Quinoa Salad
This fresh and fruity Quinoa Salad is made with simple ingredients like apples, pears, pomegranate seeds, kale and more. It’s all held together by a lovely bright and tangy clementine vinaigrette that compliments everything beautifully. It’s the best salad for your Thanksgiving, Christmas or Sunday dinner table!
Quinoa Salad
Everyone needs a good quinoa salad recipe in their repertoire! This is the only one you’ll ever need for the fall and winter season. It’s freshly flavored with fruits, offers plenty of crisp textures, and it’s loaded with just the right amount of chewy quinoa. I think my favorite part of all is the amazing clementine vinaigrette that ties it all together in the best way!
This is one of my favorite dishes to toss together on a holiday. When your table is stuffed to the brim with all kinds of hearty side dishes and proteins, it’s so nice to have a fresh salad to offer you some reprieve from all of the carbs and cheeses! Kale, apples, pears and more keep your plate on the brighter side next to the mashed potatoes and dinner rolls.
Quinoa is one of those ingredients that takes a salad from good to great. It’s chewy, filling, and offers so many different nutritional benefits. When tossed with other super healthy ingredients like kale and various fruits, this is definitely a side dish you can feel great about enjoying a second serving of. It’s also a wonderful light lunch when you need a fruity midday pick-me-up!
How to Make Quinoa Salad
Another great reason this is the perfect Christmas salad – it’s SO quick and and easy to make! On a crazy busy cooking day, you’ll love having this easy recipe to toss up in no time.
- Toss it together. Add all of the ingredients (except for the vinaigrette) to a bowl and toss together.
- Whisk. Whisk together all of the clementine vinaigrette ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Enjoy! Toss the vinaigrette together with the salad. Serve immediately or cover and chill for later.
Ingredient Notes
Take a quick look at these notes before you get to chopping:
- Quinoa – Make sure it’s cooked quinoa, but not hot when tossed with the other ingredients.
- Apples and Pears – Make sure they’re all relatively chopped into uniform pieces so they all fit nicely on your fork. Also, you can use any color of apple you like best! I usually go with gala or honeycrisp.
- Pomegranate – Check out how to cut a pomegranate to get those wonderful seeds!
- Scallions – These offer a bold onion-y flavor that’s still pretty subtle.
- Parsley – Make sure it’s fresh, not dried.
- Kale – Always rinse and massage your kale before you chop it. When you massage kale, it makes it so much easier to chew.
- Pecans – You could always use candied pecans for a sweeter flavor.
- Clementine Vinaigrette – To make this sweet and tangy dressing, all you need is clementine juice, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Can I make it ahead of time?
Yes! Once you toss the salad with the vinaigrette, you can cover it and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours prior to serving. Just keep in mind that the longer the dressing sits on the salad, the more limp the fruits and kale will become.
I recommend keeping the dressing and salad ingredients stored in two separate airtight containers in the fridge if you’re making this salad more than 1 day ahead of time. That way, everything stays nice and crisp.
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Get the Recipe: Quinoa Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups quinoa
- 2 Apples, cored and chopped
- 2 Pears, cored and chopped
- 1 Pomegranate, seeded (or 1 cup pomegranate arils)
- 3 Scallions, chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley
- 3 cups chopped Kale
- 1/2 cup Chopped pecans
- 1 cup Clementine vinaigrette
For the Clementine Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup fresh clementine juice
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Equipment
- 1 salad bowl
Instructions
- Add the quinoa, apples, pears, pomegranate seeds, scallions, parsley, kale and pecans to a bowl. Toss to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Add the dressing to the salad and stir to coat.
- Serve immediately or cover and chill until ready to serve.