quinoa kale salad

Say hello to my favorite new chopped salad! This Quinoa Kale Salad features medley of healthy, flavorful veggies tossed in a light lemony dressing.

Quinoa Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing

dry quinoa ((tri color or regular white))

water

kale

chickpeas ((15 oz

broccoli florets

red onion

red bell pepper (, chopped)

feta cheese ((skip if vegan))

almonds

lemons (, juiced)

TBSP avocado oil (or light olive oil)

tsp white wine vinegar

garlic

tsp sea salt (or extra, to taste)

tsp black pepper

dill (or to taste (optional))

First rinse and drain your quinoa using a mesh strainer or sieve. Bring a small pot to medium heat and lightly toast the quinoa to remove any excess water, stirring often. This step is optional but really adds to the nuttiness and fluff factor of the quinoa! Next add your water, set burner to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered with the lid slightly ajar, for 12-13 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy and the liquid has been absorbed.

Once your quinoa is ready, fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a medium bowl to cool.

While the quinoa cooks, wash and dry your chopped kale (I use my trusty salad spinner) and massage with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt for extra-tender, silky kale that tastes GREAT!

Toss kale with chickpeas, bell pepper, broccoli, red onion, and sliced almonds (you can chop these small if you&#039;d like some in every bite). Mix in quinoa.

For the lemon dressing, whisk together all the ingredients and give it a taste. If you like the tartness of the lemon juice (I love it!) keep it as is or feel free to add a little extra oil or sweeten a tad if preferred (sugar, honey, or maple syrup are common dressing sweeteners). Pour over salad and mix well. Top with crumbled feta and enjoy!

You can dive in right away or chill before serving. I love it both ways! If meal prepping, pop it in the fridge and dive in when your&#039;e ready. The dressing will soak into the salad and amplify the flavor even more. Love it so!

Really tasty salad! My husband loved it too! I did find the dressing too sharp so I will omit the white wine vinegar next time, also the lemons might have yielded a bit more juice than usual. But overnight it settled down and was a perfect lunch atop half an avocado. I used about ⅓ cup of chopped pistachios instead of almonds. Making major changes to my diet due to a borderline A1C test result which was a wake-up call, and this recipe is a keeper! Cheers

This recipe is outstanding!  My husband not only ate kale and quinoa but asked that I make a double batch next time.  I substituted the white wine vinegar with rice vinegar and it still came out well.  This will be on our menu and I will be growing kale this summer to make this salad!

Such a great easy recipe with amazing flavor. Never any leftovers when I bring to a Chirch potluck

The salads on your site are so, so good.  I can’t believe how healthy and flavorful they are.  I used to be meh about kale, but this recipe made me a convert!

This was delicious! I doubled the dressing and used half to marinate chicken breasts for 30 minutes adding fresh dill instead of dried in the dressing.  I also added in toasted slivered almonds (I had on hand) and dried cherries and eliminated the cheese. Its even yummy the next day.

Enjoyed it so much (as well as my teens) when a friend made it that I immediately made it at home!

Your Recipe caught our attention, so we added it to our list: 25 Refreshing Summer Salads
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe. Keep up the good work!

Absolutely amazing.  Tastes flavourful and all my kids approve.  Thank you so much!

I wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was. I quickly added it to my favorites list and I'm sure it will be in the regular rotation from now on.

Thank you for sharing this recipe! So so good!

This was delicious! I added dried cranberries, roasted butternut squash and grilled chicken. I have had this salad in restaurants and always love it so found your recipe and am very excited I did! One question…how long will this keep in fridge?

Loved this recipe, I added blueberries  and white grapes. Definitely a keeper.

This salad is so delicious that it's become my go-to for lunches. I make it at least 3 times a month!

Not your average kale salad! This deli-worthy quinoa kale salad is made in just 30 minutes with 10 ingredients. It’s sweet and tangy, lemony, crunchy, and packed with wholesome ingredients!

