Vegan Quinoa Tabbouleh Summer Salad Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and then make a purchase, I may get a small commission from that sale, at no extra cost to you.
Hi friends!
Today I'm sharing with you all this superrr colorful and tasty quinoa tabbouleh summer salad recipe.
Although it's not officially summer yet until June 21st... we can all agree that the days are getting longer, and warmer, and well, it's starting to feel a lotttt like summer.
And summer calls for light, colorful, refreshing food - like salads!
Except here's the irony of it all. I'm currently in the Pacific North West, where it does NOT feel like summer, at all. Maybe 55 degree mornings are summer here in June, but nottt for this Miami gal. haha.
I'm enjoying a few days on the west coast with my other half, exploring all of central Oregon, but I'm taking a minute off of the hiking to post this tasty summery salad, because maybe where-ever-you-are the weather feels like summertime for you.
In the meantime, I'm skipping the salad until I'm back home in sunny (and warm) south Florida, 😛 but please don't let that deter you from trying this yummy yummayy salad.
reasons why we're loving this tabbouleh:
- It's chock full of fresh veggies - tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, cilantro, mixed greens!
- Sooo easy to put together especially if you're using left over quinoa from a previous meal. Chop, throw, and mix. Chop your veggies, throw them all in a bowl, and mix it up.
- Refined oil free, yet still full of flavor. You don't need oil to make food taste good, I promise.
- It's got MANGOES! And who does not love mangoes in their summer salads? It's almost a must in my book.
- Chickpeas for added protein and some nice chew. You can even go a step further and roast your chickpeas for an added crunch if that's your thing.
- Goes insanely well paired up with my last blog post - the oil free golden turmeric salad dressing I've been hooked on lately. However if you're more of a cilantro fan - you have to try it with this oil free creamy cilantro garlic sauce - so good! But if all else fails, just add some lime juice on top.
How to make quinoa tabbouleh summer salad:
If the word tabbouleh is not familiar to you, (it was definitely not familiar to me..), it might sound like this is a very exotic and therefore difficult dish to prepare.
However, I promise you it's not, difficult I mean. Tabbouleh is a traditional Arabian dish which usually compromises of cracked wheat with finely chopped vegetables (usually tomatoes, parsley, and onions) and is almost always served cold.
I wouldn't say my version of tabbouleh is 'traditional' because I've added a ton of other fresh veggies into the mix, but I still think we can call it tabbouleh if you don't mind. 😛
The preparation of this dish is real easy - gather your chopped veggies and mix them in with some pre-cooked quinoa. You can also use couscous or bulgur if you want to try something different.
After you've mixed everything up, you can place it in the fridge for a few hours to let it chill. Honestly, I'm always way to hungry to wait, and I enjoy mines at room temperature just fine.
You can serve the tabbouleh on a bed of fresh mixed greens (what you see in the pictures is a base of arugula) or just eat it as is with a spoon, fork or some crackers on the side. Don't forget to take it up another level by drizzling some of this oil free golden turmeric salad dressing goodness on top, or just add lemon or lime.
This recipe was inspired by:
The inspiration for this summery salad came from Dr. Michael Greger's latest book - The How Not To Die CookBook (affiliate link). If you've been following this blog for a while, then you already know that I am a BIG big fan of Dr. Greger's work. If you haven't checked out his books yet - you are missing out on some good good plant based science-based information! I highly recommend both the How Not To Die Book (affiliate link), and the latest cook book as well.
Now go go go enjoy yourself a nice and fresh summery salad, and hopefully I'll be back to some 80 degree weather soon. 😛
Want to see more summer eats?
Check out this vegan papaya ice cream or these colorful vegan loaded nachos that scream summer!
with love + gratitude,
Jen ♥
Want More Vegan Eats? Make sure to subscribe to get our newsletter directly to your inbox, just *one* email, once a week. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Make sure you come say hi! <3
Vegan Quinoa Tabbouleh Summer Salad Recipe
A delicious tropical Vegan Quinoa Tabbouleh Summer Salad Recipe that is loaded with hearty fresh veggies.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 - 4 servings 1x
- Category: salad
- Cuisine: salads
Ingredients
- 2 red tomatoes, chopped
- 2 small Persian cucumbers, chopped
- half of a red onion, chopped
- a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 green onions, minced
- 1 can of cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 2 cups of cooked quinoa ( 1 cup dry quinoa + 1 1/4 cup water)
- 1 to 2 cups or more of mixed greens for the base – optional
- one small mango chopped – optional
- Oil free golden turmeric salad dressing (or if you like cilantro – you can try this oil free cilantro garlic sauce) drizzled on top or if you’re a hurry just throw some lime juice on top, it’s really tasty this way too!
- pinch of himalayan salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add 2 cups of cooked quinoa to a mixing bowl (for best result let quinoa cool down a bit if still warm before mixing veggies in).
- Add the garbanzo beans, chopped mangoes if using, and the mixed chopped vegetables (except the optional mixed greens), to the mixing bowl and gently fold in, mixing it all in with the quinoa. Add the pinch of salt and black pepper to taste.
- Tabbouleh is traditionally served cold, so you can go ahead and place the mixing bowl in the fridge for a few hours if you want it cold… or you can serve right away at room temperature. Both ways are great in my opinion!
- When ready to serve – serve tabbouleh on top of mixed greens and drizzle some oil free golden turmeric salad dressing or this yummy oil free cilantro garlic sauce. You can also skip the dressings and just throw lime juice on top for a quicker alternative. 😉 Enjoy!
Notes
- I used a mix of red and white quinoa – but honestly I prefer using white quinoa only with this recipe.
- This is a great salad to clean out the fridge with – find whatever scraps or extra veggies you have laying around in the fridge that are about to spoil and use them up in this salad!
- If you don’t have the extra time to make the oil free golden turmeric salad dressing, feel free to use any salad dressing that you have on hand, or you can use the juice of a lime as well for added flavor!
- This salad is best enjoyed fresh and the day of, but left overs will last for about a day or two.
Keywords: salad, summer salads, quinoa, tabbouleh, oil free, healthy, mixed vegetables, plantbased, gluten free, summer
subscribe to our newsletter below
Just *one* email a week. Promise. <3
Thanks for subscribing! You'll receive just *one* email a week with a round up of all of our posts for that week. Thank you!!!
This information will be used for purposes of sending you our email newsletter. By submitting the information above, you agree with our privacy policy. We use Mail-Chimp as our email automation platform; you can visit their privacy policy and terms.
Did you make this recipe?
tag us on instagram @sproutingzeneats and use hashtag #sproutingzeneats so that we can feature your creations! 🙂
