This Mediterranean-inspired Quinoa Kale Salad recipe is filled with flavor and drizzled with a citrusy honey mustard dressing!
If I’m being honest, side dishes are not my forté. Mostly because I completely forget to make them until 5 minutes before dinner is on the table. Which is where kitchen sink salads come in.
We’re talking salad recipes so easy that you don’t really need to do much thinking or hunting for ingredients. Salads that contain both a grain and a vegetable (two side dishes in one, because no way are we getting two separate side dishes on the table 😂).
So this Quinoa Kale Salad? It’s my Mediterranean kitchen sink salad. It has crunchy kale and fluffy quinoa. It’s drizzled with the tastiest honey mustard dressing. And (most excitingly), it stays fresh for ridiculously long in the fridge (we’re talking upwards of a week, friends). Let’s salad!
Quick honey mustard dressing
Let’s start with the dressing! This is a quick one (aren’t all dressings?), but it packs in some major flavor. Just whisk everything together and you’re good to go! You’ll need:
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use the good stuff here, the flavor of the olive oil shines through!
- Grainy mustard: Whatever mustard you have on hand works well, but I love using the grainy kind for this honey mustard dressing.
- Lemon juice: Fresh from the lemon is best, but bottled will get the job done.
- Honey: Just a drizzle of honey balances out the sharp mustard. You can substitute maple syrup for a vegan option.
- Flavor makers: Garlic, salt, and pepper bring it all together into honey mustard dressing deliciousness!
Ingredients for quinoa kale salad
Apart from the honey mustard dressing, this Quinoa Kale Salad really just has a handful of ingredients!
- Quinoa: We used white quinoa here, but you can also use red or multicolored.
- Kale: Any variety of kale works well here, like curly, dinosaur, or red kale.
- Red onion: Thinly sliced red onion adds the perfect amount of zingy crunch to this salad.
- Feta cheese: We love feta cheese around here, and it was begging to be included in this Mediterranean inspired salad.
- Raisins: Raisins in a salad? Heck yes! Raisins add a much needed pop of sweetness to balance everything out.
Variations on this quinoa kale salad
- Change up the grain: You can use couscous, bulgur, wild rice, or even cauliflower rice for this kale salad.
- Replace the raisins: The raisins can be replaced with dried cranberries, dried tart cherries, or diced fresh apple.
- Swap out the greens: Not a fan of kale? Use your favorite leafy green here, like spinach or romaine.
Pro-tip: serve this Mediterranean kale salad with these Roasted Chickpea Gyros, Portobello Mushroom Gyros, Vegetarian Moussaka, or Mediterranean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes!
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 60 mL
- 1 Tbsp grainy mustard 15 g
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice 15 mL
- 1 Tbsp honey 15 g
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Pinch salt and pepper
Salad
- 1 cup quinoa 170 g
- 4 handfuls roughly chopped kale 6 to 8 oz
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion ½ a medium onion
- ½ cup feta cheese cubed or crumbled, 75 g
- ¼ cup raisins 30 g
Instructions
- Dressing: Whisk together all dressing ingredients until evenly combined.
- Quinoa: Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve under running water to remove the natural bitter coating. Add to a medium pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes, until fluffy.
- Salad: If working with a head of kale, remove stem and roughly chop. Massage kale by scrunching it in your hands for a minute or two until more dark and tender.
- Assemble: Toss together quinoa, kale, onion, feta, and raisins, Drizzle with dressing, tossing to combine.
Tips & Tricks
- Store this salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days (stays surprisingly fresh!)
- Serve this salad with these Roasted Chickpea Gyros or these Portobello Mushroom Gyros!
- Variations on this salad:
- Instead of quinoa, you can use couscous, bulgur, wild rice, or even cauliflower rice for this kale salad.
- The raisins can be replaced with dried cranberries, dried tart cherries, or diced fresh apple.
- Not a fan of kale? Use your favorite leafy green here, like spinach or romaine.
Eric Spare says
I didn’t have feta so I whisked some goat cheese in the dressing it became rich and creamy turned out great, have made the salad several times with the feta always a crowd pleaser