This Easy Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad is full of delicious flavor and a variety of textures while offering nutritious ingredients.  It is simple to prepare and uses mostly pantry ingredients you likely have on hand like dry quinoa and canned black beans.  It has a Southwestern flavored dressing that makes this quinoa salad so addictive.  This quinoa salad holds up well in the refrigerator making it an excellent meal prep option.

Easy Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad

This Easy Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad seems so simple and yet every time I make it I’m so amazed and how good it is!  All you need to prepare this salad is quinoa, black beans, green onions, red bell pepper, red onion and cilantro.  The quinoa and black beans provide plant-based protein while the red bell pepper offers immune-boosting vitamin C.   The dressing is simple too: olive oil, lime juice, maple syrup, cumin, garlic and salt.  Boom!  You are done!

How to Make Easy Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad

I make the quinoa using my Perfectly Cooked Quinoa Method: Stovetop or Instant Pot.  While the quinoa cooks I whisk the dressing together in the serving bowl.  Then, I chop up my veggies and herbs.  When the quinoa is done I toss everything together and enjoy immediately or store for meal prep.

Health Benefits of Quinoa

Quinoa is one of my favorite pantry staples.  It is light and absorbs flavor wonderfully.  It adds great texture to salads.  It is so easy to prepare and offers such amazing health benefits.  It is loaded with fiber (one serving has over 5 grams) and is considered a complete protein with all eight essential amino acids.  This makes it a great source of plant-based protein for vegans.  In fact, it has more protein than any other grain.  Quinoa is a good source of folate, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and many phytochemicals.  It also offers important minerals such as calcium, potassium, copper and zinc.

Looking for more quinoa recipes?

These are all vegan and gluten-free recipes with quinoa:

Mango-Avocado Quinoa Salad with Toasted Pepitas

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Crispy Quinoa Falafel Bowls

Roasted Veggies & Crispy Chickpeas over Quinoa with Garlic Maple Tahini Drizzle

Roasted Beet Noodles Over Quinoa with Parsley Pesto

Quick & Easy One-Pot Curried Quinoa & Chickpeas

Crispy Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

One-Pot Sweet & Spiced Quinoa Lentil Salad

Berry-Cherry Quinoa Salad with Candied Walnuts and Balsamic-Shallot Vinaigrette

Easy Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Elaine Gordon
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 20
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 8 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

This Easy Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad is full of delicious flavor and a variety of textures while offering nutritious ingredients.  It is simple to prepare and uses mostly pantry ingredients you likely have on hand like dry quinoa and canned black beans.  It has a Southwestern flavored dressing that makes this quinoa salad so addictive.  This quinoa salad holds up well in the refrigerator making it an excellent meal prep option.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa (cooked in the Instant Pot with 1 cup of water)*
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 red or orange bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, diced
• 4 green onions, diced
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup packed fresh cilantro, large stems removed, leaves chopped

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon fine salt

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Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa in the Instant Pot*.  While the quinoa cooks prepare your dressing and other ingredients.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked quinoa with the black beans, red bell pepper, onions and cilantro.  Whisk the dressing well and pour overtop the salad.  Stir well to combine.  Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container (or separate smaller airtight containers for lunch on-the-go).  Salad lasts in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Notes

*Use two cups of water if using the stovetop to cook the quinoa.  Use my stovetop method for perfectly cooked quinoa.

In the Instant Pot put the quinoa and water in the pot and cook on Manual high pressure for one minute.  Then, press off and allow it to naturally release for 15 minutes.  Remove lid and fluff with a fork.  Allow to slightly cool before adding to the salad.

• Category: Side Dish or Entree
• Method: Instant Pot or Stovetop
• Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: Mexican quinoa salad

Recipe lightly adapted from Detoxinista.