This Quinoa & Black Bean Salad is hearty, full of protein, loaded with fresh vegetables, and tossed in a lime vinaigrette.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 6
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

For Salad

  • 1 cup dry quinoa (rinsed)
  • 1 1/4 cups water (or vegetable broth)
  • 1 15.5 ounce can black beans (rinsed & drained (1.5 cups))
  • 2 large tomatoes (deseeded and diced (about 1 cup))
  • 1/4 cup red onion
  • 1 small red bell pepper (diced)
  • 1/2 cup cilantro (finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon jalapeno (seeded and minced)

For Dressing

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lime (juiced)
  • 1 clove garlic (minced)
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper (to taste)

Method

For the Dressing

  1. Add all the dressing ingredients into a bowl and whisk well for few seconds.

For the Salad

  1. Instant Pot Pressure cooker: I generally cook the Quinoa in an Instant Pot as it very easy and every time we get a perfect fluffy separated grain. Pressure cook 1 cup quinoa with 1 ¼ cups of water (vegetable broth) on High pressure for 1 minute and let the pressure release naturally. In Traditional Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Pressure cook the rinsed quinoa with 1.5 cups of water for 2 whistles on medium-low heat. Let the pressure release naturally. On Stovetop in a Vessel: Cook the rinsed quinoa with 2 cups of water on medium-low heat until cooked and let it cool a bit.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add the cooled quinoa, black beans, red bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro. Pour the dressing over the salad. Toss well! Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.