Quinoa Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
This quinoa arugula salad combines peppery arugula, nutty quinoa, crunchy almonds, and a bright and lemony vinaigrette. It’s simple, packed with nutrients and plant-based protein, and both light and filling at the same time. It’s perfect for meal prep, lunches, or a dinner side.
We love this recipe! It’s a staple for us especially in the summer. It’s so fresh and flavorful. We like to add sliced snap peas and some Parmesan cheese, sometimes some cubed chicken. –Bonnie
The key to delicious salads is using a mix of textures and a variety of flavors, which is just what we’ve done here. It’s delicious on its own, or add in some simple additions like chickpeas, cubed feta, roasted red peppers, or another type of green. (The comments and reviews also have some great ideas for additions!)
You’ll also want to try my black bean and quinoa salad, quinoa and veggie salad with peanut dressing, and Greek quinoa salad.
What You’ll Love
🥗 Fresh & Nourishing – Fresh arugula, quinoa, almonds, and a lemon vinaigrette make a satisfying and fresh salad.
⏱ Quick & Easy – Ready in 20 minutes and made with simple ingredients.
🌿 High-Protein – Plant-based protein from quinoa and almonds, and optional add-ins like chickpeas or feta.
🥣 Meal Prep Friendly – Great for prepping lunches ahead of time or making ahead for a dinner side.
🍋 Bright, Fresh Flavor – The homemade lemon vinaigrette keeps it crisp and refreshing.
🌾 Naturally Gluten-Free – A great option for gluten-free folks
Ingredient Notes
These are the highlights; the exact ingredients and amounts can be found below in the recipe card.
- Quinoa – Cook your own quinoa (if you have a rice cooker, I highly recommend, though mine is done before the regular rice setting). You can also use microwavable quinoa for an easy shortcut. Trader Joe’s has convenient bags that you can easily microwave.
- Arugula – Look for fresh arugula that is deep green and not yellowing on the edges. The arugula adds peppery flavor, which nicely balances out the salad, but if arugula is a little too much for you, you could also use torn butter/bibb lettuce or red leaf lettuce. These greens don’t hold up quite as well once dressed, so dress them right before you eat the salad.
- Almonds – The crunch and nutrition of almonds add so much to this salad! You could also use a different nut if you prefer. I highly recommend roasting your own almonds. Buy them raw and roast in the oven until crunchy. They taste so much better than roasted almonds from the store.
Emily’s Tip
I love adding chopped almonds (try roasting them yourself, they are so much better!) for some extra staying power and a necessary crunch. You could also add in crispy chickpeas, diced chicken or tofu, or cubed feta to help add a bit more protein to the salad.
How You’ll Make Quinoa Arugula Salad
This is an overview; the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.
- First, you’ll cook the quinoa and let it cool. While the quinoa is cooking, prep your lemon vinaigrette.
- Toss cooled quinoa, arugula, and lemon vinaigrette together in a large bowl. Top with chopped almonds.
Storage
Store this leftover healthy quinoa salad in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. For best results, store all of the components separately so that the arugula doesn’t get soggy.
When you’re ready to serve, take the dressing out of the fridge to come to room temperature (if you forget, run the jar under warm water) and assemble salad, dress, and toss together. Sprinkle with roasted almonds.
How to meal prep
It works well as a prep-ahead salad. If you want to make it more than a day or two in advance, I recommend prepping and portioning all of the components.
What to Serve with Arugula Salad with Quinoa
There are so many ways to turn this into a full meal with a simple protein main. I’m also sharing some of the ideas reviewers have left as they sound delicious.
- Grilled chicken drumsticks
- Grilled chicken thighs
- Shrimp kabobs
- Grilled flank steak
- Crispy tofu
- Fish (recommendation from Reid)
- Fried egg and avocado (recommendation from Gia)
- Sliced snap peas, cubed chicken, and Parmesan cheese (recommendation from Bonnie)
- Craisins (recommendation from Debbie)
Quinoa Arugula Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
The BEST quinoa and arugula salad recipe is bright, fresh, + flavorful. The perfect side to a grilled dinner or easy lunch. Ready in just 20 minutes.
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 cup raw quinoa
- 8 cups arugula, washed
- 1/2 cup almonds, roasted and chopped
For the Vinaigrette:
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (about one lemon)
- 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey
- 3 Tbsp. minced shallots (about one)
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare quinoa as directed and let cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss quinoa, arugula, and dressing together. Sprinkle with chopped almonds.
