Southwest Quinoa Salad

Healthy and flavorful Southwest Quinoa Salad with a zesty lime-cilantro dressing. This cold salad is great for meal prep, lunchbox, or dinner.

I love to use Quinoa as a base for salads because it is hearty and also soaks up the flavors of the dressing pretty well.  Feel free to swap quinoa with lettuce, if you are out of Quinoa or just want a light salad. It is quite refreshing.

I make a batch of quinoa over the weekend and use it up over the week for making quick veggie-loaded salads. In this southwest quinoa salad recipe, I used bell pepper, black beans, corn, tomatoes, red onions, & cilantro. The dressing is pretty simple – Cilantro, Oil, Jalapeño, lime, and spices. Throw all of it in a blender and blend until smooth, pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Finally, I added chopped avocados. To make this salad extra flavorful, use guacamole instead of chopped avocados. It is pure bliss!

This recipe is easily customizable. Make this kid-friendly by adding a portion of cooked pasta in place of quinoa and skip chilli from the dressing.

How to make Southwest Quinoa Salad?

Ingredients that you will need to make this –

• Quinoa
• bell pepper
• red onion
• tomatoes
• corn
• black beans
• cilantro
• avocado
• olive oil
• & jalapeno
• Spices: cumin powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper, cayenne, chilli powder.

Few tips:

• Go generous with cilantro
• If you like the dressing creamier, toss 1/4 avocado in the blender along with other ingredients while making prepping the dressing.
• Adjust the spices per your taste.

Making salad is pretty straightforward.

Cook Quinoa – Cook as per the instruction given in the packet for the stovetop. If you are using an instant pot, pressure cook Quinoa for 1 minute, and then let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid, allow it to cool down and then fluff.

Make the dressing: Toss all the ingredients for dressing in a blender and blend until smooth. To make this dressing spicer, add a tsp of chilli sauce. Jalapeno sauce is my favourite.

Combine: In a bowl, add veggies, canned beans & quinoa. Pour the dressing and toss. Adjust the spices if need.

Serve: Add chopped avocado just before serving.

I hope you like the recipe. It is –

• Hearty
• Flavorful
• Zesty
• & very delicious

You may also like –

• Cilantro-Lime Quinoa with Spicey Black Beans.
• Roasted Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl

Your valuable feedback is appreciated. If you try this recipe, leave a comment below, rate it, or tag a photo #eateriesdelightful on Instagram 🙂

Print Recipe

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Light and refreshing Quinoa Salad with Zesty Lime Cilantro dressing

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time5 mins

Total Time20 mins

Keyword: Southwest Quinoa Salad

Servings: 2

Author: Eateries Delightful

Ingredients

• cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/3 cup onion
• 1/3 cup pepper
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1 roma tomato
• Handful of cilantro
• 1 avocado chopped

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp key lime juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3/4 cup cilantro
• 1 Jalapeno

Instructions

• * Cook Quinoa per packet instruction. I cook using instant pot. Add 1.25 cups of water to washed and rinsed quinoa, and pressure cook for 1 minute in IP. Let the pressure release naturally.
• While the quinoa cooks, prepare the cilantro lime dressing. Blend cilantro, lime juice, jalapeño (deseed if necessary)and spices to a smooth paste.
• Transfer the cooked quinoa to a large bowl and stir in the corn, black beans, bell pepper, red onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. Add the dressing and stir gently to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
• Add sliced or chopped avocado or guacamole just before serving.

Notes

This salad is intended to be served cold, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #eateriesdelightful

Happy cooking!