I’m not sure if you guys remember one of my very first quinoa salads on the blog, but I do because I just so happened to have made right after I met my husband AND the recipe surprisingly went viral on Pinterest.
Since realizing how much you all seem to enjoy quinoa recipes, I now try to put out a few new quinoa salads each summer because they’re easy and great to pack for a quick, healthy lunch.
Today’s salad is a unique combination of ingredients that popped into my mind when I was brainstorming about how I wanted to use summer sweet corn in a few recipes.
Originally, I wanted to make this with forbidden black rice (my fav!) but Abra convinced me to do it with quinoa instead and it turned out to be sensationally delicious. A unique combination of flavors, textures and summer fruits and crunchy veggies.
YUM.
Ingredients in Blueberry Quinoa Salad
This blueberry quinoa is packed with juicy blueberries, creamy avocado fluffy quinoa, sweet corn, tangy feta, cilantro, red onion and pistachios.
To top it all off, we tossed it all together with a cilantro lime dressing made with olive oil, lime juice, fresh cilantro and jalapeno. ZIPPITY DO DA ZIPPITY DAY.
How to make the best fluffy quinoa for quinoa salads:
I know how difficult it can be to make the PERFECT quinoa, but I have a tried and true method for making super fluffy. It’s perfect for quinoa salads & side dishes, and will be your new go-to method.
- First, add 2 parts water and 1 part quinoa to a medium pot and place over high heat.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and cook your quinoa for exactly 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove pot from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork. Then cover and allow quinoa to sit in the pot off of direct heat for 10 minutes to fluff and steam for the best texture. Easy!
This blueberry quinoa salad is one of my favorites to pack for a healthy lunch! You can pair it with grilled chicken or salmon cakes for an extra boost of protein. The salad will stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days. I personally LOVE bringing this to parties for a fresh side dish; just be sure to add the avocado and pistachios right before serving. Enjoy, my loves!
More summer salad recipes you’ll love:
Summer Strawberry Salad with Avocado
Fiesta Mango Black Bean Quinoa Salad
Summer Peach Spinach Salad with Avocado, Toasted Almonds + Goat Cheese
Avocado Tomato Chickpea Pasta Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
See how to make the blueberry quinoa salad
If you make this blueberry quinoa salad, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! You can also snap and picture and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen. xo!
Avocado Blueberry Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- For the salad:
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 firm but still ripe avocado, sliced or diced
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup sweet corn (preferably fresh off the cob)
- 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/2 cup feta
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
- 1/2 cup diced cilantro
- Cilantro Lime Dressing:
- 1/3 cup packed cilantro leaves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ½ jalapeno, seeded
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For garnishing
- Extra cilantro, pistachios, feta and red onion
Instructions
-
First, make your quinoa. Add water and quinoa to a medium pot and place over high heat; bring mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for exactly 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove pot from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork. Then cover and allow quinoa to sit in the pot for 10 minutes.
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While the quinoa is cooking, make your cilantro lime dressing by adding the ingredients to a blender: cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, jalapeño half and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
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Once your quinoa is done, add it to a large bowl. Add in the avocado, blueberries, corn, red onion, feta, pistachios, and cilantro.
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Pour dressing all over the quinoa salad and toss to combine. Garnish with extra cilantro, pistachios, feta and red onion if you’d like. Serve at room temp or cold. Salad with stay good for 3-5 days in the fridge. Serves 4-6. Nutrition info based on 6.
Recipe Notes
Feel free to add chicken or chickpeas for an extra boost of protein!
54 comments
Are there 4 servings or 6? The nutritionials say both.
Updated! Nutrition is for 6, but the recipe can serve 4-6 🙂
That woman from facebook is going to be sad to see there is feta in the recipe hahaha! Me on the other hand, loveeeee the flavor combos you have going on here!
Haha oops! Can’t help it – love feta in here 🙂 Hope you get a chance to make this one Ema!
In your nutrition info it says serves 6. But at the end of the recipe it says serves 4…?
Hi Cindy! Thanks for the catch – I’ve updated the recipe (the nutrition is for 6 but the recipe serves 4-6!)
Looks delicious! If we’re making this to have for lunch throughout the week, is it okay to add avocado at the time of making it?
