Fresh and flavourful Chickpea Mediterranean Salad with Quinoa, sun dried tomatoes, bright herbs and salty feta pieces. Make this healthy, vegetarian salad as a light lunch or dinner – it’s one of the best ways to enjoy quinoa!

If you’re ready to get punched in the mouth with zesty, vibrant flavours (in a good way, of course) then have I got the salad for you!

Altogether it’s a pretty simple salad to throw together – see the steps below for a more comprehensive look on what it takes.

While the list of ingredients may look a little long at first glance these are hopefully ingredients that you mostly already have on hand. Sun dried tomatoes might be one you need to go out and buy – I, for one, make sure always to have a jar on hand.

And with that – let’s get to it!

How to Make: Chickpea Mediterranean Salad with Quinoa

1. Make the quinoa. There are a few simple ways you can go about doing this.
   • If you have any left over cooked quinoa from another recipe you cut down on time and use it up here. You only need about 1 cup after it’s been cooked.
   • Cook your quinoa in vegetable stock (or chicken stock if this doesn’t need to be vegetarian). If you don’t have prepared stock you can add a little bit of stock powder or a small piece of a stock cube. You don’t need much because we’re only cooking 1 cup here.
   • Cook your quinoa in water and add 1/4 teaspoon salt to the water. Ideally I want you to cook in stock if possible because it adds so much more flavour to the quinoa. That said, you can absolutely save yourself the time and effort and use water.
2. Season chickpeas and quinoa.
   • Once your quinoa is cooked and ready to go, transfer it to a large mixing bowl along with the can of chickpeas, 1 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix it all together until both the quinoa and chickpeas are well coated in your spices.
3. Add it all together.
   • Finally, add the remaining ingredients and toss it all together. Taste and season the salad and add a little more salt and lemon juice as needed. I also always recommend finishing off every salad with a little bit of black pepper for good measure.

Final Tips & F.A.Q.’s

Tips

• Cook the quinoa in stock for extra flavour.
• While the quinoa is cooking prep your remaining ingredients as needed so you can throw everything together at the end.
• Season your salad with black pepper at the end.

Questions

Do I need to rinse my quinoa before cooking?

• It’s up to you. It doesn’t hurt to rinse your quinoa before cooking it. Many recipes recommend rinsing quinoa first to wash away any bitter flavour from its natural coating, saponin. That said, quinoa often comes pre-rinsed so you might not need to. I also hardly ever wash my quinoa because I’m lazy and I personally have never noticed a bitter taste, but that could just be me.

How long will this salad last?

• Because this isn’t a very leafy salad (even with the fresh arugula) this will happily keep in the fridge at least 3-5 days. Personally, I find that it’s even better on the second day after all the flavours have time to really mesh. With that in mind this makes for a great make-ahead salad to keep handy for lunches and dinners.
• If you plan on making this salad in advance you can wait to add the arugula until just before serving to keep it fresh.

How do I eat this? What do I serve it with?

• If you eat this right away the salad will likely still be warm from the cooked quinoa. Once it’s cooled there’s no need to heat it back up – serve chilled and enjoy!
• You can enjoy this as a lunch or dinner. If you’re looking to bulk it out even more for a more beefed out meal you can add grilled or baked chicken breasts or serve with fish.

More Mediterranean Recipes You Might Enjoy

• Mediterranean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas and Avocado Tahini
• Mediterranean Chickpea Stew with Spinach and Feta
• Mediterranean Cauliflower Rice
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts Quinoa Salad With A Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

Enjoy!

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Yield: 5 cups

Chickpea Quinoa Mediterranean Salad

4.6 Stars (28 Reviews)

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

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Fresh and flavourful Chickpea Mediterranean Salad with Quinoa, sun dried tomatoes, bright herbs and salty feta pieces. Enjoy this healthy, vegetarian salad as a light lunch or dinner!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried quinoa
• 1 cup | 120 ml low sodium vegetable stock (or water)
• 1 14 oz can | 400 grams chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 3 cups arugula
• 3 ounces sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 3 ounces feta, crumbled
• 2 tablespoon | 30 ml olive oil
• 2 tablespoon | 30 ml lemon juice
• freshly ground black pepper

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

Quinoa

1. Add the quinoa to medium sized sauce pan and cover with the stock (or water). Bring quinoa and liquid to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, and let it simmer uncovered until most of the liquid has been absorbed - about 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl and set aside until you need it. 

Salad

1. Add the cooked quinoa, chickpeas, cumin, garlic and salt to a large bowl and mix until well combined.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl: red onion, parsley, cilantro, arugula, sun dried tomatoes, feta, olive oil and lemon juice to the bowl. Toss to combine.
3. Finish the salad off by grinding some black pepper over the top for a final pop of flavour. Taste and season with more salt and lemon juice as needed and enjoy.

Notes

Keep stored in an airtight container for 3-5 days in the fridge.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 396Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 442mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 13gSugar: 6gProtein: 17g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© A Saucy Kitchen, Sarah Nevins

Cuisine: Mediterranean