I’m living off refrigerator salads all summer, what about you? Oh, you don’t know what a refrigerator salad is? It’s a salad that holds up well to refrigeration (doesn’t go limp and soggy like lettuce), and a meal prepper’s best friend. During the summer months I love mixing up a big batch of refrigerator salads, like this Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad, to eat all week. Sometimes I eat them alone as a light entrée, sometimes I use them as a side dish, sometimes as a base for bowl meals. They’re versatile, delicious, and never go to waste in my house!
This Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad is basically a summer version of my Spanish Chickpeas and Rice. It’s a little lighter, brighter (no smokiness), and served cold. It’s perfect for this scorching heat!
Substitutions and Add-Ins
This salad is super versatile, so here are some other ingredients that would go well in this salad, in case you don’t like any that I’ve included, can’t get them for a decent price, or just happen to have some of these items on hand and need to use them up:
- Couscous or orzo in place of the quinoa
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes (diced or grape tomatoes cut in half)
- Feta
- Roasted Red Peppers
- Red Onion
- Top with a dollop of hummus
How to Serve Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad
I intended this dish to be a vegetarian/vegan main dish with a large serving size of 2 cups, but it could also be served as a side dish to any other meal (smaller serving size of about 1 cup). This would make a great base for a bowl meal (add grilled chicken or hard boiled egg), or could be stuffed into a pita as a sort of sandwich.
How Long Does This Salad Keep?
This Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad is very sturdy, so it’s good for about 4-5 days in the refrigerator (time may vary with refrigeration conditions). I haven’t tried freezing this one yet, but based on how well my Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad freezes, I think this one would also freeze well. I find frozen foods like this are usually best if eaten within three months.
Need some help getting juice out of your lemons? Here are 5 Tips for Juicing Lemons.
Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad
Servings 4 2 cups eachIngredients
- 1 cup quinoa ($1.20)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.37)
- 1/4 cup olive oil ($0.48)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1 13oz. can quartered artichoke hearts* ($2.59)
- 1 red bell pepper ($1.00)
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley ($0.35)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($0.49)
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa well in a fine wire mesh sieve. Place the rinsed quinoa in a pot with 1.75 cups water. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat on to high, and allow the water to come to a boil. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes (lid on).
- While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the lemon garlic dressing. Zest the lemon, then squeeze the juice (you'll need 1/4 to 1/3 cup juice). Add the lemon juice and 1 tsp of the zest to a bowl or jar along with the olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Whisk the ingredients together or close the jar and shake until they are combined. Set the dressing aside.
- After the quinoa has cooked, spread it out into a casserole dish or other wide shallow dish and refrigerate uncovered for about 15 minutes to cool it down.
- While the quinoa is cooling, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients. Drain the artichoke hearts and roughly chop them into smaller pieces. Finely dice the red bell pepper. Roughly chop the parsley. Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Place the artichoke hearts, bell pepper, parsley, and chickpeas in a large bowl.
- Once the quinoa has cooled, add it to the bowl with the other salad ingredients. Toss gently to combine, then drizzle the lemon garlic dressing over top. Gently toss again until everything is coated in dressing. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 4-5 days.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Keep scrolling to see the step by step photos below…
How to Make Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad – Step by Step Photos
Rinse 1 cup of quinoa well in a wire mesh sieve. Once rinsed, add it to a pot along with 1.75 cups water. Place a lid on pot and turn the heat on to high. Let the water come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for 15 minutes with the lid in place.
While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the lemon garlic dressing. Zest a lemon, then squeeze out the juice. You’ll need anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 cup juice.
Add 1 tsp of the lemon zest, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill) to the lemon juice. Whisk the ingredients together, or, if using a jar, shake until the ingredients are combined. Set the dressing aside.
After simmering for 15 minutes the quinoa should be tender and fluffy, an no liquid should remain in the pot.
Spread the quinoa out into any sort of shallow dish then place it in the refrigerator to cool for about 15 minutes. Spreading it out is key because that increases the surface area in contact with the cold air and allows any excess moisture to evaporate.
