Zesty Quinoa Salad

It’s made with simple whole-food plant-based ingredients like red bell pepper, jalapeño, red onion, cilantro, black beans, avocado, and lime juice.  Adding fresh lime juice and fresh cilantro brightens up this plant-based quinoa salad, making it light and flavorful.

The recipe is vegan/vegetarian, oil-free, whole-food plant-based, and gluten-free!  It comes together in about 30 minutes and can even work for meal prep. For more easy meals try vegan peanut noodles, tahini soba noodles, or tahini pasta.

It's a great summertime recipe!  For more easy refreshing salads try my vegan fruit salad with lime juice, summer berry salad, or vegan strawberry spinach salad with avocado.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Simple fresh ingredients for a simple zesty salad!

Quinoa - The base is fluffy quinoa, white or tri-color work best.  But use your favorite or what you have on hand.

Fresh or frozen corn - Quickly thaw frozen corn by placing it in a colander and running hot water over the corn, stirring to break up any frozen pieces.  Thoroughly drain the frozen corn to not add excess liquid to the vegan quinoa salad.  You can also substitute fresh or frozen corn with about one can of drained corn.

Black beans - One can of drained and rinsed black beans or 1 ½ cups of cooked black beans.  They can also be replaced with pinto beans or chickpeas.

Cherry tomatoes - They hold their shape well and don’t have many seeds. If you substitute with another type of fresh tomato that has a lot of seeds and is watery, you may want to de-seed the tomato so as to not add too much liquid to the salad. 

Red onion - I finely dice these when adding them to the flavorful quinoa salad.  If needed, you can leave this out or substitute it with green onions.

Red bell pepper - This can be substituted with a bell pepper of a different color.

Jalapeño - Remove the seeds and ribs to reduce heat or leave it out.  I prefer to finely dice it.  If you don't have jalapeños, try a pinch of red pepper flakes or leave the jalapeño out.

Fresh cilantro - If you’re not a fan of cilantro leave it out or use parsley if you’d prefer.

Fresh lime juice - This adds tanginess to our easy zesty quinoa salad.  Use fresh lime for the best flavor.  For even more lime flavor, add a little lime zest.  If needed, you can substitute lime juice with lemon juice for more of a lemon take on the dish.

Avocado - Just like in guacamole, the lime juice will temporarily help prevent the avocado from browning.

Oregano and garlic powder - Just a little dried oregano and garlic powder to add more depth of flavor to this healthy quinoa salad.

How to make a zesty quinoa salad

Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, this can be skipped if the package says "pre-rinsed."  Cook ½ cup of dry quinoa according to the package directions.  When it's done fluff the quinoa and let it cool to room temperature. 

Meanwhile, dice and prep the rest of the ingredients.  The frozen corn can be thawed by placing it in a colander and running warm water over it.  Use your hands to break up any large frozen chunks. Then let it drain before adding it to the salad.  Drain and rinse the can of black beans and dice the avocado into small bite-size pieces.  

Add the cooked quinoa and the rest of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir gently to combine.  If serving immediately, add the diced avocado to the quinoa mixture, otherwise wait to add it when you’re ready to consume.