Five Fruit and Quinoa Salads to Put on Repeat

We were all so quinoa crazy a few years about and I’m bringing back the love! Check out these beautiful, nutritious and amazingly nutritious fruit and quinoa salads. Most have enough protein to make a balanced and satisfying meal, but you can also add your favorite protein — like shrimp, salmon, or beef – to the toss!

A collection of quinoa salads featuring fruit that will add beauty and nutrition to your plate!

Actually, I’ve never given up my love for this ancient grain (which is actually a seed) that boosts your diet with  nutrients like B-vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, vitamin E, and fiber. Additionally, quinoa is also one of only a few plant foods considered a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids.

Transform plain quinoa into something to celebrate for the holiday season! Pomegranate, orange segments and pistachios bejewel this quick, easy and nourishing vegetarian salad that is equally beautiful for a dinner party or quick lunch!

Pomegranate Orange Quinoa Salad: This festive quinoa salad featuring pomegranate and orange is lovely for seasonal celebrations but can be made year-round for weeknight dinners thanks to those little tubs of pomegranate arils. The simple creamy dressing has a vinaigrette vibe but with Greek yogurt and date syrup for even more flavor.

Hydrate and invigorate with this juicy fresh salad featuring watermelon, raspberries and quinoa! The zingy ginger mint dressing is amazing. It’s a stunningly colorful side dish or add shrimp or salmon for a main dish.

Watermelon Raspberry Quinoa Salad with Ginger Mint Dressing: This fully-loaded watermelon quinoa salad is made hearty enough for a full meal with quinoa, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, loads of greens, juicy watermelon and raspberries. The Ginger Mint Dressing is so aromatic and invigorating, and easy to make in a personal blender.

Clementine Quinoa Kale Salad with Minty Poppy seed Dressing

Clementine Quinoa Kale Salad with Minty Poppy Seed Dressing: Clementines or any other type of “easy-peeler” tangerines (like Halos, Cuties, etc.) are fun to eat – even in a fruit quinoa salad! Get your boost of vitamin C (from the citrus + kale) in this fiber-loaded salad.

Maple Pecan Raisin Malasses Crusted Steak and Butternut Squash Quinoa

Maple, Pecan, Raisin Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad:  While this quinoa salad might be screaming fall, it’s a taste sensation to make year-round. If you can’t source butternut squash, you can usually find a bag of cubed quash in the freezer aisle. If you’re not a fan of raisins (but trust me, that add so much YUM to this recipe), they can be left out.

Super Clean Strawberry Apple Spinach Salad is perfect for your next party, picnic or potluck . .it's also great for meal-prepping for healthy lunches. Walnuts and spinach add extra texture, heart-healthy fats and protein.

Super Clean Strawberry Spinach Quinoa Salad with Zingy Vinaigrette: This strawberry quinoa salad is crave-worthy with baby spinach tossed into nutty quinoa and walnuts. It’s all balanced with a subtle sweet-tart flavor thanks to juicy berries and crispy Granny Smith apples and zingy vinaigrette

Super Clean Strawberry Apple Spinach Salad is perfect for your next party, picnic or potluck . .it's also great for meal-prepping for healthy lunches. Walnuts and spinach add extra texture, heart-healthy fats and protein.

Festive Pomegranate Orange Quinoa Salad – Hassle-free & Healthy Holiday Side

Deck your plate for the holidays with this festive quinoa salad featuring pomegranate and orange. it’s a beautiful, healthy, delicious recipe elegant enough for the season’s celebrations and simple enough for a simple weeknight dinner.

A simple creamy dressing made with a vinaigrette base along with Greek yogurt and date syrup adds even more flavor to this simple holiday quinoa salad that comes together with just a handful of healthy ingredients.

 

This pomegranate orange quinoa recipes makes 4 servings, each with 146 calories, 26g carbs, 3.1g fat and 4.8g protein.

 I pair this cold quinoa salad with a quality protein to make sure I’m hitting my 25-30g per meal goal. Tonight, I made cod that was simply seasoned and air-fried.

TIPS FOR FESTIVE QUINOA SALAD:

Quinoa: You can use any color quinoa (eg: white, red, black, mixed). Also, consider batch-cooking quinoa and keeping in the freezer in 1-cup portions. This makes creating quick recipes with this healthy whole grain (really a seed), even easier – you can read my quinoa prep post HERE.

Pomegranate & Oranges: Use fresh or pre-packaged, it really only comes down to your preference and time to prep. If using either from a jar, tub, or can, choose “no sugar added” and drain off the juice so the quinoa isn’t soggy later. However, do reserve about 1 tablespoon of pomegranate juice for the dressing (or if fresh, drain it from the bowl after getting the arils out).

Dressing: This recipe makes just enough for the salad, and I prefer underdressed salads. If you think it needs more, double the dressing recipe and pour it on a little at a time – going by taste. Also, if you’d like to turn this from a vegetarian quinoa recipe into a vegan quinoa recipe, then use a substitute for the Greek yogurt, such as a plant-based yogurt, tahini or a natural nut butter.

Optional Ideas: You can swap out the pistachios for a chopped nut of choice like almonds, pecans – or none at all. Also, I love to sprinkle mine with feta cheese for a salty contrast with the sweet.

Make Ahead & Storing: This recipe will get a little soggy if you make the day before. To save time, it’s best to prep the ingredients (cook quinoa, chop spinach, peel/seed fruit, etc) the day before. Then simply toss everything together and shake up the dressing – it will literally just take 2 minutes! You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Still tastes yummy, but the crunch of the nuts and crisp of the spinach will be gone.

This is one of my favorite creative quinoa salad ideas – for it’s flavor, fast-fixing, and festive appearance! Enjoy!

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Festive Holiday Pomegranate Orange Quinoa Salad
Prep Time
10 mins
Total Time
10 mins
 

Transform plain quinoa into something to celebrate for theholiday season! Pomegranate, orange segments and pistachios bejewel this quick,easy and nourishing vegetarian salad that is equally beautiful for a dinnerparty or quick lunch!

Course: entree salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: holiday
Keyword: holiday, orange, pomegranate, quinoa
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 162 kcal
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach
  • ¾ cup pomegranate arils juice drained & reserved if packaged container
  • ¾ cup mandarin orange segments packed in water or juice or fresh
  • ¼ cup shelled pistachio kernels coarsely chopped
Dressing:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon juice reserved from pomegranate or orange segments
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon date syrup
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Add quinoa, spinach, pomegranate and orange segments (cut in half crosswise) into medium bowl.
  2. In small mason jar, shake together dressing ingredients until emulsified.
  3. Pour dressing over salad and gently stir.
  4. Before serving, stir in pistachios.
  5. Best eaten right after making to keep the texture of the lettuce and pistachios. But you can store leftovers in fridge for up to 3 days and it’s still good.
Recipe Notes

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Blueberry Brie “Cake Slice” Appetizer

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This “impostor” recipe looks just like a slice of sweet cheesecake piled high with plump berries and pomegranate arils but it’s actually savory-sweet cheese dish to get the flavor party started!  Read on to get all the yummy details and easy recipe:  Continue reading