Greek Quinoa Salad with Avocado (Healthy and Quick)

This Greek Quinoa Salad recipe is a tasty and nutritious dish that’s filling enough to serve as a complete meal yet light enough to enjoy as a side. Tender cooked quinoa gets combined with fresh veggies, creamy feta cheese, and tangy Kalamata olives. Tossed with a vibrant olive oil dressing, this salad is ready in 15 minutes and makes enough to feed a crowd.

Say Goodbye to Boring Salads, Say Hello To Greek Quinoa Salad

We love a hearty salad recipe that is both nourishing and satisfying. Whether we’re preparing a side dish to bring to the neighborhood potluck or getting ready to meal prep healthy meals for the week, hearty salad recipes always hit the spot. The key to making a delicious and nutritious salad recipe is to load it up with ingredients that offer a variety of tastes and textures. Then, to ensure it’s filling, aim to include a balance of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. his Greek Quinoa Salad checks off all those boxes. Soft, cooked quinoa, crisp veggies, and an herbed olive oil dressing combine for a Mediterranean-inspired dish that’s pretty in appearance and satisfying to eat!

Ingredients to Make This Salad

This quinoa salad recipe utilizes key components of the Mediterranean Diet for a vibrant, flavorful dish. Here’s everything you’ll need from the grocery store along with simple substitutions so you can make it today:

• Fresh spinach – you’ll use spinach to form the base of the salad while packing in lots of vitamins and nutrients like vitamin K, vitamin A, B vitamins, manganese, folate, and copper; may sub arugula or any fresh greens of choice
• Cucumber – we recommend English cucumbers, but you can also use Persian or hot house cukes, or sub in a yellow squash or zucchini
• Tomatoes – grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes work best as they’re sweeter than other, larger varieties; chopped heirloom tomatoes will also work great
• Red onion
• Artichoke hearts – use canned, jarred or frozen artichoke hearts
• Crumbled feta cheese – included to add a tang, creamy texture, and calcium
• Kalamata olives – these add a delightful brininess that contributes to an authentic Greek salad
• Avocado
• Quinoa – tip: cook the quinoa ahead of time so it has plenty of time to cool before you assemble the salad
• Avocado oil – our go-to is Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil; may sub extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh oregano – may sub 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Lemon juice
• Salt and black pepper

For the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include the nutrition information, listing kcals, protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, fiber, sugar, sodium, total fat, and more per serving.

How to Make The Best Greek Quinoa Salad Recipe

Here are the steps to make this quinoa salad recipe in a matter of minutes:

1. Combine the salad. If you haven’t cooked the quinoa ahead of time, start by cooking the quinoa. In a large bowl, add all the salad ingredients, and set it aside.
2. Prepare the salad dressing. Whisk the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or a jar with a lid until smooth.
3. Toss the salad. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, and gently toss to combine.
4. Chill. Store the quinoa salad in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

For the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include complete nutrition information, listing calories, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, sodium, cholesterol, and more per serving.

Make It Dairy-Free

For a dairy-free salad, replace the 1/2 cup feta cheese with extra avocado or your favorite vegan feta cheese alternative, or simply omit the feta cheese.

Make It Vegan

To make this recipe vegan, simply omit or replace the feta cheese crumbles. If you want to serve it as a main course, you could add additional protein by stirring in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas or white beans.

Pin now to make later!

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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter. 

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