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Home » Recipes » Salads

Pumpkin Quinoa Salad

Published: Nov 3, 2022 by Lexi

38 shares
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This Pumpkin Quinoa Salad is the perfect seasonal lunch or dinner recipe. It's packed with hearty ingredients like roasted pumpkin, warm quinoa, and crisp kale making it extra filling and delicious.

Finished pumpkin quinoa salad in a blue bowl with tongs.
This salad has so many delicious flavors and textures!
Jump to:
  • Why We Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • Ingredient Notes
  • Instructions
  • Tips and FAQs
  • Other Fall Salad Recipes to Enjoy
  • 📖 Recipe

Why We Love This Recipe

  • Loaded with fall flavors, like pumpkin, cranberries, orange, and walnuts. This recipe makes for the perfect fall holiday entertaining dish or an easy weeknight dinner. You can even prep the toppings and let everyone choose their own, making it super customizable for guests.
  • Quick and easy: Simply roast the pumpkin, whisk up the dressing, cook the quinoa, and assemble the salad. This dish comes together in under an hour and makes for a super delicious and filling meal.
  • Homemade dressing: Our homemade orange balsamic dressing tastes amazing and is super easy to whip together. It's versatile and can be used as a marinade for protein, or on other fall salads.
  • Meal prep friendly: This pumpkin quinoa salad is one of those dishes that stores really well in the fridge for meal prep. Since there's no regular lettuce, it doesn't get soggy, and it actually tastes even better after the dressing sits for a few days.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this pumpkin quinoa salad:

Pumpkin salad ingredients including quinoa, kale, and shallots.
So many delicious fall flavors!

Ingredient Notes

  • Pumpkin: To make this recipe, you'll need to find a pie pumpkin. They're readily available in most stores in the US during fall, but they can sometimes be difficult to find. If you can't find any fresh pumpkin, you can substitute with kabocha squash (it has a similar flavor and texture), or even butternut or acorn squash. Sweet potato could also work in a pinch, although they have a very different flavor.
    • To prepare it for this recipe, peel off the tough, outer skin with a vegetable peeler, then slice and half and use a spoon to remove the seeds. From there, you can slice it into long ½-inch thick strips, then dice into cubes.
  • Quinoa: We're using basic white quinoa in this recipe, which is typically easiest to find in most grocery stores. However, you can also sub with tricolor or red quinoa, which taste very similar. We make sure to cook the quinoa according to package instructions.
  • Baby kale: For this recipe we would recommend using either baby spinach or kale. Both are the perfect size and texture that provide a great base for the other toppings. Arugula would be another great option.
  • Cranberries: We prefer using unsweetened dried cranberries in most of our recipes, but you can also use sweetened if you prefer the flavor.
  • Orange juice: Feel free to use freshly squeezed or store bought in the vinaigrette.
  • Shallots: You can also sub with yellow or red onion.
  • Walnuts: Feel free to substitute with pecans or another nut of choice. To keep this pumpkin quinoa salad nut free, try used pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Instructions

(1) Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Dice pumpkin into ½-inch cubes. Add to a bowl and toss with the shallots, olive oil, salt, thyme, cinnamon, garlic powder, and pepper until well coated.

Transfer to a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes at 375˚F, stirring once or twice, until fork tender.

Left: pumpkin with spices before roasting. Right: pumpkin on sheet pan after roasting.
If you can't find a pie pumpkin, try subbing with your favorite squash.

(2) Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

Left: dressing in a bowl prior to whisking. Right: dressing in bowl after whisking.
Our orange balsamic vinaigrette is so versatile - try it on other salads or even as a marinade.

(3) Prepare the quinoa according to package directions.

(4) In a large bowl, combine kale, roasted pumpkin, quinoa, walnuts, and cranberries. Pour the dressing over and toss well to coat. 

Left: cooked quinoa in a saucepan. Right: finished salad in a bowl.
You can also use farro or brown rice in place of the quinoa.

Tips and FAQs

  • Storage: This salad stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week. Don't worry about keeping the dressing separate – it actually tastes even better when you let the salad sit overnight.
  • Fork test: The pumpkin is finished cooking when you can easily insert a fork into the cubes. If there's any resistance, leave them in for a bit longer!
  • Customize to your liking: This recipe is super easy to swap out other ingredients for based on preference or even the groceries you have on hand. Feel free to use a different grain (farro or brown rice would work well), another type of nut (pecans or almonds would be delicious), or any other topping you wish!
  • Add cheese: Feel free to top this pumpkin quinoa salad with feta cheese, goat cheese or shaved parmesan.
Close up of the finished pumpkin quinoa salad.
This salad is perfect for meal prep!

Other Fall Salad Recipes to Enjoy

  • Close up of finished kale apple salad.
    Fall Kale Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
  • overhead view of vegan fall cobb salad on a large salad plate on wood table.
    Fall Cobb Salad
  • Overhead of finished pumpkin salad on a oval platter.
    Pumpkin Salad
  • Apple Pecan Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

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📖 Recipe

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Close up of the finished pumpkin quinoa salad in a blue bowl.

Pumpkin Quinoa Salad


  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

This Pumpkin Quinoa Salad is the perfect seasonal lunch or dinner recipe. It's packed with hearty ingredients like roasted pumpkin, warm quinoa, and crisp kale making it extra filling and delicious.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Salad: 

  • ¾ cup dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions.
  • 4 cups pie pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed and diced into ½ inch pieces
  • ¼ cup shallots (~2 shallots), diced
  • 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 cups chopped spinach or baby kale
  • ½ cup chopped, toasted walnuts
  • ⅓ cup dried cranberries

 Orange Balsamic Dressing:

  • ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375˚F/190˚C. 
  2. Prepare the quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool. 
  3. Peel the pumpkin and use a spoon to remove the seeds. Dice pumpkin into ½-inch cubes.
  4. Add to a bowl and toss with the shallots, olive oil, salt, thyme, cinnamon, garlic powder, and pepper until well coated.
  5. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until fork tender.
  6. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
  7. In a large bowl, combine kale, roasted pumpkin, cooked quinoa, walnuts, and cranberries. Pour the dressing over and toss well to coat. 

Notes

Storage: This salad stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week. Don't worry about keeping the dressing separate – it actually tastes even better when you let the salad sit overnight. 

Pumpkin: If you can't find a pie pumpkin, feel free to substitute with kabocha, butternut or acorn squash. 

Cranberries: We prefer using unsweetened dried cranberries in most of our recipes, but you can also use sweetened if you prefer the flavor. 

Orange juice: Feel free to use freshly squeezed or store bought in the vinaigrette. 

Shallots: You can also sub with yellow or red onion. 

Walnuts: Feel free to substitute with pecans or another nut of choice. To keep this pumpkin quinoa salad nut free, try used pumpkin or sunflower seeds. 

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Salads
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 412
  • Sugar: 12.6 g
  • Sodium: 701 mg
  • Fat: 28.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 36.9 g
  • Fiber: 4.6 g
  • Protein: 7.4 g

Keywords: pumpkin quinoa salad

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