Greek Quinoa Salad with Feta

Close up of Greek quinoa salad in a large white salad bowl with a gold spoon inside.

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Greek Quinoa Salad with Feta

Loaded with juicy tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, creamy feta, briny olives, lots of fresh herbs, then tossed with a zingy lemony dressing, this gorgeous Greek-inspired quinoa salad is perfect for meal prep. Ready in just 25 minutes, it’s fab as a veggie main, or pair it with creamy tzatziki, juicy lamb koftas, or honey harissa chicken for a Mediterranean-style feast.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: salads

Cuisine: greek

Keyword: greek salad, quinoa salad

Servings: servings

Calories: 285kcal

Author: Kate Phillips

Ingredients

For the salad -

¾ cup quinoa
½ teaspoon salt
300 g cherry tomatoes (10oz), quartered
1 cucumber diced
100 g creamy feta (4oz)
⅓ cup Kalamata olives chopped
½ red onion finely diced
Handful of flat-leaf parsley roughly chopped
Handful of oregano leaves roughly chopped
Handful of mint leaves roughly chopped
Black pepper to taste

For the dressing -

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Cook your quinoa.
Rinse the quinoa in a colander over the sink for a minute (this helps remove any bitter coating). Add ¾ cup of rinsed quinoa, 1 ½ cups of water, and ½ teaspoon of salt to a small pot you have a lid for. Set it over medium-high heat. Once the water is simmering, turn the heat to low, place the lid on, and cook for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the pot from the heat but leave the lid on for another 5 minutes to let the quinoa finish steaming. After 5 minutes, remove the lid, fluff up the quinoa with a fork and leave to cool slightly.

PRO TIP: For extra flavor, cook your quinoa in chicken or vegetable stock.

Prepare the salad.
While the quinoa cooks, finely dice your cucumber and red onion, chop your Kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes into quarters, roughly chop your flat-leaf parsley, oregano and mint, and crumble your feta into smaller chunks.
Mix the dressing.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, and 1 teaspoon of salt to a small bowl (or a jar), then mix vigorously with a fork until you have a cohesive dressing. If you're using a jar, screw the lid on and give it a good shake.
Assemble the salad.
Add all the salad ingredients to a large mixing bowl, then pour over the dressing, and finish with a few good grinds of black pepper. Toss to combine, making sure it's mixed very well.
Taste, then season with a little more salt if you like.

Notes

STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The salad will last for at least 4 days, stored in the fridge. It'll lose a little texture the longer it sits, but it'll still be delicious. If you're making it ahead of time to take along to a party or if you're entertaining, keep the salad ingredients and the dressing separate, then mix them the day you want to serve it.

INGREDIENT NOTES: You can play around with the ingredients here - use regular tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes (but make sure they're ripe if possible for the best flavour). Add sliced scallions, red bell peppers or sundried tomatoes. I love using my super quick marinated olives and marinated feta in the salad too, to amp up the flavor even more. Use pre-cooked quinoa to cut the cooking time down if you like.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: I love this as a meal in itself (and it's perfect for meal prep), but it's wonderful paired with grilled meat. Try it with miso grilled chicken, gochujang chicken, herb roasted chicken, juicy lamb koftas or maple miso glazed salmon.

Nutrition