Home » Side Dishes » Tomato Quinoa Salad
Published: July 12, 2018Updated: April 21, 2022Author: Jenn Laughlin
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It’s time to add another tasty quinoa recipe to our meal prep game! This Tomato Quinoa Salad is fast, flavorful, and easily made in advance for speedy lunches and sides for work, school, or home!
Cherry tomatoes are quite possibly the easiest thing I’ve ever grown.
Whether it’s in the ground, a raised bed garden, or in neat little pots in a container garden… these tasty tomatoes grow anywhere!
This year we have 2 over-eager cherry tomato vines that we’re basically living off of right now. It’s clearly time to tomato ALLTHETHINGS on the blog and give you oodles of ideas for using up those ripe Summer tomatoes!
Let’s kick things off with this tomato quinoa salad! As written, it’s vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and has the most amazing garlic lime dressing to amp up the flavor!
Tomato Quinoa Salad
The recipe below yields 4 side-dish sized servings. Need to feed a crowd? Feel free to double or triple the recipe as needed to serve at your next party, potluck, or barbecue!
For this healthy tomato-studded recipe you can use cherry, grape, plum, heirloom, or any type of tomatoes you have handy. Whether they come from your garden, Farmer’s Market, or grocery store matters not. Just grab some ripe tomatoes and meet me in the kitchen!
Tomato Quinoa Salad
It's time to add another tasty quinoa recipe to our meal prep game! This Tomato Quinoa Salad is fast, flavorful, and easily made in advance for speedy lunches and sides for work, school, or home!
Feel free to double this recipe if needed, it's so easy to do!
4.96 from 24 votes
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Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Vegan
Keyword: Tomato Quinoa Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes
Total Time: 22 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Jenn Laughlin - Peas and Crayons
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry quinoa
- ¾ cup water
- 2-3 cups chopped/sliced tomato
- 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup chopped green onion
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)
- 2 TBSP avocado oil
- 1 clove garlic (smashed and minced)
- 1 TBSP fresh chopped parsley
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- additional fresh chopped parsley to taste
Instructions
First rinse and drain your quinoa using amesh strainer or sieve. Bring a small pot to medium heat and lightly toast the quinoa to remove any excess water. Stir as it toasts for just a few minutes. This step is optional but really adds to the nuttiness and fluff factor of the quinoa!Next add your water, set burner to high, and bring to a boil.Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered with the lid slightly ajar, for 12-13 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy and the liquid has been absorbed.
While the quinoa cooks, chop, slice and prep the remaining ingredients.
To make the dressing, combine avocado oil (or healthy oil of your choosing) with fresh lime juice, minced garlic, parsley, cumin, salty and pepper.
Once your quinoa is ready, fluff with a fork and allow to cool (I usually pop mine in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to cool it) then combine with tomatoes, green onion, chickpeas, and any extra parsley you'd like! I usually add 2-3 TBSP of extra parsley - I love the flavor! Toss salad with half of the dressing and dive in! Drizzle extra dressing on the salad as desired and feel free to add any additional seasoning to taste.
Notes
I like my dressing a bit on the tart side, and make it with about 4 Tablespoons of lime juice (2 limes worth) - If you'd like it less tart, feel free to adjust the amount as needed!
Not a fan of garlic or lime? Try one of the alternate dressing recipes in the post below. Greek, Italian, and a number of different salad dressings work great here!
Nutrition facts below are an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Calories: 255kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 450mg, Potassium: 484mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 780IU, Vitamin C: 17.4mg, Calcium: 59mg, Iron: 2.8mg
Did you make this recipe?I want to see! Tag @peasandcrayons on Instagram and Facebook!
what dressing can I use for quinoa salad?
There are SO MANY delicious types of salad dressing that would pair marvelously with this tomato quinoa salad. I whipped up a zesty garlic lime dressing in the recipe card above and adored it! You could also pair it with Italian dressing, Greek dressing, or maple citrus salad dressing.
You can also add extras like avocado, feta (skip for vegan), and zucchini!
how long can I keep quinoa salad in the fridge?
You can keep cooled quinoa or quinoa salad in the fridge for 3 to 5 days in a tightly sealed container. I like to store mine with the dressing on the side when possible (and add it before serving) but this salad can be lightly dressed and stored with the dressing without getting soggy like lettuce-based salads.
long live tomato season!
If you get a chance to try this tasty tomato quinoa salad, let me know!Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation!
craving more cherry tomato recipes?
- Cherry Tomato Salad<– perfect for a party or cookout
- Tomato Mozzarella Chickpea Salad
- Tomato Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)
- Tomato Basil White Bean Dip(Vegan!)
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About The Author:
Jenn Laughlin
Hi! I’m Jenn and I’m here to help you eat your veggies! It'll be fun, painless, and pretty darn delicious as I teach you to plan your meals around fresh, seasonal produce with a little help from healthy freezer and pantry staples.
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