Lemony Quinoa Kale Salad with Crispy Chickpeas

sun-dried tomatoes ((or kalamata olives))

quinoa

sunflower seeds ((we like roasted unsalted))

goat cheese crumbles

(15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

olive oil (or avocado oil)

sea salt and black pepper

day old sturdy bread, torn into ~1-inch pieces

avocado oil ((or olive oil))

healthy pinch each sea salt and black pepper

lemon juice ((freshly squeezed))

olive oil

maple syrup

Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (218 C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. If using sun-dried tomatoes that are hard/dry, soak in hot water for 5-10 minutes, then drain.

Meanwhile, if you don’t already have cooked quinoa, prepare at this time (stovetop directions follow, or you can make it in the Instant Pot). In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup dry quinoa and 1 cup water (1/2 cup dry quinoa yields ~1 ½ cups cooked // adjust amount if altering default number of servings). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking for ~15-18 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy (the little curly “tails” of the quinoa should be visible). Remove from the heat and set aside (covered) while you make the salad. The quinoa will get even fluffier as it sits!

Add drained, rinsed, and thoroughly dried chickpeas to the baking sheet (scoot to one side if you plan to make the croutons). Then toss with oil, salt, and pepper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly crispy and golden brown. If making the croutons, add the bread to the other half of the baking sheet around the 8-minute mark and toss with oil, salt, and pepper. Croutons should bake for a total of 7-10 minutes, or until slightly browned and crusty. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside (both croutons and chickpeas will get crispier as they cool).

To a large mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine. Taste and adjust flavors as needed, adding more lemon for tartness, maple syrup for sweetness, and salt and/or pepper for flavor. Next add the chopped kale and massage it in the dressing for a few minutes to soften the kale and remove some bitterness.

Add the cooked quinoa, sun dried tomatoes or kalamata olives, sunflower seeds, and goat cheese (optional). Toss to combine. Once the chickpeas and croutons (optional) have cooled slightly, add them to the salad and stir to distribute. Enjoy!

Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If not consuming the salad immediately, we suggest storing the chickpeas and croutons separately at room temperature until just before serving to help maintain their crispiness.

Tweaked the recipe a bit to use what I had on hand. Swapped mild banana pepper rings for sun-dried tomatoes and vegan feta for goat cheese. The resulting dish is absolutely outstanding! I’ll be making this again and again. 

Thanks and love ya, MinBa!

The dressing on the was excellent and I loved all of the different flavors in this salad. I am currently obsessed with the vegan goat cheese. It adds an excellent tartness to salad or toast.

I don’t even like kale or salads in general usually and I LOVED this recipe! So good and will make again. I made my quinoa in the rice cooker (super easy, follow same amounts and put it on white rice setting) and used a vegan feta instead of goat cheese. 10/10!!

I made this tonight and loved it! I just happened to have some stale sourdough, and I had homegrown meyer lemons so I added the zest and the juice.

So delicious!  I took this to work over several days, easy to prep quinoa, seeds, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese together then add in prepped dressed kale morning you need it Carried roasted chickpeas and croutons separately and added in at last minute. Super easy and the kale benefits from advance dressing. Lunch box friendly, thanks!

I was in a bit of a rush, so I didn't have time to make quinoa, and I also used packaged roasted chickpeas to save time. I had made a vegan feta cheese, so I used that in place of goat cheese, and I did not include croutons. Even with those omissions/changes, it was still a really good salad! Simple and tasty. It also made for more servings (more like 5-6) than the recipe indicated--but no complaints on that front! Would definitely make this again and try experimenting with the things I omitted this time. I bet avocado would be good in there, too.

This is a beautiful dish and I made it this week. I ended up adding som yellow raisins as I think the flavours needed a bit of sweetness to be balanced.

This salad took a long time to assemble so I was like it better be real frickin' good and boy, did it deliver! :) I used spinach rather than kale and made gf croutons. I also just ate my sundried tomatoes dry - they absorb the salad dressing and so they do get a little soaked that way! Dana hits it out of the park again!

This was tonight’s dinner, so refreshing on a hot summer night! The dressing was so simple, yet complimented the kale and chickpeas, and the tanginess of the sun-dried tomatoes…yum! I found my sunflower seeds to be stale, so I substituted with sliced almonds. I would also have to the say the croutons are non-negotiable; they added a wonderful, savory texture and crunch to the salad. Will definitely be making this one again, most likely with tofu steaks!

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