Looking for More Recipes Like This?
Then you’ve got to try our Ultimate Southwest Salad. It has similar flavors but we just swapped the quinoa for more greens.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- chicken – We used chicken breasts, but you could easily swap them out for chicken thighs or omit completely to make this vegetarian.
- dressing – The creamier, the better in our opinion, but feel free to use our southwest vinaigrette instead.
- quinoa – We used white, but you could very easily use red, black, or tricolor quinoa.
- frozen corn – This would totally work in place of canned corn.
- more beans – Turn this into a southwest bean and quinoa salad and add a can of pinto beans to the mix!
- veggies – This salad uses our seasonal favorites, but make this your own and add the ones that you love best!
How To Make Southwest Quinoa Salad
Let your chicken marinate in soy sauce while your grill comes to temp. While your chicken cooks, mix up the southwest dressing ingredients and set it aside until you’re ready to assemble.
How To Cook Quinoa
Place 1 cup of uncooked quinoa in a sieve over the sink and give it a good rinse. This helps to remove a natural coating called saponin that creates a bitter tasting flavor. Then place the rinsed quinoa and 2 cups of water in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cover and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and keep the lid on to allow the quinoa to steam. This will yield slightly more than you need for this salad, so measure out 2 cups and save the rest to use later in the week.
Make It Quick!
Don’t have time to grill? Grab a rotisserie chicken on your way home and use that instead! Plus, you’ll probably have leftovers to enjoy throughout the week.
Now simply put everything in a serving bowl, top with that homemade dressing, toss, and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to enjoy this Southwest quinoa salad recipe. When meal prepped, it works great as a quick lunch on the go or even as a dinner on busy weeknights. I’ve even served it with some chips to act as a healthy dip! And when I’m really famished, I’ll wrap it all up in a tortilla to make it into a protein packed burrito.
Make Ahead/Meal Prep
Prep the veggies, make the dressing, and cook the quinoa and chicken in advance so that this one comes together even faster on busy weeknights. Or, since this one keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days, assemble everything so that you have a healthy lunch to enjoy all week long.
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- Is quinoa healthy? Yes! It’s considered a super food because it’s naturally gluten-free, high in protein and fiber, and is high in antioxidants and micronutrients like magnesium, vitamin B.
- Instant pot quinoa – This is such a time saver! The water to quinoa ratio is 1:1, so put 1 cup of water and 1 cup of rinsed quinoa in your instant pot and cook on high for 1 minute. Let the steam naturally release for 10 minutes and you’re done!
- Perfectly cooked quinoa – To know when you’re quinoa is done cooking, you’ll notice a little tail-like spiral coming out from the middle of each seed. When you can see that these little tails have become unfurled, your quinoa is done cooking!
If you make and love this quinoa southwest salad as much as we do, we would appreciate you taking a minute to leave a star rating and review!
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Southwest Quinoa Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Counter Top
- Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired
Description
Our quick and easy Southwest Black Bean Quinoa Salad recipe is high in protein, high in fiber, and perfect for meal prep!
Ingredients
Grilled Chicken Breasts:
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
Creamy Southwest Dressing:
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (regular or dairy-free)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Other Quinoa Salad Ingredients:
- 2 cups quinoa, cooked
- 1 (15oz) can of corn, drained
- 1 (15oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (reg. or dairy-free)
- 1/3 cup green onions, sliced
- garnish: fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Prep Chicken: Place chicken in a glass container. Add soy sauce and coat. Set aside. Ensure grill grates are clean and preheat grill to 400-450 degrees F.
- Make Dressing: Put all of the Creamy Southwest Dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Grill Chicken: Place chicken on direct heat (discard excess soy sauce), season with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Cook at medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side. Move chicken away from the direct heat so that it is cooking on indirect heat (maintaining the same grill temp) and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes (you don’t need to flip during this point because the chicken will cook as if it is in an oven) or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reads 165 on your meat thermometer. Remove from grill and let rest at least 5-10 minutes. Cut into cubes.
- Combine Quinoa Salad: Add the chicken and all of the remaining quinoa salad ingredients to a large bowl and mix to combine.
- Add Dressing: Pour the dressing on top of the salad and mix again.
- Serve: Option to garnish with fresh cilantro or extra green onions and enjoy immediately or store in the fridge.
Notes
- Cook Time: cook time includes grilling chicken – if you use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken you can get this prepped in about 20 minutes.
- Meal Prep: this is a great option to prep at the beginning of the week to enjoy for dinner or lunches. Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days in the fridge.
- Dressing Options: highly recommend the creamy southwest dressing included in the recipe card, but we also have a Southwest Vinaigrette that would be great too!
- Chicken: feel free to use chicken thighs, if you prefer, or omit the chicken for a meatless option. We love grilling ours for that extra flavor – but using a store-bought rotisserie chicken works too!
- Dairy-Free: use a dairy-free plain yogurt and dairy-free feta to make this dairy-free.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 241
- Sugar: 4.3 g
- Sodium: 263.4 mg
- Fat: 9.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.7 g
- Fiber: 4.9 g
- Protein: 18.3 g
- Cholesterol: 44.9 mg
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