Orange Cranberry Quinoa Salad
If you’re trying to make meal prep more exciting this winter, how about making this orange cranberry quinoa salad? You get all of the best tastes and textures with this one—crunchy pistachios, salty feta crumbles, sweet cranberries, and the most delicious orange shallot vinaigrette! Enjoy it on its own or add your favorite protein on top for an easy lunch you can eat cold.
Orange Cranberry Quinoa Salad
4
servings25
minutes15
minutesIf you’re trying to make meal prep more exciting this winter, how about making this orange cranberry quinoa salad? You get all of the best tastes and textures with this one—crunchy pistachios, salty feta crumbles, sweet cranberries, and the most delicious orange shallot vinaigrette! Enjoy it on its own or add your favorite protein on top for an easy lunch you can eat cold.
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Ingredients
- FOR THE QUINOA SALAD
4 heaping cups de-stemmed and chopped kale, drizzle of olive oil and salt for massaging
1 cup dry quinoa
1 orange, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
3/4 cup feta crumbles ( I used @athenos)
- FOR THE ORANGE SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE
1/2 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons orange zest (about 1 orange)
juice of one orange (about ¼ cup)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions
- Bring a small pot to a boil over medium high heat. Add the quinoa and cook until no liquid remains, about 13 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside, uncovered, to cool.
- Meanwhile, massage the chopped kale in olive oil and salt in a large bowl and let sit for at least 10 minutes to break down.
- While the kale sits, prepare the vinaigrette: whisk together all of the ingredients in a jar or small mixing bowl.
- Once the kale has broken down, add the cooked quinoa to the large bowl, followed the oranges, cranberries, pistachios, dill, and feta. Add in half or all of the vinaigrette, depending on your preference.
- Use salad tongs to toss until combined.
Notes
- Storage: Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 4 days.
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Jenn does it again!! Meal prepped this for my lunches for the week and it is so so good. Perfect balance of salt and acid and crunch and not to mention healthy! 100% will be adding this to my recipe rotation 🙂
This salad! Amazing flavors! I added roasted chickpeas for a little extra protein and they worked really well. Can’t wait to eat more for my lunches this week!
I made this for lunches this week and it’s so good! Admittedly, I can never stick to a recipe and I did have to swap out a few ingredients but I love the versatility and ease of this. Such a good nutritious salad!
I think this is the only salad I’ve ever had that is better the second day. So good!
This was so so good! I had to make a few substitutions based on what we had. Added some roasted chick peas for some extra protein. It was even better day two! Love a salad that can be meal prepped, and a super flavorful one at that. Adding to the rotation and thanks for sharing.
Made this for lunch this week and likely will be making it again next week! It was so filling and honestly one of the best salads I have had in a long time. My husband loved it too!
This is so good! Second week in a row that I’ve meal prepped it for lunches. Random question, but how many grams of protein do you think this is?
I didn’t want to exaggerate so I checked. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is my favorite thing I have ever eaten! And I’m pretty old and a pretty good cook!
This was a delicious combination of flavors. I substituted baby spinach for the kale and I used up a mixed packet of grains instead of the quinoa. The vinaigrette is the star though so it works with anything!
Absolutely amazing combination of flavors for the perfect winter salad that holds up well in the fridge for a week’s worth of lunches! Added chicken for extra protein. Will be making this again very soon!
Our family loves this salad – even our toddler! What a unique combination of flavors.
I’m obsessed with this salad! I make it every week now on Sundays:)
This is my all-time favorite salad! It is so versatile – sometimes we top it with chicken or shrimp. I am DF so I use TraderJoe’s DF feta.
This was delicious! Dressing, sweet, salty, fresh! We added chickpeas to up the protein a little. So goood!
This salad is on repeat for regular weekly meal prep and also to be on for when I have guests for the weekend for quick light but satisfying lunches. Bright and yummy!
How much liquid do you use for the quinoa? I have re-read several times and don’t see it in the recipe. Thanks!
This was incredible and very easy!!! We added salmon to the top.
This was soooo delicious! I swapped out pistachios for pepita seeds due to my nut allergy and it was perfect! I had breaded air fryer chicken breast as protein.
Love this recipe! Do you by any chance know the macros for this?