This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
This Quinoa Chickpea Salad recipe is bursting with Mediterranean flavors – fresh light and lemony, packed full of nutrients; you’ll want to serve this up all summer long! Healthy, vegan and great for meal prep. Video. 25+ Incredible Chickpea Recipes & 20 Amazing Quinoa Recipes!
Why you’ll love this Quinoa Chickpea Salad Recipe!
Say hello to your new favorite Quinoa Salad! Not only will you love how easy this Quinoa Salad is to make, I know you will fall head over heels in love with the Mediterranean flavors. Quinoa is combined with chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, kalamata olives, red onion, fresh dill and loads of parsley, but it’s this incredible dressing that elevates; Preserved Lemon Dressing!
Add a little sumac if you like to give it a sassy punch. The salad can be made ahead and kept for up to 4 days in the fridge, getting better with time. Perfect for meal prep! We think it is kind of perfect. 😉 Add feta if you like or keep it vegan.
Quinoa Chickpea Salad | 60-second video
The best thing is, you probably have everything on hand to make this right now – and please don’t worry if you don’t have preserved lemons (take a peek at the recipe notes) but they do truly elevate here.
Ingredients in Quinoa Chickpea Salad
Lots of fresh ingredients go into this salad- besides chickpeas and quinoa, you’ll need tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, olives, bell peppers and loads of fresh herbs!
How to Make Quinoa Chickpea Salad
It starts with cooking the quinoa and making the preserved lemon dressing. Preserved lemons, if unfamiliar, are a flavorful Middle Eastern condiment, and in a nutshell, are lemons preserved in salt. Here they are chopped finely and added to the dressing. If you don’t have them- don’t worry- see the recipe notes!
Bookmark this Preserved Lemon Dressing- it’s super tasty!
Cook the quinoa while you prep all the veggies.
Here I’ve used canned chickpeas but feel free to cook from scratch- you’ll need 1 1/2 cups cooked.
Then assemble the quinoa salad, adding all the prepped ingredients to the bowl.
Give a toss with the Preserved Lemon Dressing and taste, adding more salt and lemon, to your liking.
What to serve with This!
- Grilled Chicken Shawarma
- Grilled Tofu
- Baba Ganoush
- Homemade Pita Bread
- Authentic Falafels!
- Tzatziki!
If making this salad ahead, re-taste for salt and lemon before serving. Salad will keep up to 5 days in the fridge.
Enjoy this fresh and happy salad- please leave a rating and a comment below- always appreciated!
xoxo
MORE SALADS YOU MAY LIKE!
Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: salad, vegan salad
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Quinoa Chickpea Salad is made with chickpeas, cucumber, tomato, kalamata olives dill, parsley and Preserved Lemon Dressing. A healthy vegan salad with Middle Eastern flavors that can be made ahead!
Ingredients
Preserved Lemon Dressing
- 1/4 cup preserved lemons, finely chopped (or see notes)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac (optional)
Chickpea Quinoa Salad
- 3/4 cup quinoa (dry, uncooked)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 15–ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained ( 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped (see notes)
- 1 English cucumber, diced (2 cups)
- 1 bell pepper (yellow is nice) diced
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved ( or chopped radish)
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped or halved
- 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup dill, chopped (or sub mint, or use both!)
- Other optional additions: avocado, feta, radishes
Instructions
Place quinoa, water and pinch of salt in a medium pot, bring to a boil, cover, simmer on low 12-15 minutes until all the water is gone. Uncover, fluff, cool slightly.
Make the dressing, by mixing all in a bowl.
Prep all the veggies. If sensitive to onions, dice, then soak in cold salted water while you chop the rest.
Place the chickpeas, onions, cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, olives, dill and parsley to a large bowl. Add the quinoa and dressing and give a good toss.
Taste, adjust salt and lemon to your liking. If making ahead, taste once more right before serving as the quinoa and chickpeas have a tendency to soak up the salt and lemon, so you might want to add a little more.
Notes
If no access to preserved lemons, substitute zest from one whole lemon plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add more lemon juice to taste.
Salad will keep 4 days in the fridge.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 253
- Sugar: 3.4 g
- Sodium: 607.4 mg
- Fat: 12.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.3 g
- Fiber: 6.1 g
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: quinoa salad, quinoa chickpea salad, chickpea quinoa salad, preserved lemon dressing, best quinoa salad, Mediterranean quinoa salad
What is the serving size for the nutrition? Thanks
1 cup. 🙂
You were right: this actually is my new favourite quinoa salad.
★★★★★
Awesome to hear Tracey!
Refreshing, flavorful, healthy and beautiful. A perfect summer dish!
★★★★★
Awesome to hear Karen- thanks!
6/5!! This is such a great dish! Thank you for introducing me to sumac (now a fave). I leave out the onion because of sensitivity in my hh and it is still fabulous. Perfect summer dish, love it tossed over arugula.
★★★★★
Awesome Gladie- I am so happy you like this one!
This salad was soooo good. It canals be played with by adding veggies you have on hand- it’s very adaptable.
Thanks Monica!
This is fabulous!!! I added alittle extra lemon and used crispy English cucumbers. I also added spices to my water (an Italian mixed spice with garlic, lemon, salt, oregano, parsley & a chicken roast spice with simalar spices and 2 tbsp of vegan butter). Basically you can’t go wrong with this dish by adding stuff to the quinoa water to jazz it up! Or just add broth instead of water like the recipe says.
Thanks Ronna!
Absolutely delicious. Thanks
★★★★★
Awesome, thanks!
the dressing seems quite thick and strong in taste, could be because i blended but what is the best way to thin out the dressing? more olive oil?
Yes, shoot the dressing best not blended. I might try to use it, toss it with the salad, and then add a little olive or water directly to the salad if needed.
Oh so delicious and healthy!! This is the first time I used preserved lemons and sumac. Love it!!!
★★★★★
so happy you gave this a go!
Hi,
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but could I please ask to also put quantities in 1bs or grams as it’s difficult to find an accurate conversion chart online. Most have options for flour or butter, but not for ingredients such as onions ,quinoa or herbs. I’m sure it will be a lovely dish to make once I’ve worked out how much of each ingredient I need.
Did you see the recipe card at the bottom of the post?
Hi Sylvia,
Yes, I could see the recipe but measurements were in cups which I am not familiar with. Anyway, I made the salad and it was delicious.
Many thanks
★★★★★
You can switch to metric- there is a tab at the top. 🙂
Wonderful! I had to improvise a lot since I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, but it still turned out great!
Perfect Susie!