Lemon Quinoa Salad with Herbs

This easy lemon quinoa salad is a hearty side dish that's bursting with bold flavors. Parmesan, arugula, and garlic pair well with bright lemon notes and a medley of fresh herbs in this healthy flavored quinoa recipe.

To be honest, quinoa has taken a backseat lately to other grains in my kitchen, namely farro (for farro salad) and polenta. But a craving for a lemony cold side dish salad jogged my memory of this lemon quinoa salad with herbs and I was in the kitchen in a flash.

Originally posted five years ago, I took the opportunity to update the photos, then zhushed the recipe by adding a few extra vegetables and herbs given what was plentiful in my backyard garden.

Ooh did this satisfy my craving. It features a simple dressing of fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic, with the salad full of other Mediterranean-inspired flavors: arugula, fresh herbs, Parmesan, onion, almonds, and cucumber.

But what's great about this recipe is that you can really do your own thing! Add tomatoes, switch out the nuts or cheese, leave an ingredient out, etc. Lots of wiggle room for you to make it your own.

Reasons to Love This Recipe

• Have you ever thought that quinoa was a little bit plain? This lemon quinoa salad is cooked in broth for a big foundational boost of flavor.
• Think of this recipe as a jumping off point. Once you cook the quinoa, you can easily switch up the add-ins, add more or less of your favorite herbs, use up a smattering of vegetables, etc.
• It's versatile and can made ahead of a get-together. These ingredients work as a warm or cold quinoa salad.

Recipe Ingredients

• Quinoa: Either white or tri-color (white, red, and black) quinoa are good bets for this salad. Go for white if you're a quinoa newbie as it has the most mild flavor.
• Broth: While you can use water, I find cooking quinoa in broth provides a really nice boost in flavor. Either reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (if not serving to vegetarians) are good.
• Lemons: I include the juice and zest of two lemons, which brings a bold citrus flavor to the final dish. If you're not a huge lemon fan, start with using the zest and juice of one lemon and then taste to see if you'd like more.
• Parmesan: Freshly-grated provides the most flavor, though refrigerated tubs from the supermarket deli department are pretty good, too. For a twist, substitute in crumbled feta.
• Fresh Herbs: A combination of mint, Italian parsley, and basil all pair well with the lemony flavors here. That said, feel free to add more of one, less of another, or omit one if you don't have it on hand.
• Cucumber: I usually go with standard supermarket cucumbers and peel and chop them. If using English cucumbers (also called hothouse) you don't need to peel.
• Almonds: Slivered or sliced are fine.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Rinse quinoa under cool water. This helps remove the quinoa's bitter coating (which is called saponin) and leads to better tasting cooked quinoa.
2. Add the quinoa to a pot of broth (or water). Cover and bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until all of the liquid is absorbed. This will take around 15-20 minutes or so.

3. Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
4. Once the quinoa has cooled off, add to a large bowl with the herbs, veggies, almonds, and Parmesan.

5. Pour in the dressing.
6. Stir the lemon quinoa salad up with a large spoon or toss everything with tongs. Take a taste and add additional lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper, etc. to taste.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Zest the lemons before you juice them as they're easier to hold onto while whole.
• You can use any kind of broth or water for this lemon quinoa salad. Just be sure to follow the one part quinoa to two parts liquid ratio to result in fluffy cooked quinoa..
• The quinoa can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated for easy day-of prep.
• If assembling this herbed quinoa salad ahead of time, consider dressing it with two-thirds (or so) of the dressing and reserving the remaining for dressing just prior to serving. The quinoa will naturally absorb the dressing as it sits, so saving some for serving ensures it will be nice and moist.

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If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!

This post was originally published in August 2014. The photos were updated in June 2018.

 

Liking the flavors in this lemon herb quinoa salad?

Then check out another oldie but goodie recipe - lemon chicken quinoa soup with spinach. It's a speedy soup recipe that uses leftover or rotisserie chicken. Healthy, too!