Greek Salad with Quinoa
Colorful and full of bright flavors, our Greek Salad with Quinoa will have you hooked on the first bite! Filled with crispy romaine, and plenty of heirloom grape tomatoes, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, English cucumbers, red onions, and perfectly cooked tri-color quinoa, this salad is definitely a meal. To round off these Mediterranean flavors, we drizzled it with our delicious Easy Greek Salad Dressing.
This might even be the best Greek salad you have ever tasted! Packed with lots of protein and fresh ingredients, this salad is hearty enough as a main dish, but can serve more as a side salad. This salad is vegetarian, but can easily be made vegan. Take a look at the Pimp Our Recipe section in our Blog Comments & Tips for some interesting variations of this recipe!
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RECIPE
(Check out our Step by Step Instructions below the recipe card.)
GREEK SALAD with QUINOA
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook tri-color quinoa (try our easy quinoa recipe), and set aside to cool completely.
- Cut fresh romaine lettuce into 1 inch slices to create bite-sized pieces. Rinse well, and transfer to a salad spinner. Spin lettuce until leaves are dry (see Note #1).
- Cut off ends from an English cucumber, dice into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
- Crumble Greek feta cheese. Using a paring knife, halve grape tomatoes lengthwise. Halve Kalamata olives lengthwise. Chop red onions into a small dice, and set each ingredient aside.
- To assemble the salad, add rinsed and dried romaine leaves to a large mixing bowl (or salad serving bowl), and sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper (see Note #2). Add 2 cups of cooked and completely cooled tri-color quinoa (try our easy recipe), crumbled feta cheese, chopped cucumbers, halved grape tomatoes, halved Kalamata olives, and chopped red onions. Pour on ½ cup of our Easy Greek Salad Dressing (or to taste), and toss well to combine until each leaf is coated. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Notes
- It’s important to have dry lettuce for this recipe so it takes the dressing well. If the lettuce doesn’t look fully dry, empty the water from the bottom of the salad spinner, and spin again until water is no longer visible on leaves. If you have a smaller salad spinner, you may have to spin the lettuce in batches.
- Kalamata olives, feta cheese, and our Easy Greek Salad Dressing are all fairly salty, so it’s best to start with only one pinch of salt and pepper. We recommend you add all the ingredients as directed, and taste for seasoning after the salad has been tossed in the dressing. You can always add more salt and pepper at the end, if needed.
- Makes 6 main course servings (or 8 side salad servings).
Nutrition Facts
Calories
255.88Fat (grams)
12.64Sat. Fat (grams)
4.23Carbs (grams)
21.55Fiber (grams)
6.57Net carbs
14.99Sugar (grams)
7.12Protein (grams)
8.51Sodium (milligrams)
698.22Cholesterol (grams)
22.25Nutritional information provided is strictly an estimate and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods.
Step by Step Instructions
PREPARATION
Organize all your tools and ingredients before you begin. Getting all your ingredients in one place at the beginning will shorten your prep time.
STEP 1a
To prepare quinoa (see Note below), thoroughly rinse 1 cup tri-color quinoa in cold water, then drain well using a fine mesh strainer. Add drained quinoa to a medium saucepan (2.5 quart), add 1 ¾ cups of filtered water, and 1 generous pinch of kosher salt, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil on high heat, cover with a lid, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and let rest covered for 10 minutes. Uncover, and fluff with a Fiskie (or fork) until grains are separated and fluffy. Set aside to cool completely.
Note: Try our easy quinoa recipe (recipe coming soon) for detailed step by step instructions. Quinoa can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
STEP 2
Cut off the root from 2 small heads of unwashed fresh romaine lettuce (or 1 large head), and quarter lengthwise. Gather together and cut 1 inch slices to create bite-sized pieces. Add cut romaine into cold water, and swish around to rinse well. Using a fine mesh strainer, scoop out the lettuce leaves, shake to drain off excess water, and transfer to a salad spinner. Spin lettuce until leaves are dry (see Note below). To keep lettuce crisp, refrigerate until ready to use.
Note: It’s important to have dry lettuce for this recipe so it takes the dressing well. If the lettuce doesn’t look fully dry, empty the water from the bottom of the salad spinner, and spin again until water is no longer visible on leaves. If you have a smaller salad spinner, you may have to spin the lettuce in batches. For quick method, see the Pimp Our Recipe section in our Blog Comments & Tips below.
STEP 3
Cut off ends from 1 large English cucumber, dice into bite-sized pieces (2 cups - no need to peel), and set aside.
STEP 4a
Crumble a 5 ounce block of Greek feta cheese into small chunks (1 cup).
STEP 4b
Using a paring knife, halve lengthwise 2 cups of grape tomatoes. Halve lengthwise ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives. Chop ½ cup red onions into a small dice (or thinly slice), and set each ingredient aside.
