!
• Cumin Powder. This is also optional, but if  you want to add some warmth to the dressing, a pinch of cumin will do the trick.
• Avocado. We add 1/2 of an avocado the the dressing which adds flavor and a silkiness to the vinaigrette.

Looking For More Quinoa Salad Recipes To Try?

• Greek Quinoa Salad
• Best Quinoa Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Quinoa Salad
• Spinach Lentil Quinoa Salad
• White Bean Quinoa Salad
• Tomato Basil Quinoa Salad
• Watermelon Arugula Quinoa Salad
• Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

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Yield: 8 Servings

Avocado Quinoa Salad

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

This Avocado Quinoa Salad recipe is crowded with tricolor quinoa, purple cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, spinach, green onion, sweet peppers, avocado and cilantro all tossed in a tasty avocado lime vinaigrette. It's a satisfying salad that's quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup spinach, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup purple cabbage, sliced thin and chopped
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and grated
• 1 cup Persian cucumber, sliced
• 4 sweet peppers, sliced
• 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
• 1 Haas avocado, chopped
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

For the Avocado Lime Dressing

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or avocado oil)
• 1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled and minced
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon honey or pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 avocado, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to tast

Instructions

1. Prepare vinaigrette.
2. Add 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water in a pot . Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Place lid on pot and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for 15-20 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Cool at room temperature then transfer to a bowl (placing plastic wrap over the top of bowl) and refrigerate until chilled (about 30 minutes).
3. Add the quinoa and the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and toss.
4. Drizzle the salad with dressing and gently toss again. You want all the ingredients to be lightly coasted.
5. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

For The Avocado Lime Vinaigrette

1. Add the lime juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, maple syrup, cumin powder and avocado to a blender and blend until soothe. Add the chopped cilantro and pulse a few times to break the cilantro up into smaller flecks. If you don't want to add the avocado to the vinaigrette, then you can whisk the ingredients in a bowl or add everything to a mason jar, seal the lid and give it a good shake.
2. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. If properly stored, it should last up to 5 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 283Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 91mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 6gSugar: 7gProtein: 5g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.