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Fill up on greens, grains, and protein with this lemony arugula grain bowl. With loads of flavor (and easy substitution options), this is bound to make it into your dinner rotation. Ready in under 30 minutes and perfect for weekly meal prepping (or put all the ingredients on the table and let folks build their bowl).
save this recipe!This recipe is basically sunshine in a bowl. It’s lemony arugula and fluffy quinoa and loads of different flavors and textures!
This meal uses basic ingredients and is ready in 30 minutes. It provides 4 good-sized servings, making it great for meal prepping! If you’re using it as this week’s meal prep lunch, I recommend storing the dressing and arugula in separate containers to keep everything nice and fresh.
Reader rating
“10 out of 10! Made this for dinner this evening and what a hit! Quick and easy to prepare, tasty, and a crowd pleaser (the loudest praise coming from carnivore husband). THANK YOU SARAH! This will be another regular in our rotation!” —Marianne
Let’s Cook
Step 1: Prepare the grain
First, cook the quinoa (or other grain) according to the instructions on the package. You will need 1 cup uncooked, which will amount to about 3 cups once cooked. Don’t love quinoa? Try using another ancient grain like bulgur, farro, or sorghum instead!
Step 2: Create the dressing
While your grains cook, create the dressing. Start by grating the zest of half of the lemon. Set the zest aside. Juice 1 lemon and divide the juice in half. Why? → We’re saving the lemon zest and half of the juice to season the quinoa later!
Whisk together half of the lemon juice, garlic, mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss arugula with the dressing.
Sarah’s Meal Prep Tip
I LOVE this salad for weekly lunch meal prepping, just be sure to keep the arugula and dressing separated until right before eating. The dressing has a tendency to make the arugula leaves mushy if stored together.
Step 3: Flavor the grain
When the quinoa is done cooking, fluff it with a fork and fold in the reserved lemon zest, remaining lemon juice, and another pinch of salt and pepper. Why use the zest? → Lemon zest carries lemon flavor without the acidity!
Step 4: Assemble the bowl
You can either mix the ingredients all together in a large salad bowl, or portion them into individual serving bowls.
Switch it up
Want to amp things up with extra toppings? Most salad toppings will work, but some definite key players include tomatoes, avocado, green peppers, radishes, onions, and watercress.
You can also sub in your favorite beans, nuts, and cheese, whether that be black beans, kidney beans, peanuts, pecans, goat, or blue cheese!
Don’t like arugula? Spinach is similar to arugula in texture and nutrition but with a more mild flavor!
Got leftover arugula?
If you’ve got some arugula leftover, here are a few of our community’s favorite ways of using it!
Sunshiney Lemony Arugula Grain Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, 175 g
- 2 cups water, 475 mL
- 1 lemon
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 30 mL
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dijon mustard, 5 g
- 1 pinch of salt and pepper
- 4 handfuls arugula
- ½ cup cubed feta, 75 g
- 1 14-oz can navy beans, drained, 425 g
- ¼ cup shelled pistachios, 28 g
Instructions
- Quinoa: Cook 1 cup uncooked quinoa according to instructions on the package.
- Dressing: Meanwhile, grate the zest off of half of the lemon and reserve. Juice the lemon and divide juice in half. Whisk together half of the lemon juice with 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1 tsp dijon mustard, and 1 pinch of salt and pepper. Toss together the 4 handfuls arugula and the dressing.
- Assemble: When quinoa is finished cooking, fluff it with a fork then fold in the lemon zest, remaining lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper.Into 4 serving bowls, layer the quinoa, arugula, ½ cup cubed feta, 1 14-oz can navy beans, and ¼ cup shelled pistachios.
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
I’m not usually a fan of quinoa but I took a chance on this recipe because I like being open minded. I’m so glad I did! Loved this full of flavor salad. I replaced the feta with fresh Parmesan. A new favorite for sure. Thanks Sarah
I need shawarma wrap and pizza.
I was looking for quinoa bowl recipes and this one was. I substituted walnuts for the pistachios. I really like making the dressing rather than using store-bought.
So simple and delicious with so many variations available! I used quinoa and black beans along with cashews, olives, and arugula. It’s plenty for multiple meals, so the rest was sorted into divided bentos to stay fresh fo tomorrow’s lunch!
Love it!! So happy to hear you made the recipe your own. Enjoy! 😀
Made this for dinner tonight as written except that I had to sub pistachios since I didn’t have any. I used pecans instead. We loved it! Will definitely make again!
I’m so happy to hear you all loved it, Sheila! Thanks for letting us know how it went! 😀
10 out of 10! Made this for dinner this evening and what a hit! Quick and easy to prepare, tasty, and a crowd pleaser (the loudest praise coming from carnivore husband). THANK YOU SARAH! This will be another regular in our rotation!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear it, Marianne!! Happy cooking! 😀
Tasted like a bowl of Sunshine! Yum yum! Loved it – everyone loved it! Thanks Sarah!
I’m so happy to hear it, Kari!! Thanks for popping in to let us know how it went! 😀
I made this last week when we were in the 100 degree F weather – and it was so refreshing and lovely! The lemony flavor paired with the quinoa and arugula are so delicious! Plus I enjoyed adding different toppings each day. Tomatoes, avocado, and pine nuts one day and sunflower and pumpkin seeds the next. Will make this every summer from now on!
I prepped this a few days ago then put it together tonight – took about 3 minutes to get dinner ready 😊. The lemon is not overpowering at all. We used an arugula spinach blend – next time I will chop the greens. As a treat we had this with homemade Cosmopolitans. Highly recommended!
Oh my gosh I love it! So happy to hear it was a hit, Laura! 😀
Loved the pistachios. I couldn’t find navy bean so I used great northern beans. Maybe navy beans are a firmer bean but I didn’t like the mushy texture in this dish. My lemon must not have been lemony enough as I really didn’t taste much of its flavor. I may try this recipe again.