Spinach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad

April 03, 2018

This salad is SUPER basic, but I literally ate it every day last week and will happily be eating it again all this week, so I think that alone makes it worth sharing. The great thing about this Spinach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad is that it holds up extremely well in the fridge and is super versatile. This is a great salad to just keep on hand to build different meals throughout the week, or to just eat as a quick bite when you’re short on time.

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my stories a couple weeks ago when I tried a frozen quinoa dish that I got from Aldi. This salad is basically my version of that packaged dish. Theirs had kale instead of spinach and red bell peppers instead of tomatoes, but the concept was the same. I also added a light dressing to mine because I felt like it needed just a little more flavor than the store bought version. That being said, I only added a small amount of dressing to just lightly flavor the salad. If you like things really dressing heavy, you can always add your favorite salad dressing on top.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, this salad is super versatile. You don’t have to use quinoa, in fact I’ve made this salad using other grains, like brown rice. You could even use cooked pasta. Just about any cooked grain or small pasta will work in place of the quinoa, so have fun! To add variety to this salad throughout the week, try topping it with a hard or soft boiled egg, adding some grilled chicken, tofu, or even chopped lunch meat.

Spinach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad

This Spinach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad is an awesome base to build meals throughout the week and it holds up extremely well in the fridge, so you can eat better with less effort.

2 cups cooked quinoa or other grain ($0.94)
2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar ($0.10)
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.03)
1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
Freshly cracked pepper ($0.02)
4 cups fresh spinach ($0.80)
1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.99)
1 15 oz. can chickpeas ($0.55)
2 oz. feta ($1.50)

While your quinoa (or other grain) is cooking, prepare the vinaigrette so it has a few minutes for the flavors to blend. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside.
Roughly chop the spinach into smaller pieces, then place them in a large bowl. Slice the tomatoes in half, then add them to the bowl with the spinach. Rinse and drain the chickpeas, then add them to the bowl. Lastly, crumble the feta over top. Give these ingredients a brief stir until they’re combined.
Allow your quinoa or grains to cool slightly, or just to the point where it’s no longer steaming. Add the warm quinoa to the salad and stir to combine. The heat from the quinoa will slightly wilt the spinach.
Finally, drizzle the dressing over top and stir briefly once more. Serve the salad immediately, or refrigerate up to 4-5 days.

Step by Step Photos

This salad starts with two cups of cooked quinoa, or other grain or pasta. Quinoa only takes about 15 minutes to cook, so I simply cooked my quinoa while I prepared the rest of the salad. You’ll want to let your quinoa (or other grain) cool slightly before adding it to the salad, but it’s okay if it’s still quite warm.

While your grain is cooking, prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside so it has time to blend.

Chop about 4 cups of fresh spinach. I say four cups, but fresh spinach is very hard to accurately measure. Thankfully, this ingredient is very flexible in the salad, so don’t stress about it. I ended up using about half of this 10 oz. bag from Kroger.

Also slice 1 pint of grape tomatoes in half, rinse and drain one 15 oz. can of chickpeas, and crumble 2 oz. of feta. Stir these together briefly.

Finally, add the warm quinoa. Make sure it’s not still steaming hot, but you do want it to be slightly warm so that it will just barely wilt the spinach. Stir everything together.

Finally, drizzle the dressing over top, and give it a stir one more time.

And that’s it! And I swear, the salad looks exactly the same after four days of refrigeration, which is AWESOME. I love being able to just grab the container, fill a bowl, and have a healthy meal ready to go. :)