Greek Quinoa Salad

This Greek Quinoa Salad is an easy quinoa salad recipe that is great as a light lunch or side dish recipe and is quick to meal prep for the week in advance. Topped with a red wine vinaigrette dressing, you’re going to add this one to your favorites!

If you are fan of quinoa salads, you’ll love these Cold Quinoa Salads which are perfect for meal-prepping lunches.

Some of my other favorite quinoa salads are this Kale and Quinoa Salad and this Southwest Quinoa Salad.

Jump to:

• Recipe Highlights
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• Step By Step Instructions
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• 📖 Recipe

Recipe Highlights

• Served Cold — This Greek Quinoa Salad tastes best when served cold, straight from the fridge, which makes it a quick and easy lunch recipe that can be meal-prepped.
• Healthy & Filling — With a light dressing, this is a healthy, protein-packed salad that is super filling. Serve it as a light lunch or alongside soup or fresh salmon for a complete meal.
• Red Wine Vinaigrette — The Red Wine Vinaigrette dressing is quick and easy to make and complements this Greek Quinoa Salad perfectly!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Quinoa: I like to use white quinoa, but you can use whatever type of quinoa you like. If you use a different type of quinoa, follow the instructions on the package for cooking it.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Use sweet cherry or grape tomatoes that have been halved or quartered. You can use regular tomato as a substitute, but make sure it is firm so it doesn’t become soggy.
• Cucumber: Cucumber adds a bit of crunch to this Greek Quinoa Salad. You can halve, quarter or dice the cucumber.
• Red Onion: Sliced or diced red onions pull the rest of this salad together. You can use white onion instead, but it will have a stronger flavor.
• Feta: You have to have feta in a Greek Salad! This recipe includes a generous portion for all the feta-lovers.
• Olives: Olives are essential to any Greek salad. For the most classic flavor, use pitted Kalamata olives. However, black olives make a great substitution and are often a cheaper option.
• Red Wine Vinegar: There are lots of types of red wine vinegar. Use a high quality red wine vinegar that you enjoy the taste of. You could also use white wine vinegar as a substitution.
• Olive Oil: Use a good quality olive oil for this dressing recipe. You can use another type of oil as a substitute, such as sunflower oil, vegetable oil or avocado oil.
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup adds just the right amount of sweetness to balance out rest of the dressing ingredients. You can use honey as a substitute.
• Dijon Mustard: You’ll need a dash of Dijon mustard for the salad dressing. Regular mustard will not work as a substitution here.
• Garlic: Use freshly minced garlic for the dressing. If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can use a dash of garlic powder. And if you don’t like garlic, you can leave it out entirely.
• Oregano: You’ll need a dash of dried oregano for the vinaigrette. If you don’t have oregano, you can use Italian herbs, rosemary or thyme as a replacement.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1: Rinse the quinoa under cold water. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling, cover the pot and reduce the temperature, letting the quinoa simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the stove and let the pot sit for 10 minutes before using a fork to fluff the quinoa.

Step 2: Add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon, garlic and oregano to a mason jar. Shake vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds until well-emulsified.

Step 3: Add the cooked quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, red onion and black olives to a large salad bowl. Top with the red wine vinaigrette and mix to combine all the ingredients before serving.

Expert Tips

• Storage in the fridge. Store this Greek Quinoa Salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
• Try another dressing. If you don’t like the red wine vinaigrette or don’t have the ingredients on hand to make it, this salad also goes well with this Lemon Dijon Dressing.
• Replace the quinoa. This Greek Salad recipe is delicious with grains other than quinoa. Try it with couscous, orzo or farfalle.

Recipe FAQs

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📖 Recipe