STEP 5
To assemble the salad, add rinsed and dried romaine leaves to a large mixing bowl (or salad serving bowl), and sprinkle with 1 pinch kosher salt (or to taste), and 1 pinch ground black pepper (or to taste - see Note below). Add 2 cups of cooked and completely cooled tri-color quinoa (try our easy recipe), crumbled feta cheese, chopped cucumbers, halved grape tomatoes, halved Kalamata olives, and chopped red onions. Pour on ½ cup of our Easy Greek Salad Dressing (or to taste), and toss well to combine until each leaf is coated.
Note: Kalamata olives, feta cheese, and our Easy Greek Salad Dressing are all fairly salty, so it’s best to start with only one pinch of salt and pepper. We recommend you add all the ingredients as directed, and taste for seasoning after the salad has been tossed in the dressing. You can always add more salt and pepper at the end, if needed.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Notes:
Quinoa can be made ahead!
Makes 6 main course servings (or 8 side salad servings).
VIDEO
How to Make the Best Greek Salad Ever!
Blog Comments & Tips
Deliciously Tangy & Satisfying!
This Greek Salad with Quinoa was inspired by a variety of restaurant salads and recipes. Our version of Greek salad is definitely authentic, but with a California flare.
I often order a Greek salad when having lunch or a light dinner at a restaurant. The fresh, crisp veggies combined with salty ingredients like feta cheese and Kalamata olives, and the tanginess of the dressing, make it one of my favorite salads. It’s the perfect healthy salad to hit all flavor profiles I enjoy.
That said, I have always found it to be a little too “light” on substance and flavor. So we decided to pimp up the traditional Greek salad by adding tri-colored quinoa. Quinoa not only added substance to make this salad more satisfying, but it also upped the protein to almost 10 grams per serving! We packed on heirloom grape tomatoes, English cucumbers, Greek-style feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and red onions, and coated all these deliciously healthy ingredients with our fantastic Easy Greek Salad Dressing. The result was a flavorful entrée salad filled with lots of protein and fiber, as well as healthy fats and complex carbohydrates, providing high nutritional value and lasting energy!
The great thing about this recipe is you can add more or less of each ingredient, according to your taste preferences. I don’t like raw onions, but some chopped red onions really balanced all the other ingredients. Chop them or slice them up, you can always add more or less onions (or none) if you like. You can do the same with all the other ingredients, too. Or try reducing the amount of romaine lettuce, and add a lot more veggies and quinoa for a super hearty salad. For more ideas, visit the Pimp Our Recipe section below.
How do you ensure the best results from our recipe?
Our 6 tips to making a great Greek Salad with Quinoa:
There are so few ingredients in this salad that it’s important to use fresh organic produce, and high quality extra virgin olive oil for best results.
Fresh hearts of romaine lettuce have much more flavor and crispness than pre-washed/cut romaine lettuce in bags. Although it takes a little more effort, it’s worth washing and cutting your own lettuce.
Use block Greek style feta cheese, and crumble it yourself. It’s a huge difference in flavor from the packaged crumbled feta cheese.
Skip the store bought dressing, and make our Easy Greek Salad Dressing recipe instead. It’s deliciously tangy and takes less than 5 minutes to make!
To save time, prepare the tri-color quinoa (try our easy quinoa recipe) in advance.
Toss the salad just before serving to keep everything nice and crisp!
Have any dietary preferences that won’t quite work with our recipe? It’s time to customize and Pimp Our Recipe.
Pimp Our Recipe:
Make it Faster: We prefer the flavor of fresh hearts of romaine lettuce, and cleaning and chopping them ourselves. If you are in a rush, you can certainly use packaged romaine that has already been washed and chopped. It won’t have that same fresh flavor, but it will definitely speed up the process!
Make it Heartier: Reduce the amount of romaine lettuce by half, double all the veggies, and increase the cooked & seasoned quinoa to 3 cups. Then toss with the desired amount of salad dressing.
Make it Vegan: Just omit the feta cheese!
Don’t Like Raw Onions? Just omit the red onions!
Make it Even Heartier: For an unctuous texture and an extra punch of protein, top each serving of salad with a poached or fried egg.
Make it Californian: For an extra tangy twist, omit the raw red onions and replace with our Quick Pickled Onions (try our recipe). Add avocado for a yummy and creamy element to this salad. Just garnish with sliced or chopped avocado, and sprinkle a little sea salt on the avocado. It’s really delicious!
Enjoy and let us know what you think by commenting below and rating our recipes. Like, subscribe, follow, and share our content on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok!
Happy Cooking!
Mich
Footnote: Remember to toss the salad just before you are ready to serve.
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