Notes
- Prep ahead: This salad is best made ahead of time to let the flavors deepen, and it’s great the next day.
- Maple syrup: Use maple syrup for a vegan salad or honey if you don’t mind.
- Quinoa: Cook according to package instructions or use a rice cooker. Many quinoa in rice cooker recipes recommend using the general white rice cooking program, but I’ve found that it is too long and my quinoa ends up mushy so I pull it right around the time it starts counting down from 10 minutes.
About the Author
Emily Dingmann is a recipe developer, nutrition expert, and founder of My Everyday Table. She specializes in creating easy, healthy recipes that help busy parents feed their families well without the stress. With a degree in Nutrition and over 20 years of experience, Emily shares family-friendly meals that are practical, nourishing, and full of flavor. Learn more about Emily’s approach to everyday cooking and nutrition here.
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This looks so light and refreshing – I love using lemon vinaigrettes on salads!
That salad dressing sounds really fresh. Perfect for spring/summer salads. Thanks for the recipe!
So making this for dinner. PERFECT meal for such a grey dreary day here in Minnesnowta (and, yes, it is snowing… waaahhhhh!).
I heard. WTF is all I have to say about snow in (basically) May.
Yum! This looks awesome. I love the idea of adding the almonds for some crunch and staying power 🙂
Um, has Bon Appetit recruited you for photographing their recipes yet? Wow, gorgeous! I love anything lemony, so I know that I would love this light salad! What a great lunch to bring to work!
You are too kind! I’ve been loving it for work.
ohhh yum. i don’t love plain quinoa either. this looks utterly fabulous!
This sounds great! Arugula is my favorite green so I welcome all new ways to use it. Delicious!
Simple, light, healthy and packed with protein. Love it! I love adding quinoa to my salad as well. In fact, I’ve done quinoa, kale and blueberries.
I just made this and it was delicious! I added some dried cranberries to it as well.
So glad to hear that! I’m going to try adding cranberries next time I make it!
Is the 1 cup quinoa dry or already cooked? Looking forward to making this tonight!
Dry quinoa, and then prepare as directed. I hope you like it! 🙂
this salad is amazing! It’s deliscous and addictitve!
I’m so glad you think so Kara, thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Made this last night and it was lovely. I had forgotten to get almonds when I was out but used pine nuts. Love the vinagrette.
So glad you enjoyed it, Tammy! Love the swap with pine nuts. 🙂
I Made this last week with lemon marinated grilled chicken ….I didn’t add the almonds because I had meat,
I could have added toasted walnuts …anyway I never make a recipe twice unless I really love it and this one is easy and so tasty ..the dressing is super good I added more lemon juice because I like it tangy…but it is super good and simple …I grow arugula so it’s from my garden so fresh and good I added spinach to…
Thanks
YAY! You made my week! (I’m really jealous that you have arugula from your garden!)
You should grow arugula it is super easy ….I love your recipe it is so versatile …I have so much Swiss chard from my garden , I love all these power greens…
Thanks
LOVEd this recipe! Added a fried egg on top and sliced avocado as a protein-pick-me-up and fell in love. So simple yet so delicious!
OMG, drool-worthy additions! I’ve got to try it.
This has become a staple in our household. It is a particularly good with fish.
That’s so great to hear! Thanks, Reid!
This sounds delicious, I’m definitely gonna try this one!
One thing though: You say that this salad is vegan, even though it contains honey, which is an animal product. The description should be updated to classify it as vegetarian. A good alternative could be maple syrup.
You are so right! I thought there was a note in there explaining that, but it may have been missed when I updated the post. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll update. 🙂
This is the best salad ever!
This is the best comment ever! Thank you, SO much. So glad you like it.
We love this recipe! It’s a staple for us especially in the summer. It’s so fresh and flavorful. We like to add sliced snap peas and some Parmesan cheese, sometimes some cubed chicken.
Oh I love ALL of those addition ideas! Yum! Thanks for sharing.
I made this for lunch. It was so easy and delicious! I thought about cutting the recipe in half since there are only two of us. I’m so glad I didn’t because we ate almost all of it. So tasty! I had to use red onion since I didn’t have shallots. And I sprinkled a few craisins like other reviewers. It was perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it, Debbie! Thank you!
LOVE the big lemon flavor in this salad. This will definitely be a repeat and recipe I share with others.
Thank you…….
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
So delicious! Light and fresh for summer. Will make a big batch of the vinaigrette to keep on hand for other salads. Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed it, thanks Jen!