I absolutely love quinoa salads. They are a great option for lunch because they do not need to be reheated. Also, quinoa salads keep you full for a long time and you won’t experience that big afternoon crash in energy. You can choose so many different ways of modifying the same basic recipe- quinoa salad recipes are so versatile! This quinoa salad with cucumber is light and refreshing.
Quinoa is a superfood. It’s one of a few plants that contain all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa is also high and fiber and gluten-free. It is easy to cook and has a mild taste. It stores well in the fridge and is easy to reheat or eat cold.
Additionally, quinoa is a great addition to any salad. Sometimes I substitute quinoa for bulgar wheat in my traditional Lebanese Tabouli Recipe.
How to Prepare Quinoa Salad with Cucumber
The key to preparing this recipe is starting with the quinoa. Quinoa is deceptive. When you cook it, it really increases in size. For this recipe, I recommend using 1.5 cups of dry quinoa.
The quinoa needs to be cooled down before adding to the other ingredients, so start with cooking the quinoa first. It doesn’t matter what type of quinoa you use, however for this recipe I’m using white quinoa.
Options
The exact recipe below is vegan, however, you can modify it to suit your dietary needs. You can choose to add chicken, garbanzo beans, halloumi cheese, or feta cheese.
This quinoa salad recipe is light and refreshing. If you’d like to try another quinoa salad recipe- try my Greek Quinoa Salad Recipe.
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Quinoa Salad Recipe with Mint and Pomegranate
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This quinoa salad with cucumber is light and refreshing. With light and fruity pieces such as pomegranate and mint, you will love this quinoa salad recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 cups of dry quinoa or 6 cups of cooked quinoa
- Pomegranate seeds from one whole pomegranate
- 3 large tomatoes
- 3 Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber
- 1 small red onion
- 1 bunch of parsley finely chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh mint finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- juice from 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook quinoa ahead of time and allow it to cool.
- Chop tomatoes, onion, and cucumber.
- Add finely chopped mint and parsley
- Add olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper.
- Mix in pomegranate seeds.
- Combine all ingredients.
- Category: Salad
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 399
- Sugar: 16 g
- Sodium: 73 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 62 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: quinoa salad, summer salad, superfood salad
Layla Richards says
Fresh summer salad. I couldn’t find pomegranate so I used watermelon and feta cheese instead. So good
★★★★★