I’d recommend adding the avocado when you’re ready to serve if you’re planning to keep the salad for a few days (just to keep it nice and fresh!) It will be fine either way though 🙂
I would leave out the corn, or definitely cook it first. Humans do not digest corn well…
I always cook it first (and then cut it off the cob 🙂 ). Grilling it would be delicious, too!
Did not realize I needed to cool the corn. That was not specified.
No need to cool it, but if you meant cook it – I always do cook it (and it is likely easier to digest that way) but you can also cut it off the cob raw if you prefer.
What kind of blender do you use for the dressing?
Any blender should work just fine! I usually use my Vitamix.
Hi Monique, I wish I liked Feta but I don’t. What cheese substitute do you recommend?
Hi Leanne! Feel free to use any crumbled cheese you like or even cube up some white cheddar 🙂
there is one cheese i like Mexican Panela or fresco it’s not as dry as feta and it’s a bit saltier and pairs perfectly with corn.
Sounds delicious! Let me know if you give it a try in the salad 🙂
Can’t wait to try this!
One of my new favs — enjoy!
This is absolutely fabulous! I have made it twice so far and it is now one of my favorites! I have never made quinoa correctly until now. I followed this step by step and it’s perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that. And YES the quinoa tips are a game changer 🙂
I’m allergic to cilantro, what would you recommend for a substitute?
I would just leave it out!
Well you answered my cilantro question. How do you think it would be with some flat leaf parsley
Delicious! 🙂
This is delicious. Thank you for all the great recipes. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Emilie! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Made this for a party yesterday and everyone raved about it!! Had what little was leftover for dinner tonight and it was equally delicious on day 2…the avocado even stayed green! Yum…will be adding this to my regular recipe rotation!
Amazing! Day 2 the dressing in the salad makes it even better 🙂 Perfect for meal prep lunches, too!
Love it! Made it for my lunches this week! Thank you!
Amazing! So happy to hear that.
I am following you for a month more or less and everything I cook based on your recipes turn out sooooo delicious. Best Regarding from Portugal!
Amazing! So happy to hear that, Ana. Thanks for your note!
This was absolutely delicious! I did double the dressing and used about three quarters of it. Super combination of flavors. I’ll make this often! Perhaps the only thing I’ll play around with is the jalapeño…I like spicy.
Glad you enjoyed! I’m all about adding a little spice 🙂
This is the second time this week I’m making this salad . It’s great thank you for the recipe.
So happy to hear that, Sarah!
Tossing blueberries in with TexMex ingredients? Genius! This tasty (and easy) dish is great as a side with salmon or chicken, or to bring all by itself in your brown bag lunch to work. Yum!
Absolutely! One of my favs for lunch 🙂 glad you enjoyed!
I made this recipe last night for dinner. It was amazing!!! I love the combination of ingredients, so flavorful. I added some grilled chicken strips for my hubby, who does not believe a meal is complete without meat. For people who might want to speed up the preparation process, I used a 90 second microwaveable package of Quinoa. Tasted great! One other revision I made was to blend the cut up onion into the dressing, rather than having the raw onion bits mixed in with the salad. Try it you’ll love this recipe!!
Delicious! Sounds like the perfect dinner 🙂
This was incredible! My husband and I have been eating off of it for several days. The dressing helps the avocado from browning, and the blueberries keep getting sweeter! I used sliced almonds in place of pistachios. SO GOOD!!
Love that! One of my favs for spring & summer 🙂
This recipe has it all: fresh, fruity, acidic, nutty, spicy (I kept the jalapeno seeds). Such a delicious salad,
Absolutely! Glad you loved it 🙂
SO yummy!! The corn adds a nice sweet crunch to the salad, I will definitely be making this again!!
Absolutely! So glad you loved it 🙂
Made this salad tonight – it was a success! Both me and my husband loved it. Well balanced, tasty, healthy, and easy to make. Thank you for the recipe!
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
Absolutely delicious. I am trying plant based eating and this is my 1st official meal. Can’t way to try others. My husband also raved about this and said to make sure that I saved the recipe!
Amazing! The perfect first meal 🙂
Made this for my family for Memorial Day and it was a huge hit, will definitely make again, pairs well with Barbecue!
So happy to hear that!