Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad
This simple spinach quinoa salad is full of fresh Mediterranean flavors, including lemon, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted almonds! Vegan and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 3, 2024
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This salad couldn’t come at a better time. I’ve just returned home after a long weekend in Austin, Texas. Taco after taco, margarita after margarita. Chips and salsa in between. On the return home, I ate a scoop of Mexican vanilla ice cream for dinner. It was incredible.
This was a girls’ trip, just for fun, and it was desperately needed. My taste buds got a break from all the cookbook recipe testing and now, I’m craving healthy home cooking once again. Please, remind me to take real vacations more often!
This mega-healthy quinoa and spinach salad was inspired by a Whole Foods buffet salad that I found in Kansas City last week. I was desperate for recipe inspiration, so I sampled a few of their salads and particularly enjoyed their spinach and quinoa salad with pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. The sign said the salad had basil in it, but I sure couldn’t find any.
Anyway, I tried to recreate it at home and ended up making a few changes, of course. I swapped more affordable sliced almonds for the pine nuts (they taste better, too), skipped the nonexistent basil, and whipped up a zippy lemon dressing.
This salad packs up great for lunch. It would also make a lovely, protein-rich side salad. Top it with a fried egg and call it dinner. It’s vegan as is, but you could throw in some feta if you’d like. Chickpeas might be nice, too. Arugula is a great alternative to spinach (I could hardly decide between the two).
I’ve been frustrated with my quinoa ending up mushy lately, so I tried cooking the quinoa uncovered for 15 minutes this time, and it worked beautifully. I hope it works just as well for you. Please let me know!
Watch How to Make Perfectly Fluffy Quinoa
Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad
This simple spinach quinoa salad is full of fresh Mediterranean flavors, including lemon, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted almonds! It’s vegan and gluten free, too, so it’s a great potluck option. Recipe yields 4 side servings or 2 main dish-sized servings.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed in a fine-mesh colander
- ⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 2 cups roughly chopped fresh spinach or arugula
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ teaspoon olive oil
- Salt, to taste
Lemon dressing
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa: Combine the rinsed quinoa and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 15 minutes, reducing heat as time goes on to maintain a gentle simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let the quinoa rest for 5 minutes, which gives it time to fluff up.
- Meanwhile, to prepare the dressing: Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.
- To toast the almonds: Warm ¼ teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the almonds and a dash of salt and cook, stirring frequently (beware, these burn quickly!), until they are golden and fragrant. Transfer the toasted almonds to a medium-sized serving bowl to cool.
- Once the quinoa is done cooking, fluff it with a fork and then transfer it into your serving bowl. Drizzle all of the dressing on top and toss to combine. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and wait a few more minutes to add the spinach so it doesn’t wilt completely. Toss again, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if necessary, and serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe inspired by a quinoa salad at Whole Foods Market.
Make it nut free: Replace the almonds with pepitas (green pumpkin seeds). Sunflower seeds might be nice, as would pine nuts if you aren’t sensitive to them (they are technically seeds).
Storage suggestions: This quinoa will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for several days. Gently reheat or serve chilled.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
you are my favorite, kate! i bought your book about a year ago & many pages have post-it notes for cooking projects. i love your recipes, i love to adapt your recipes, & i just love the great energy that you put forth into the world! you are a skilled and inspired chef. thank you for sharing your vision of health and well-being with the world. it takes ALOT of passion, determination, and courage to have your own business. wishing you continued inspiration, success and abundance
If this recipe only makes 4 side servings, and I’m bringing it to a potluck dinner, how many times would you multiply this recipe by?
I’m not sure, sorry! I don’t provide large group recipe conversions.
How could I make this without all the oil? What could be substituted? Near 48% of the calories are from fat. Looks delicious, but not healthy if you can’t have fats. Thank you!
I recommend this best as written and suggest to make the needed adjustments to best fit your needs.
If I’m going to save the meal for later, should I wait to add the dressing until it’s time to serve or should I just mix it together and store it for later? Would it make the quinoa soggy?Thank you:)
Wait on the dressing if you are going to serve it later as the spinach won’t hold up that well.
Would this salad be OK if I used sliced almonds but DID NOT toast them?
Sure! Let me know what you think!
Oh wow…this was so easy and SO delicious! The ingredients work great together, and the dressing is spot on. I plan on making this for our book group…like you mentioned, terrific for a potluck. Love those recipes that can be made ahead. BTW, I halved the recipe and it was plenty for 2 meals. Thank You!!
I googled spinach salad and this recipe came up. Turns out I had all the ingredients in the house already from some recipes (from a magazine) that weren’t so good earlier in the week. I just made this and had two helpings. The lemon juice dressing goes perfectly with the tang of the sun-dried tomatoes. This was fantastic!
Thank you!
Finally made this easy meal. I have never fallen in love with quinoa but admire it’s nutritional profile. Well, this recipe has changed my mind forever! This is a perfect recipe! Now I will have to try your favorite and others. Thank you for your great recipes!
Just made this despite being ‘quinoa sceptical’. An absolutely delicious, satisfying salad. I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy munching on spinach and quinoa quite so much! Had it with salmon but it would work perfectly on its own. (Must check out your book now.)
Mike, in York, England.
Excellent