Quinoa Salad with Mushrooms & Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

This quinoa salad with mushrooms and roasted garlic vinaigrette is simple and easy to make, plant-based, and packed with umami flavors perfect for a wholesome meal or as a side dish. This quinoa recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Plant-based quinoa salad

Salads with quinoa are our favorites. You must have already checked our trending quinoa salad, which is good for weight loss, quinoa with black beans, vegetables and quinoa, quinoa tofu super bowl, quinoa and lentil salad, protein-packed quinoa and chickpea, etc.

Today's quinoa salad combines cooked quinoa with sauteed mushrooms, boiled corn, steamed broccoli, cucumber, tomato, and cilantro. It's a perfect rainbow salad tossed with fresh, homemade, roasted garlic vinaigrette.

Also, quinoa salad is good for meal prep, lunchbox, potlucks, picnics, or quick weeknight dinners.

Ingredients

Quinoa: red or white, or you can combine both.
Mushrooms: White button mushrooms (fresh) are used. Feel free to add canned mushrooms, too.
Vegetables: Cucumber, tomato, broccoli, corn. Feel free to add any fresh seasonal veggies and greens of your choice.
Herb: Parsley or Cilantro.

For roasted garlic vinaigrette, use freshly squeezed lemon juice, coconut or olive oil, dry red chilies, garlic cloves, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of Salt.

Check out the recipe card for the full list of the ingredients.

Step-by-step instructions

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

• To prepare roasted garlic, take a small pan and place it on low flame. Add oil and garlic cloves. Saute the garlic cloves for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden in color. Reserve this oil for use in the next step.
• Chef's Tip: To prevent the garlic cloves from spluttering in oil, make sure to slightly crush the garlic with the back of a knife before adding it to the oil.
• In a blender, add lemon juice (or vinegar), oil reserved from the previous step, dry red chilies (or paprika powder), roasted garlic cloves, Italian pizza seasoning, and salt, and blend to a smooth, emulsified vinaigrette.

How to cook quinoa?

Stovetop
Wash and drain the quinoa. Add the drained quinoa and 1 cup of water to a pot. Cover and cook on a medium flame for about 12 to 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

Instant pot
Add the quinoa and ¾ cup of water to your Instant Pot and stir. Secure the lid by making sure the steam valve is in a sealed position. Pressure cook on high for 3 minutes. Once it beeps or the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then manually release any remaining pressure. Remove the lid and fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork. Let the quinoa cool completely.

Saute the mushrooms

Add oil and quartered mushrooms in a pan, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes on medium flame until cooked. Remove from flame and set this aside to cool.

Assemble the salad

• In a large boxing bowl, add diced cucumber, steamed broccoli florets, steamed sweet corn kernels, sauteed mushroom, diced tomato, cooked quinoa, and finely chopped cilantro.
• Add the prepared roasted garlic vinaigrette dressing and mix well. Serve and Enjoy!

Tips

• Boil the frozen corn in hot, salted water or microwave until it becomes tender.
• Steam the broccoli or microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until tender.
• For additional protein, feel free to add grilled paneer, chickpeas, tofu, chicken, or fish.
• Add greens like arugula, kale, spinach or herbs like parsley, etc.

More quinoa recipes

Recipe card

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