This pomegranate mint quinoa salad is made with pomegranate arils, crunchy baby cucumbers, red onion, parsley, fluffy quinoa, and fresh mint. The dressing isn't anything fancy, just lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. This quinoa salad recipe is an excellent meal prep recipe, and stores well in the fridge.
Quinoa is a great addition to any salad. Sometimes I make quinoa tabouli salad instead of traditional Lebanese bulgar wheat tabouli salad.
What I Love About This Recipe
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 pomegranate mint quinoa salad with cucumber is light and refreshing.
Ingredient Notes
- 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. Use white quinoa or red quinoa for this recipe.
- Pomegranate: I recommend using fresh pomegranate for this recipe, or store-bought pomegranate arils. I recommend peeling a pomegranate in water to prevent a mess.
- Fresh mint: Use fresh mint if you have some on hand, or substitute dried mint.
- Italian parsley: I prefer Italian parsley, also known as flat parsley, rather than curly parsley. However, both parsley types work for this recipe.
- Onion: Use red onion, white onion, or sweet onion. Alternatively, you can use green onion.
- English cucumber, baby cucumber, or Persian cucumber: These sweet and crunchy cucumbers are the best for salads! plus you don't have to remove the peel.
- Fresh lemon juice: Use the fresh stuff! Skip the bottled lemon juice.
How to Make Pomegranate Mint Quinoa Salad
Cook the quinoa as per the box instructions. Cool the quinoa to room temperature.
De-seed the pomegranate. Chop the onion, cucumber, parsley, and mint leaves. Squeeze the lemon juice.
Mix the chopped vegetables and quinoa together. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and olive oil.
Tips and Tricks
- The quinoa will grow in size. 2 cups of dry quinoa yields about 6 cups cooked quinoa.
- Prepare the quinoa first so it can cool. If you want to speed things up, once the quinoa is cooked place it in the fridge or freezer to cool down faster.
- Don't mix hot quinoa with the other salad vegetables.
Substitutions and Variations
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.
Storage
Pomegranate mint quinoa salad stores well in the fridge and is easy to reheat or eat cold. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Quinoa Salads
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Pomegranate Mint Quinoa Salad
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.
Layla Richards
Fresh summer salad. I couldn’t find pomegranate so I used watermelon and feta cheese instead. So good