Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad with Walnuts

Square cropped image of large glass bowl filled with tri-color quinoa salad (white, red and black) made with chopped red apple, red onion, cilantro, walnuts and cilantro. Bowl sits on folded light brown towel over white-grey marble background with large wood spoon in front of bowl to the right and cilantro garnish in back right corner of image.

Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad with Walnuts

This easy recipe creates a deliciously gluten free and vegan cranberry apple quinoa salad with walnuts and a tangy vinaigrette dressing! Use white quinoa or a tri-color quinoa for added color.

Course Lunch, Salad

Cuisine Vegan

Keyword Apple quinoa salad recipe, Cranberry apple quinoa salad

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings Servings

Calories 368kcal

Equipment

Medium-sized pot (with lid)
Large mixing bowl
Small bowl (or jar)
Cutting board
Knife

Ingredients

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water (to cook quinoa)
1 ½ cups apples , chopped (about 2 medium)
½ cup dry cranberries
¼ cup onion , finely chopped
½ cup cilantro , chopped
½ cup walnuts , chopped

Vinaigrette

¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Step 1: Prep Quinoa

Add quinoa and water to a medium pot with a lid.
1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water
Place pot onto your stove on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to medium-low and gently simmer the quinoa with a lid on the pot. Let simmer for 12-15 minutes, until the quinoa absorbs all water.
Set aside to cool.

Step 2: Prep Other Salad Ingredients

White the quinoa cooks and cools, wash, core and dice some apples. Finely dice onion, cilantro and walnuts.
1 ½ cups apples, ¼ cup onion, ½ cup cilantro, ½ cup walnuts
If your dry cranberry pieces are large, you may want to cut them in half, but this isn’t necessary.
½ cup dry cranberries
Add all salad ingredients to a large mixing bowl along with the cooled quinoa.

Step 3: Make Vinaigrette

To make the vinaigrette, add all listed ingredients to a small mixing bowl or jar.
¼ cup white wine vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
If using a jar, place the lid on and shake until the vinaigrette is well-combined. If using a mixing bowl, whisk the dressing together with a small whisk or fork.

Step 4: Toss, Chill and Serve

Add the dressing to your salad and toss until evenly coated.
If the quinoa was well chilled, you can serve right away. Otherwise, place salad in the fridge to cool and serve chilled.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition