This mediterranean quinoa cucumber tomato salad is perfectly crunchy and loaded with zesty flavor! It's a healthy side dish for dinner that both adults and kids alike will enjoy.
Disclaimer - This Hygge Home is part of the Amazon affiliate program. This means that if you purchase something from a link within this post, we get a small commission off of that purchase at no additional cost to you. Please see our full privacy policy.
Table of Contents
Jump to:
- Table of Contents
- Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Loved this Cucumber Salad Recipe?
- A Note From Our Kitchen to Yours
- Ingredients You'll Need
- Tools You Will Need
- Step By Step Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad Instructions
- Why You'll Love Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad
- How To Serve Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad
- How To Store Cucumber Salad
- Let's chat in the comments!
Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad
This Mediterranean cucumber salad with quinoa is a refreshing salad to whip up on a warm summer day. It is an easy recipe and one that is great for meal prepping!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 15.5-ounce chickpeas, 1 can
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup tomato, diced
- 1 cup white onion, diced
- 1 cup cucumber, diced
- ½ cup kalamata olives, chopped
- 4 ounces feta
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- 2 gloves garlic, minced
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- To start, place your cooked and cooled quinoa into a large mixing bowl. 1 cup quinoa
- Next, dice up the pepper, tomato, onion, cucumber, and chop the olives roughly. Add all the diced vegetables into the mixing bowl. 1 green bell pepper, 1 cup tomato, 1 cup white onion, ½ cup purple olives.
- To the bowl, add in the things that don't need chopped. This would be the chickpeas and the feta. 1-15.5 ounce can of chickpeas, 4 ounces feta
- Now for the ingredients that act as the "dressing." Add in the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped basil, garlic cloves, and salt and pepper to the bowl. ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup chopped basil, 2 garlic cloves (minced) and salt and pepper to taste
- Give everything a good stir and taste it to see if anything needs added.
- Serve at room temperature or place in an airtight container and set in the fridge to chill.
Notes
This meditteranean cucumber salad is a great meal prep option. Place into an airtight container and keep it in the fridge to grab throughout the week.
Loved this Cucumber Salad Recipe?
If you tried this recipe and loved it, we would appreciate if you gave us a 5-star rating and left a review telling us your thoughts. Don't forget to share the recipe on Pinterest!
A Note From Our Kitchen to Yours
A cold, refreshing salad with fresh veggies on a hot summer day just hits the spot. A peach and goat cheese salad? Yes, please! Or, maybe a zesty red cabbage and apple salad? Of course!
Throughout the summer we make a lot of lighter dishes such as lemon salmon pasta, sheet pan chicken and veggies, or salmon patties with homemade sauce! So, adding a healthy side dish such as this quinoa cucumber tomato salad completes the meal perfectly (okay, maybe there's some stovetop white rice thrown in there too).
You'll love how the flavors marry together so well in this recipe! It has such a bright, refreshing and crisp flavor profile. There's cool, watery vegetables paired with bold and tangy accents to make this dinner side dish shine. Be sure to read this entire post to make the best possible quinoa cucumber tomato salad!
Ingredients You'll Need
Quinoa - There are different kinds of quinoa. The white kind of quinoa has a mild flavor and a softer texture. Compared to white quinoa, red quinoa has a nuttier flavor and more of a chewy texture. Lastly, there is black quinoa. Black quinoa has a rich and almost earthy flavor. Any kind of quinoa would go well within this salad. It all depends on what kind of flavor you prefer. I am using a combination of all three to get the ultimate flavor and texture variety.
Cucumber - Diced up into small bite sized pieces.
Tomato - You can remove the seeds from the tomatoes and just have the "flesh" if you prefer. Diced up into small bite sized pieces as well.
Chickpeas
White Onion - Diced
Green Peppers - Diced
Kalamata Olives - Kalamata olives are jarred with the best herbs and juices. They add wonderful flavor to this salad.
Feta
Fresh Basil
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Garlic Cloves
Salt & Pepper
Tools You Will Need
Large Bowl
Mixing Spoon
Cutting Board
Sharp Knife - This knife set from Farberware is the best! Affordable and holds up.
Measuring Cups & Spoons
Step By Step Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad Instructions
To start, place your cooked and cooled quinoa into a large mixing bowl.
Then, taking all the vegetables that go into this salad, dice them up into bite sized pieces. This will ensure that you get a little bit of everything in each bite. Add in the things that don't need diced up like the chickpeas and the olives.
On top of all the ingredients, add in the chopped basil, lemon juice, olive oil, and minced garlic cloves.
Give everything a good toss. Serve at room temperature of cover the salad dish with plastic wrap and then put it in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours before serving.
Tip: To make the chopping in this salad super simple and quick, try using a vegetable chopper.
Why You'll Love Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Nutrient Dense - There are multiple ingredients in this salad that make it very nutrient dense. To start, the quinoa is rich in protein, fiber, and B vitamins. Olives contain healthy fats and have powerful antioxidants that are great for the heart. The vegetables within this salad do so many good things for you and your body. A few of them are promote healthy skin, good vision, heart health, and regulates blood sugar.
- Meal Prep Friendly - With school starting up soon and busy, routine schedules being the new normal, having healthy meal prep foods that you can quickly grab is a lifesaver. This salad can be made at the beginning of the week and stored in the fridge for throughout the week. I love these glass snap containers for meal prepping.
- Easy - This recipe is not detailed or difficult to follow. It is simple and one that you will want to make again and again!
- High Protein- Getting in enough protein in your diet is a game changer and this recipe will help you out with it! Both chick peas and quinoa are high protein foods. Quinoa is also considered a whole grain to give you a boost of carbs!
- It's so quick! Preparing a side dish for dinner is made easy when you use this recipe. Make it even faster by chopping your veggies ahead of time as well as cooking the quinoa! Then you literally only have to throw everything in a salad bowl and toss. What's easier than that?
How To Serve Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Fish - This Mediterranean cucumber salad with quinoa would serve as a great bed for salmon or your favorite fish. Try it all with a side of roasted red potatoes.
- On a Salad - While this is already a salad, this would go well on a bed of lettuce or spinach with another protein.
- Sweet potatoes - Making this Mediterranean cucumber salad with quinoa with room temperature ingredients and then serving it on top of baked sweet potatoes would be a delicious hearty meal.
- Burrito Bowl - We have burrito bowls frequently for dinner over here in our home. Although often times I run out of topping ideas for them. This salad would be a great topping for a chicken burrito bowl.
How To Store Cucumber Salad
Keep cucumber salad fresh in the fridge, at its best, for 3-5 days by storing it in a non-toxic food container. Make sure the container is air tight.
To soak up extra moisture, line the bottom of the container with a paper towel! Or, lightly drain excess water the next time you go to eat it.
Let's chat in the comments!
We'd love to hear about what you're cooking this summer! Share your opinions with us about this quinoa cucumber tomato salad recipe. Better yet, what're you serving it with?
Leave a Reply