This wholesome quinoa salad with cranberries is simple to make ahead and serves as a light meal or healthy side dish.
Fall Quinoa Salad with Cranberries
This fall quinoa salad has a perfect blend of crunchy and tender textures from the cooked quinoa, spinach, and chopped pecans. The cranberries and my homemade citrus vinaigrette also give it a delicious tangy-sweet flavor that sets it apart from plain quinoa.
While I serve this salad year-round, it’s a go-to during the holiday season, since the quinoa makes it a terrific gluten-free side dish with no need for ingredient substitutions.
How to Make Cranberry Quinoa Salad
I recommend cooking the quinoa ahead of time; that way it's at room temperature when you prepare this salad (you can refrigerate quinoa for up to 4 days). Then, you simply combine the salad ingredients in a bowl. Mix the vinaigrette ingredients in a bottle or jar and drizzle it over the salad right before serving.
More Fall Side Dish Recipes
I’ve got more delicious fall-inspired sides that are also gluten-free and the kind of comfort food that’s good for you, such as fall roasted vegetables, easy roasted fingerling potatoes, roasted radishes and carrots, and sausage and apple stuffing.
Cranberry Quinoa Salad
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 4 cups spinach, finely chopped
- 2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
For the dressing:
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Prep:
- In a large bowl, combine spinach, quinoa, cranberries, and chopped pecans.
- In a small bowl, whisk orange juice, olive oil, vinegar, and salt.
Combine:
- Drizzle as much dressing into salad bowl as desired, toss to combine.
- Optional: add in chopped roasted chicken or turkey.
Rachael says
I’m on my way to eat more healthy and I gotta say your recipes are helping me A LOT! This cranberry quinoa salad is the kind of side dish my old me wouldn’t even considered. I mean, green? quinoa? Yep, it’s delicious! Now it’s part of my regular rotation and I LOVE it! Thank you thank you!!