This easy quinoa salad with chickpeas recipe is the perfect summer salad! It is full of veggies, chickpeas, quinoa, herbs, tossed in a homemade lemony dressing.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: American, Mediterranean

Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 15 ounce can chickpeas (drained and rinsed (1.5 cups cooked chickpeas))
  • 1/2 english cucumber ((about 1.5 cups))
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes (halved)
  • 1/2 cup red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup red onion (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup coriander leaves ((or parsley), chopped)
  • 1/4 cup mint leaves ((or dill), chopped)

For The Dressing

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

Method

Cook Quinoa

  1. Instant Pot Pressure cooker: I generally cook the Quinoa in an Instant Pot as it is very easy, and we get a perfect fluffy separated grain every time. Pressure cook 1 cup quinoa with 1 ¼ cups of water (or 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 water for two whistles on medium-low heat. Let the pressure release naturally. On Stovetop in a Pot: Cook 1 cup of rinsed quinoa with 2 cups of water on medium-low heat until cooked, and let it cool.

Dressing:

  1. Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper in a glass jar to make the dressing.

Assemble the Salad

  1. In a large mixing bowl, place all the salad ingredients.
  2. Drizzle the dressing over the salad ingredients.
  3. Toss gently to combine. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

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.