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This delicious and easy quinoa salad with chipotle dressing is the perfect weeknight meal. It’s vegetarian and has loads of good for you things inside. Think black beans, avocado and of course a delicious dressing with chipotle peppers.
Table of contents
Quinoa Salad With Chipotle Dressing
Most of the recipes you’ll find on the site are my inventions but sometimes I see a recipe that I just know must be fantastic. As is the case with this quinoa salad with chipotle dressing. I saw it on – I believe – instagram from Dishing out Health and it was instant love. I just knew I wanted to make this. As it happens I had a cooking session planned with a friend so I put this one on the list of recipes to try and it was sooo good! Just had to share! I love quinoa salad anyway and so do you apparently as one of my most popular recipes is this quinoa salad with feta and beetroot.
What Goes Into The Quinoa Salad?
The list of ingredients is fairly long for this recipe but most of the ingredients are pretty simple so don’t be scared! Check the full instructions in the recipe card below
- Quinoa – you can use any kind of quinoa you like. Either white quinoa, red quinoa or a mix of all colors
- chipotle in adobo sauce – my absolute favorite chipotle! You can use chipotle powder if you want. Slightly different result but definitely an option
- black beans
- sweet corn
- cherry tomatoes – or use other fresh tomatoes
- fresh cilantro
- Greek yogurt – for the dressing
- lime juice – or use some red wine vinegar instead
- spices and such – lots of flavor comes from chili, cumin, garlic powder and the like
You also need a large bowl to mix it all together. I found this was a great lunch salad but it could also easily work as a dinner or side dish. The spicy chipotle in combination with the creamy avocado is just perfect. Also great for a meal prep dish. It keeps fairly well in the fridge for 2-3 days. The avocado might discolor a little bit but I found it didn’t really. Probably due to the amount of lime juice in the dressing.
How To Make The Quinoa Salad
Making the quinoa salad with chipotle dressing is pretty straigt forward. You cook the quinoa on medium heat with the spices, chipotle and stock until it is cooked. All the other ingredients are cold so once the quinoa is cooked, you’re almost done. I used some of the adobo sauce from the chipotle in the dressing. I used vegetable broth as it is a vegetarian dish but I tend to lean towards using chicken broth more. I just like the flavor better in general.
So the rest of making this salad is pretty much just mixing it all together and you’re done. If you want to know all the basics about making a quinoa salad make sure to check the ins and out of making it here.
Possible Additions
The fun part about this quinoa salad with chipotle dressing is also that you can easily add leftovers you have in the fridge. Think about adding a finely sliced red onion or some green onion. I think this would also work really well with sweet potato and a sprinkle of some pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. You can add some roasted bell peppers, some romaine lettuce or other lettuce you have lying around. It’s a pretty versatile salad and a great recipe. You can adjust to your taste buds however you like.
One of my favorite things is to mix everything up in recipes I have created or have tried. I rarely ever make the same exact thing twice. You can switch the salad dressing around or even change the cooked quinoa for cooked rice or another kind of grain you might like. I love the nutty flavor of quinoa and it is a seed that is pretty high in protein too.
Quinoa salad with chipotle dressing
Ingredients
- 200 g quinoa uncooked
- 750 ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp chipotle in adobo, chopped finely
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 400 g black beans rinsed and drained
- 200 g sweetcorn
- 200 g cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 ripe avocado diced
- 1/2 bunch coriander roughly chopped
- 50 g pumpkin seeds toasted
Creamy chipotle dressing
- 60 g Greek yoghurt
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce from the chipotle in adobo
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
How to make the quinoa salad
- Combine the quinoa, stock, chipotle, chilli powder, cumin, garlic, onion powder and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the quinoa is cooked. About 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, coriander and pumpkin seeds to the quinoa. Shake to combine. Add dressing and stir to combine.
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
