Fast and Easy Mexican Quinoa Salad
This Mexican Quinoa Salad is a bright, colorful dish that is fast and easy to make. Loaded with fluffy leftover quinoa, vibrant vegetables, vitamin rich spinach, and topped with an easy to make lime dressing; this salad is sure to become another favorite.
Need a bright, colorful, and easy salad for the upcoming warm days? This Mexican quinoa salad with zesty lime dressing is so easy to put together, but is sure to catch the attention of everyone you serve it to. The mix of red bell pepper, green spinach, deep purple black beans (to me, they’re purple, don’t come at me), yellow corn, and cream colored quinoa creates an eye-catching and bright combination.
How to cut a bell pepper
As I mentioned, this salad is incredibly simple to prepare. The most challenging part is probably dicing the bell pepper. But fear not, below you’ll find step-by-step instructions (complete with pictures!) on how to cleanly and efficiently dice up a bell pepper.
The curves of the bell pepper can prove challenging when cutting it up. And those pesky seeds! They have a knack for getting everywhere, which can be really annoying when cleaning up. Below, you’ll discover how to dice that bell pepper quickly and neatly without scattering seeds all over the place. It’s entirely doable, and you’ll never chop a bell pepper haphazardly again.
Ingredients for Mexican Quinoa Salad
- Quinoa – This pseudo-grain is an excellent addition to salads due to its small size and how well it integrates into the salad
- Spinach – Rich in iron and a beautiful green color, spinach is a nice tender green that only needs a rough chop to get it ready for a salad
- Black beans – These beans deserve a permanent place in your pantry because they are so versatile and full of fiber
- Sweet corn – It’s subtle sweetness adds balance to the zesty lime dressing
- Bell pepper – Satisfyingly crunchy and vibrant, bell pepper is living it’s best life in this salad
Questions and Answers
Can I use freshly cooked quinoa instead of leftover quinoa in Mexican Quinoa salad?
If you opt for freshly cooked quinoa instead of using leftovers, allow it to cool slightly before adding the spinach. If it’s still hot, the heat from the quinoa might cause the spinach to wilt. If you don’t mind wilted spinach, feel free to mix the hot quinoa with the spinach. You’re the master of your salad’s destiny.
Another thing to consider when using hot/warm quinoa is that warm grains/pseudo grains tend to need more dressing. So, if the quinoa’s warm just know you’ll need a bit more dressing or else the salad will be less flavorful. Making one and a half times more of the dressing should be enough extra to help it be flavorful if the grain is warm.
How do I quickly cool quinoa?
Quinoa (and any cooked grain) cools down faster when spread in a thin layer. The best way to do this is on a rimmed baking sheet. Just plop the cooked quinoa onto the baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Let it sit out on the counter, giving it a stir every now and then to aid in cooling. This method should have your quinoa cooled down in about 10 minutes.
You can even speed up the cooling process by popping the baking sheet of quinoa in the fridge for a few minutes (if you have room in there).
Can I make Mexican Quinoa Salad ahead of time?
This Mexican quinoa salad is an excellent make-ahead or meal prep option. Even after a couple of days stored covered in the fridge, the ingredients retain their freshness, and the texture and flavor remain uncompromised.
Fast and Easy Mexican Quinoa Salad
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- chef knife
- Cutting Board
- citrus juicer
- jar with lid
Ingredients
For the salad
- 3 cups quinoa cooked and cooled
- 5 oz Spinach roughly chopped
- 1 15 oz can of black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can of sweet corn drained and rinsed
- 1 Red bell pepper diced into small pieces
For the dressing
- ¼ cup lime juice about 2 limes worth of juice
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
Prep the salad
- Scoop cooked and cooled leftover quinoa into a large bowl.3 cups quinoa
- On a cutting board, using a chef knife, roughly chop the spinach. Put the spinach in the same bowl as the quinoa.5 oz Spinach
- Open, drain, and rinse the cans of sweet corn and black beans in a fine mesh strainer. Put the corn and beans in the bowl with the quinoa and spinach.1 15 oz can of black beans, 1 15 oz can of sweet corn
- Cut the bell pepper into small sized pieces (instructions and pictures on how to cut a bell pepper can be found above). Put the bell pepper pieces into the bowl with the other ingredients.1 Red bell pepper
Make the dressing
- In a jar with a lid, put in the juice of about two limes.¼ cup lime juice
- Add the avocado oil to the lime juice.¼ cup avocado oil
- Measure and add the spices to the lime juice and oil.1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, ½ tsp kosher salt, ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
- Put the lid on the jar and shake it until dressing is emulsified.
- Pour all of the dressing on top of the salad. Using salad tongs, evenly dress the salad with the lime dressing.
- Enjoy right away or enjoy later. This salad can be made ahead of time and holds up well for a couple days covered in the fridge.
