Quinoa Chickpea Salad

This Quinoa Chickpea Salad is packed with fresh vegetables and a flavorful whole grain mustard and balsamic vinaigrette! It's vegan, gluten free, perfect for meal prep and so quick and easy to make in about 30 minutes.

Why we love this recipe

• Quick and easy: this quinoa chickpea salad is easy to make with minimal prep and about 30 minutes total cook time.
• Lots of veggies including carrots, cucumber, spinach, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and garlic!
• Plant-based protein: quinoa is a complete protein, unlike many other plant-based protein sources (1 cup of cooked quinoa contains 8g of protein). This recipe is perfect for those looking to easily incorporate more plant-based protein into their diets.
• Versatile: you can easily change up this salad with different vegetables and toppings.
• Vegan and gluten free: we use vegan parmesan to keep this 100% vegan. Quinoa is naturally gluten free, so this is a great allergy-friendly recipe.
• Perfect recipe for meal prep: this quinoa chickpea salad stores really well in the refrigerator and can be made several days before serving. Check out more tips on meal prepping salads (plus our favorite containers) here!

Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients you'll need to make this quinoa chickpea salad:

Ingredient notes

• Quinoa: we use basic white quinoa in this recipe, which is typically easiest to find in most grocery stores. You can also sub with tricolor or red quinoa, which taste very similar.
• Carrot: shredded carrot is best in this recipe. You can buy pre-shredded carrots, or use a cheese grater for perfect shavings. For an even quicker option, you can use a food processor with a shredder attachment.
• Spinach: you can also sub with another leafy green, like baby kale, arugula, microgreens, pea shoots, etc. Since it's not being cooked down, we like to chop ours finely before adding to the salad so you don't end up with any huge pieces of spinach.
• Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): we use canned chickpeas in this recipe. Be sure to drain and rinse before using. If you want to cook dry chickpeas, check out this tutorial. You can also sub with white beans or lentils.
• Parmesan: if you're not vegan, of course feel free to use regular grated or shaved parmesan. To keep this quinoa chickpea salad dairy free, we use vegan parmesan from Follow Your Heart.
• Whole grain dijon mustard: we LOVE the intense flavor and texture of whole grain mustard in this vinaigrette. If you'd prefer, you can sub with an equal amount of regular dijon mustard.
• Balsamic vinegar is our vinegar of choice for the vinaigrette, but this would also be great with red wine or champagne vinegar.

Step-by-step instructions

Cook 1 cup of dry quinoa according to package directions. We always add ½ teaspoon of salt to the water while cooking, which helps make the quinoa more flavorful.

While quinoa is cooking, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil to a small skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup diced onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add 2 teaspoon minced garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, until softened and slightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

Once the quinoa is done cooking, transfer to a bowl to cool slightly (you can place in the fridge or freezer to speed this up). 

Add all vinaigrette ingredients (¼ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard, 1 ½ teaspoon maple syrup, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper) to a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.

Prep the 1 cup spinach, 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, 1 cup diced cucumber, ¾ cup shredded carrots, ¾ cup diced yellow pepper and 3 tablespoon chopped parsley.

Add all ingredients (cooked quinoa, onions/garlic, vegetables, parmesan) to a large mixing bowl and toss well with the vinaigrette.

Optional: refrigerate for 30 minutes-1 hour before serving (or enjoy right away!).

Expert Tips and FAQs

• Refrigerate for an hour before serving: this isn't required, but encouraged. After you toss everything together, give the quinoa chickpea salad an hour or so to soak up all of the flavor from the vinaigrette. The salad will be more flavorful, and it tastes better chilled. If you don't have time, no worries!
• Chill the quinoa: you don't want to add hot quinoa to this salad. As soon as it's done cooking, transfer to a separate bowl and stir well to help it cool down. We typically pop the bowl in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes to speed this up.
• Change it up with roasted vegetables: one of the things I love most about this salad is that the base is so versatile. You can take the vinaigrette, quinoa and chickpeas and change it up by adding roasted vegetables like cauliflower, sweet potato, broccoli, etc. It would be great served warm!
• Storage: this quinoa chickpea salad stores really well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days. It's perfect for meal prep and you can make several days before serving!

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