This salad is SUPER basic, but I literally ate it every day last week and will happily be eating it again all this week, so I think that alone makes it worth sharing. The great thing about this Spinach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad is that it holds up extremely well in the fridge and is super versatile. This is a great salad to just keep on hand to build different meals throughout the week, or to just eat as a quick bite when you’re short on time.
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How Long Does This Quinoa Salad Keep?
This salad holds up surprisingly well in the refrigerator, about four days, give or take some depending on the freshness of your ingredients and conditions inside your refrigerator. If you plan to make this salad ahead and eat it throughout the week, just keep the dressing separate and add it just before serving.
Can I Use Other Grains?
This salad is super versatile. You don’t have to use quinoa, in fact I’ve made this salad using other grains, like brown rice. You could even use cooked pasta. Just about any cooked grain or small pasta will work in place of the quinoa, so have fun!
Make it a Meal
This Quinoa Salad is more than just a side dish. To add variety to this salad throughout the week, try topping it with a hard or soft boiled egg, adding some grilled chicken, tofu, or even chopped lunch meat.
Spinach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad
Servings 4 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 cups cooked quinoa (or other grain) ($0.94)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 4 cups fresh spinach ($0.80)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.99)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($0.55)
- 2 oz. feta ($1.50)
Instructions
- While your quinoa (or other grain) is cooking, prepare the vinaigrette so it has a few minutes for the flavors to blend. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside.
- Roughly chop the spinach into smaller pieces, then place them in a large bowl. Slice the tomatoes in half, then add them to the bowl with the spinach. Rinse and drain the chickpeas, then add them to the bowl. Lastly, crumble the feta over top. Give these ingredients a brief stir until they’re combined.
- Allow your quinoa or grains to cool slightly, or just to the point where it’s no longer steaming. Add the warm quinoa to the salad and stir to combine. The heat from the quinoa will slightly wilt the spinach.
- Finally, drizzle the dressing over top and stir briefly once more. Serve the salad immediately, or refrigerate up to 4-5 days.
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Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Spinach, Chickpea, and Quinoa Salad – Step by Step Photos
This salad starts with two cups of cooked quinoa, or other grain or pasta. Quinoa only takes about 15 minutes to cook, so I simply cooked my quinoa while I prepared the rest of the salad. You’ll want to let your quinoa (or other grain) cool slightly before adding it to the salad, but it’s okay if it’s still quite warm.
While your grain is cooking, prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside so it has time to blend.
Chop about 4 cups of fresh spinach. I say four cups, but fresh spinach is very hard to accurately measure. Thankfully, this ingredient is very flexible in the salad, so don’t stress about it. I ended up using about half of this 10 oz. bag from Kroger.
Also slice 1 pint of grape tomatoes in half, rinse and drain one 15 oz. can of chickpeas, and crumble 2 oz. of feta. Stir these together briefly.
Finally, add the warm quinoa. Make sure it’s not still steaming hot, but you do want it to be slightly warm so that it will just barely wilt the spinach. Stir everything together.
Finally, drizzle the dressing over top, and give it a stir one more time.
And that’s it! And I swear, the salad looks exactly the same after four days of refrigeration, which is AWESOME. I love being able to just grab the container, fill a bowl, and have a healthy meal ready to go. :)
Lunch is served!
Just made this, doubled the vinaigrette and added some chopped parsley. So Good!!
Great recipe! Good for when you have lots of spinach. I’ve made it a few times for lunch, it’s delicious cold or warmed up. Perfect for adapting, some subs I’ve made are shredded cheddar cheese for feta, black beans for the garbanzo beans. Added smoked sausage, chicken sausage, shredded chicken etc. You could probably add other veggies if eating it cold, like chopped peppers or carrots.
Made this tonight and it was perfect for a hot summer day! I did have to double the dressing and add extra garlic. Thanks for the great, healthy recipe!
I added a tuna packet which adds 18g of protein. Yummy and filling lunch!
Insanely good.
Packed with protein this is a delicious salad to bring to any pot luck. Topped with fresh salmon for a sit down dinner for the family. Love the feta. Would add peppers and used artichoke juice for extra flare. Yum.
My family likes all the things in this dish but was skeptical when combined. boy were they surprised! my hubs at TWO bowls and declared “this is $^*!@ good!”. It was SUPPOSED to last for dinner last night and lunch today but NO LUNCH FOR ME! oh well. keep on creating this fantastic flavors for us to try! thank you Ms. Beth!
I made this with some substitutions. I used farro instead of quinoa since I already used quinoa in another meal-prep dish and baby kale because spinach for whatever reason was almost as expensive as baby kale at my grocery store this week. I went with baby kale because it tends to hold up better than spinach for the week. The dressing is delicious!
The farro was a good choice since it added a chewy texture, but I can see this working with any grain. Very versatile salad. Kudos to you!
Thank You for the life-saving recipes. I am a huge fan of your site.
Where have you been all my life lol! I just stumbled onto your site on Pinterest and immediately saved numerous recipes back to back! This looks amazing, can’t wait to try it! Healthy & vegetarian, thank you! Also saved a couple of your quiches & frittatas. Following from now on, thanks!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them! :)
This is my go-to meal prep recipe and work potluck recipe! LOVE IT!
Hi Beth. Greetings from Australia. Great and tasty recipe. I used cannellini (white kidney) beans and added some grated carrot.
Easy, Healthy, Yummy.
The perfect trio!
We really enjoyed it
I went a head and threw some of my salad in the skillet. Turned out real nice since I was in the mood for something hot
Made this for a dinner party and it was a hit! Thanks for another great recipe!