While the quinoa is cooling, prepare the rest of the ingredients for the salad. Drain and roughly chop one 13oz. can of quartered artichoke hearts. Finely dice one red bell pepper. Roughly chop about 1 cup of fresh parsley. Rinse and drain one 15oz. can of chickpeas. Place the artichoke hearts, bell pepper, parsley, and chickpeas in a large bowl.
Once the quinoa is cooled, add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and gently toss to combine.
Pour the lemon garlic dressing over the salad and toss once more until everything is coated in dressing.
The Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad is ready to be eaten immediately or…
Or portion it out into containers for your meal prep and refrigerate up to 4-5 days.
So light and refreshing!
Ummm WOW! I could not stop eating this, it’s so delicious. And I’m not a healthy eater (but trying!). Definitely saving this recipe for future use.
This is absolutely fabulous! I’ve made it twice now and plan to have it in my regular rotation this summer! I definitely recommend adding in a cucumber and tomato (I’ve done both cherry and a diced regular – both are great), it makes it taste even more fresh and summery! (And stretches it to 5 servings.) Love this.
Can you use something else besides red peppers cause I can’t eat them. But this looks so good.
Most definitely! You could swap with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Carrots would be great.
This recipe is SO delicious!! I made homemade flour tortillas to have it as a wrap and it’s just so tasty. Plus, it lasts perfectly in the fridge! What a hit!
Delicious! I didn’t have artichokes so I used broccoli, which I had in the fridge. I also added onion and sundried tomatoes and z’atar in the dressing — so good and lemony! This will be my lunch for the week :) It’s light but filling and best of all, full of protein!
I’m a “saladholic or junkie” but even with that declared default, this salad is terrific! The variety, texture, and color of the vegetables are so fresh and the added volume of protein in the quinoa and chickpeas makes for a complete meal. I added celery and red onion for even more texture and punch. Really very good!
Hello!
Can you suggest any substitutions for the artichokes? It’s unfortunate, but my fiance is not a fan of them.
Thanks!
Unfortunately there’s not a good swap since they are so unique! But you could always add more vegetables of your choice.
Great flavor! I don’t like the crunch of bell peppers so I used roasted red pepper from a jar, very yummy and healthy. Loved that we could eat something so fresh tasting with basic pantry ingredients (and subs). #pandemiccooking
Would cannelini beans be an ok substitute for this recipe? My daughter is allergic to chickpeas so we don’t keep them in the house.
Yes I think that would be a delicious swap.
This has been one of my go-to meals for over a year. It’s tasty, hearty, easy to make, and stores for a good amount of time in my fridge. I usually add some kind of leafy green like spinach or arugula for an extra dose of nutrients.
I made this today exactly as written except for subbing the artichoke hearts which I didn’t have out for a cucumber, and it’s so easy and delicious! Definitely going to be a summer staple.
When do you add the spinach and how much do you use? I’m trying to sub the parsley. Thanks!
Just sub the same amount of spinach as it asks for parsley. And mix it in when it asks you to mix in the parsley. XOXO -Monti
This one is so delicious! I got tired of the same few recipes I was turning to for meal prep, and found your site recently. This one in particular is my favorite so far! I think I’m going to make it again, but this time with your Tahini Dill dressing recipe I just found.
Also wanted to say I read the bio, and I am also a graduate from LSU in 2007. What are the odds? So now I HAVE to keep coming back to your site haha. But seriously, keep up the awesome work. These recipes are giving me some needed inspiration as I finish up grad school, especially now in this Covid19 lockdown.
Thank you! I will keep coming back for more!
Thanks so much for this great recipe. I’ve already made it three times and will be making it tomorrow to bring to work for lunch this week. Delicious and healthy! I love so many of your recipes, your blog is actually my favorite recipe blog, followed by cookie and Kate
Turned out amazing! Definitely going to become a regular for my lunch meal preps!!
Can confirm – freezes and defrosts like a champ!
Thanks Hayley!
How do you defrost it?
Finally got around to making this and it did not disappoint! I subbed out the oil (dietary restriction) with aquafaba and it was delish!! I agree with many of the other comments–it was even better the next day. Thanks Beth!!