My Favourite Quinoa Salad

Recipe video above. Elevate your Quinoa Salad with two simple tricks: Toasting the quinoa in the oven to give it a gorgeous nutty flavour (great cheffy tip!), and use a wickedly good garlic/ginger dressing!It makes an excellent meal-worthy Asian-style salad, or colourful rainbow salad to take to gatherings. Don't skip the sprinkle of Wasabi Pea dust. It's the cherry on top!Serves: 10-12 as side, 5 as meal

Prep time: PT20M

Cook time: PT35M

Rating

4.98 stars (87 reviews)

Keywords

dressing for quinoa salad, how to cook quinoa, quinoa salad

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa (, tri-colour (or other colour, Note 1))
2 cups water
1 cup cucumber (, finely diced (Note 2))
1 carrot (, medium, peeled and finely shredded (Note 3))
3 cups red cabbage (, finely shredded (~1/4 small or 1/8 large cabbage))
2 green onions (, finely sliced)
250g/ 8oz cherry tomatoes (, small ones quartered, large ones cut into 6)
1 cup shelled edamame (, cooked per packet then cooled (Note 4))
1 red capsicum/bell pepper (, finely chopped)
1/2 cup coriander/cilantro leaves (, finely chopped)
5 tbsp soy sauce (, light or all-purpose (Note 5))
2 tbsp mirin ((Note 6))
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar ((sub: cider, sherry or champagne vinegar))
2 tbsp sesame oil (, toasted (Note 7))
2 1/2 tbsp canola, vegetable or grapeseed oil
2 1/2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise ((sub whole-egg mayo such as Hellman's or S&W, Note 8))
2 1/2 tsp sugar ((white or brown))
2 tsp ginger (, freshly grated)
1 garlic clove (, crushed using garlic press or finely grated using microplane)
1/3 cup wasabi peas (, crushed (Note 9))
1 tbsp sesame seeds (, toasted (Note 10))

Cuisine

Asian-esque

Steps

Cook quinoa:
- Toast for extra flavour: Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180° fan) Spread quinoa on a tray. Bake 15 minutes, stirring halfway, until it's lightly browned and smells nutty.
- Rinse: Transfer to fine mesh sieve or strainer. Rinse under running water for 10 seconds, shake off excess water well.
- Cook: Scrape into a medium saucepan. Add water, place lid on. Bring to simmer on medium heat, then lower stove to low and simmer for 15 minutes (or until all water is absorbed, tilt pot to check).
- Rest: Remove from stove (lid still on) and rest for 10 minutes.
- Fluff & cool: Remove lid, fluff quinoa with a fork and allow to fully cool before using. (Spread on a tray if you want to speed things up).
Salad:
- Dressing: Place ingredients in a jar and shake well.
- Toss salad! Place quinoa in a large bowl. Add all salad ingredients. Pour over dressing, toss very well.
- Garnish: Either transfer to a large serving platter or individual bowls. Sprinkle generously with crushed Wasabi Peas and sesame seeds. Devour!

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 177 kcal
Carbohydrates: 18 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 10 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 1 mg
Sodium: 495 mg
Sugar: 4 g

Reviews

Katrina on 2026-04-11 (5 stars):
Great recipe; even my cavoodle loved it! Fresh and tasty ❤️ and I’m like Nagi, I wasn’t convinced about quinoa until this one!
Sarah on 2026-02-07 (5 stars):
I love this recipe but I would like to mention to really check the quinoa half way because I didn’t and I burnt my first batch lol
Lyndon on 2026-01-14 (5 stars):
I'm not sure what makes this salad so good. The dressing? The textures? Witchcraft? It's definitely greater than the sum of the parts. Absolutely fantastic - so good that I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.
Pip Overton on 2025-12-31 (5 stars):
This was seriously delicious. I was looking for a summer salad that was high protein for me and my son, with our fitness goals. I burnt the first lot of quinoa (my fault - not reading the instructions properly!) and the second lot was delicious, but I'm not sure worth the effort of the roast. The mix of veg, textures and flavours works so, so well. The dressing is scrummy and the addition of the smashed wasabi peas is absolutely the icing on the cake. Will definitely add to the meal rotation - thank you!
Lisa on 2025-12-19 (5 stars):
So far I’ve done the dressing and quinoa and I know it’s going to be a 10/10. I used vegan mayo and the dressing is still amazing. So good that I’m wondering, if I were to make a big batch of the dressing to use in other salads, how long would it keep? The vegan mayo has no egg - it’s oil, water, vinegar and the usual miscellaneous suspects. I can’t wait to assemble and serve the salad at our family celebration.
Patricia on 2025-11-26 (5 stars):
Fantastic!
Barbara Havrot on 2025-08-23 (5 stars):
Okay, I've made many a quinoa salad but this one takes the cake! I had to buy a few ingredients that weren't staples in my kitchen (mirin, wasabi peas, light soy) but knowing how amazing Nagi's recipes are I knew that they wouldn't go to waste. The wasabi peas were half gone before I got half way through preparing the veggies. Great for cleaning your sinuses but don't be deterred as once they are crushed and sprinkled on top the powerful wasabi flavour is tempered by the other ingredients (I wanted to put them in whole but my granddaughter doesn't like spicy so I compromised and she gobbled it up!). Wonderful recipe! ♥️
Johanna on 2025-08-21 (5 stars):
Not a quinoa fan but this rocked my boat that its now a repeat salad! I had no red cabbage so did white, also forgot the green onions and was still delicious. The nutty dressing was drink off the plate divine.
Samantha on 2025-03-04 (5 stars):
This salad is amazing! Healthy and easily customisable depending on what veg you have in the fridge or in the garden. I replaced the wasabi peas with toasted seeds and the edamame with steamed green beans. So so tasty! Thank you Nagi!
Paula on 2025-02-05 (5 stars):
I’ve just made/eaten this and I have to comment. This is the second salad I’ve made from Nagi (first was Asian slaw) and literally both were absolute flavour bombs! I’m pretty big into salads but I’ve never tasted dressings as good as these. These recipes are going to be some of my ‘go to’s’. Thank you Nagi!
Meagan Rosenfeld on 2025-01-27 (5 stars):
This quinoa salad is so good!! Tastes fresh and healthy with colorful ingredients. Will definitely be making this again!
Carolyn on 2025-01-25 (5 stars):
Another fantastic recipe Nagi. My husband described it as sensational and is already planning to take it to work for lunches. Didn't toast the quinoa or have wasabi peas - but still tasted great. Will try these next time I make it - hard to believe it could taste even better! Thanks Nagi
Vicky Larochelle on 2025-01-23 (5 stars):
Long time lurker, first time poster ! This recipe has been a household favorite for almost 2 years now. I love that it is full of good things but tastes better than fast food ! We love all your recipes, thanks Nagi !
Jane on 2025-01-22 (5 stars):
Wonderful salad. I found this as a 'quinoa salad' search. I have the dinner book but hadn't noted the recipe. Two things to say special thanks for. 1. Notes on making amazing quinoa. 2. Letting me know that endamame beans need cooking! Thanks Nagi
Kristy on 2025-01-13 (5 stars):
I love this salad. The dressing is so good. I thought the quinoa was ok, but I don’t think roasting it made enough of a difference to justify the time and effort required doing that. I added soba noodles instead of quinoa and in my opinion that was much must better!!