This quick and easy Edamame Quinoa Salad is healthy and delicious! It’s a tasty make-ahead side salad that’s gloriously vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free!
Let’s talk about quinoa, baby! Let’s talk about ed-a-ma-meeeeee! Let’s talk about how I am never allowed to re-mix a Salt-N-Peppa song in a blog post ever again.
Forgive me!!! I come bearing gifts. Gifts in the form of my new favorite quinoa salad recipe evahhhh.
Healthy Edamame Quinoa Salad
It’s a lettuce-free salad which gives it this magical ability to play double-duty between a yummy lunch salad and a rockin’ side dish to serve with dinner.
It’s also one of those crazy easy recipes you can double and serve at your next barbecue, party, or potluck.
And while I’m singing its praises, this healthy edamame quinoa salad is also vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, and positively plant-based.
CUE THE CONFETTI!
Quinoa for the win!
This, my darlings, is a fantastic way to get your family and friends on board with quinoa! Even my pickiest of picky friends love it!
The fluffy quinoa (which almost has a rice-meets-cous-cous vibe to it) makes the perfect base for a boatload of fresh veggies and a plate-licking homemade dressing. All. Good. Things.
I find that I cannot shovel this stuff into my face fast enough!
Thanks to the powerhouse combo of quinoa and edamame, this salad packs 11 grams of plant-based protein per cup.
It’s filling and flavorful!
Can I make this salad in advance?
YES! So if you’re one of those awesomely organized people who do the whole make-ahead meal prep thing (MY HERO!) then you’re going to love having this salad in your fridge.
It can be served room temperature or chilled, making it great for grab and go lunches, and since it’s dairy-free you can leave this one out at parties and it’ll stay fresh and delicious!
I love it best room temperature since the flavors of the dressing really shine through.
In fact I have some of the leftovers warming up on my counter right now almost ready to be eaten – CAN’T WAIT!
Edamame Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1.5 cups water
- 12 oz edamame pods or 1 cup shelled cooked edamame
- 1 cup corn canned or steamed from frozen
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes (grape, cherry, roma, or any other variety)
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion
QUICK + EASY DRESSING
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- 3-4 TBSP avocado oil or light olive oil
- 1 clove garlic smashed and minced
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves plus extra to garnish
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
Instructions
- First rinse and drain your quinoa using a mesh strainer or sieve. Bring a small pot to medium heat and lightly toast the quinoa to remove any excess water, stirring often. This step is optional but really adds to the nuttiness and fluff factor of the quinoa! Next add your water, set burner to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered with the lid slightly ajar, for 12-13 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy and the liquid has been absorbed.
- While the quinoa cooks, use this time to prep remaining ingredients and steam your corn and edmame as needed.
- For the dressing, combine all the ingredients listed in a small bowl and whisk together *OR* add all the ingredients to a lidded mason jar and shake well.
- Once your quinoa is ready, fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper, to taste. For a chilled salad, chill your quinoa in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Add edamame, corn, diced bell pepper, chopped tomato, and chopped red onion. Whisk/shake dressing once more then pour over salad. Mix well and serve room temperature for tasteiest results!
- Garnish with extra cilantro and any additoinal salt and pepper you desire and dig in!
Notes
Nutrition
Quinoa salads are so easy to make! I like to use this tutorial to make ultra-fluffy quinoa for my salads. The rinsing and toasting is totally key for nutty, flavorful quinoa!
Of course the best part is that you can make a big batch of quinoa for the week and use it in dishes all week long. Meal-prep FTW!
Some of my favorite things to make with the extra quinoa are Quinoa Black Bean Veggie Burgers and Greek Quinoa Bowls – SO GOOD!
crazy for quinoa recipes?
- Cranberry Quinoa Salad with Candied Walnuts
- Vegetarian Quinoa Chili
- Quinoa Tacos via Cooking Classy
- Quinoa Fried Rice – READER FAVORITE!
If you get a chance to try this quick and easy edamame quinoa salad, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Excellent! My first recipe for the season with my fresh cilantro from the garden!
So happy you enjoyed the recipe, Joy! Thanks!
I omitted the tomatoes and used Spring onion and chives. I honey to the dressing. Used Adobo seasoning as well!
This was the perfect side dish for a late dinner last night! Fresh, tasty, healthy, and beautiful! Also, will make for a great lunch today!
Thank you for the recipe, I made it today and it was so so good, the dressing made it alive and fresh! It was a challenge to find edamame but in an asian specialty shop I finally found it! I plan to make your other quinoa salads too, they look healthy an delicious! Greetings from Hungary!
I plan on making this, but I don’t see grape tomatoes listed anywhere in the recipe??
How I left those bad boys out while writing the recipe up, I’ll never know… so crazy! Thank you so much for pointing it out Kathryn! You’ll add 1 cup of chopped tomatoes. Grape, cherry, Campari, Roma, etc… all work great.
Very easy to make and tastes fabulous! There are a lot of different textures going on with this dish making it as fun to eat as it is beautiful.
This recipe was delicious!
So stoked you enjoyed it Katie!