This Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is rich in flavor. There’s something about the feta, oregano, and olives being infused with the tomatoes, quinoa, and cucumbers. Honestly, this is one of my favorite salad recipes.
What I love the most about this recipe is that it's flexible. It can be a standalone meal with some form of protein- either chickpeas or grilled chicken. Or, it can be a side dish. It’s delicious, easy, and filling. This salad is also rich with nutrients and vitamins.
And if you haven't already noticed my obsession with hummus and quinoa salad recipes, I must have hidden it well. This Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is the blending of two major worlds- quinoa and Mediterranean salad. Yum!
Ingredients To Make a Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Quinoa: I really love using this ingredient. It’s a superfood and complete protein grain. For this recipe, I prefer to use white quinoa, however, you can use any other type of quinoa.
- Olives: I prefer to use green Greek olives. Sometimes I can't find the olives already pitted, so I end up pitting the olives myself.
- Tomatoes: I normally use grape tomatoes and just cut them in half. Grape tomatoes are a little bit sweeter than Roma or beefsteak tomatoes.
- Onions: You can use red onion, brown onion, sweet onion, white onion, or yellow onion for this recipe.
- Cucumbers: Use Persian cucumbers or an English cucumber. You can keep the outer skin on the cucumber if using either of those cucumbers.
- Feta cheese: Get some high-quality feta cheese for this salad, and don't put too much! The feta offsets the vibrant flavors of the veggies.
- Oregano: If you have fresh oregano on hand, go with the fresh stuff. If you don't have fresh oregano, you can use dried oregano.
- Olive oil: Use high-quality olive oil.
- Fresh Lemons: You will need to juice a fresh lemon to add to the salad. I never recommend using canned lemon juice because it's not the same!
- Salt and pepper to taste: If you want to get a little fancy, you should check out Maldon's flaked salt. Also, fresh cracked pepper is pretty delicious.
Tips for Making This Mediterranean Salad
- Quality ingredients: The quality of your ingredients makes a difference in my opinion. When I get fresh organic vegetables, I notice that their flavors are more pronounced. Quality feta cheese, olives, and olive oil also make a big difference.
- Make this vegan: If you’d like to make this a vegan recipe, substitute avocado for the feta cheese. When I’m making this for work lunches, I will cut my avocado the day of.
- Cool the quinoa before mixing: Make sure the quinoa has had time to get to room temperature. You can speed the cooling process by sticking it in the fridge. If you are short on time, under no circumstances, should you mix the feta cheese. I've made that mistake.
How to Store Quinoa Salad
This recipe is a great meal prep recipe for a work week. Divide the salad into glass locking containers, and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. I do not recommend freezing this salad.
Other Quinoa Salad Recipes to Try
- Quinoa Salad Recipe with Mint and Pomegranate
- Lebanese Tabbouleh with Quinoa
- Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Spinach
- Quinoa Salad with Cucumber, Mint, and Pomegranate
Greek Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe with Feta
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Greek Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is hearty and delicious. It's made with feta, greek salad, and quinoa.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry quinoa or 6 cups cooked quinoa
- 4 cups cherry tomatoes
- 6 Lebanese/Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber
- 1 small red onion
- 2 tbsp high-quality olive oil
- 1 tbs dried oregano or fresh oregano
- 3 ounces feta cheese
- 20 olives – black or green
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large lemon
Instructions
Cook Quinoa
- Cook quinoa ahead of time and allow it to cool.
Chop Veggies
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half.
- Dice onion.
- Cut cucumbers into the same size as the tomatoes.
- Remove the olive pits and dice olives.
- Mix cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and onion together in a bowl.
Make Dressing
- Squeeze lemon.
- Add olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, oregano, and feta cheese together.
- Add dressing to the salad.
- Category: Salad
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 cups
- Calories: 345
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 445 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 8 mg
Keywords: quinoa salad, greek salad, fresh salad
Mini says
Loved it!!!!!!
★★★★★
Ali says
Made this with grilled chicken
★★★★★