Southwest Quinoa Salad

This Southwest Quinoa Salad is an easy to make quinoa salad made with black beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper and cilantro, topped with a chili lime vinaigrette.

If you love quick and easy salad recipes that can be a light lunch or a side dish, you’ll also want to try this Creamy Chickpea Salad.

Jump to:

• Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How To Make a Southwestern Quinoa Salad
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• 📖 Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• 30 minutes — This quinoa salad only takes about 30 minutes to make and it is simple to prep all the salad ingredients and vinaigrette dressing while the quinoa is cooking.
• Easy Lunch Recipe — This Southwestern Quinoa Salad tastes delicious right out of the fridge, so it is a great recipe to make for a healthy lunch to take to work.
• Meal Prep — This is a really easy recipe to make on the weekend to meal prep for the week.
• Side Dish or Light Meal — This quinoa salad works both as a light meal on its own, or as a side dish. Pair it with tacos, grilled chicken, soup or even chips and guacamole.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Quinoa: I use white quinoa for this recipe, but you can use whatever type of quinoa you like. You can also use another type of grain entirely, such as couscous, lentils or even orzo. If you choose to make a substitution, make sure to follow the directions on the package to cook the grain.
• Avocado: You’ll need one ripe medium sized avocado for this salad. However, if you really enjoy avocado, I suggest using two avocados instead of one.
• Black Beans: Black beans go best with this recipe but you can replace them with another type of bean, such as pinto beans.
• Corn: You can use canned corn or, if corn is in season, you can use fresh corn kernels that have been cut off the cob. If you want to add even more flavor, grill your corn first.
• Bell Pepper: I like to use a red bell pepper to add a pop of color, however yellow, green or orange bell pepper work just as well.
• Cilantro: You’ll need a large handful of fresh cilantro. If you don’t like cilantro, you can replace it with parsely or leave it out entirely.
• Red Onion: You can substitute the red onion with any type of onion you prefer, such as white onion or yellow onion.
• Lime Juice: Freshly squeezed lime juice will always taste best, however, a high quality bottled lime juice is a great substitute for saving time.
• Olive Oil: Olive oil is the base for the lime vinaigrette. Avocado oil or sunflower oil works well as a substitute.
• Garlic: A dash of fresh garlic gives the lime vinaigrette a great flavor. If you don’t like garlic, you can leave it out.
• Honey: Honey adds some sweetness to the dressing to balance the flavors. For a vegan alternative, use maple syrup instead.
• Chili Powder: Chili powder gives this dressing just the right amount of spice. If you want more spice, you can add a dash more.
• Cumin: Ground cumin is used in the chili lime vinaigrette for the best Southwestern flavor.

How To Make a Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Step 1: Rinse the quinoa under cold water for 60 seconds. Strain well.

Step 2: Add the water and rinsed quinoa to small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat and let the quinoa sit, covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and use a fork to fluff up the quinoa.

Step 3: Add the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, honey, chili powder and cumin to a mason jar. Shake well until emulsified. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Step 4: Mix the quinoa, black beans, avocado, corn, bell pepper, red onion and cilantro in a large bowl.

Step 5: Pour the chili lime vinaigrette over the quinoa salad and mix well until evenly distributed.

Expert Tips

• Add salt to taste. Once you have assembled the salad and mixed in the chili lime vinaigrette, taste the salad and add salt as needed. The salad will need a dash of salt to really bring out all the flavors!
• Cook the quinoa in broth. If you want to add a bit more depth of flavor, cook the quinoa in chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of water.
• Try another dressing. If you don’t like the idea of a chili lime vinaigrette, replace the dressing with something else, such as this maple vinaigrette dressing or this lemon oregano vinaigrette.
• Chill the salad before serving. I think this salad tastes best when cold, so I prefer to chill it in the fridge before serving. Chilling in the fridge also lets the flavors marinate together more.

Recipe FAQs

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