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While this Apple Cranberry Quinoa Salad is a hit during the holidays, it’s an easy recipe for everyday life, too! Ready in only 20 minutes, this combination of quinoa, cranberries, apples, celery and almonds combines with a creamy lemon dressing for the perfect match.

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As a Registered Dietitian, I’m such a fan of making a salad based on the season you’re in, and for me, right now, that’s this perfectly balanced Apple Cranberry Quinoa Salad. I promise – it’s the perfect winter quinoa salad.

While I am mostly referring to the physical season, it could also be the emotional and mental season you’re in – What [nutrients] do you most need right now?

For summer, that’s a lot of hydrating produce on my salad (like my Mango quinoa salad), and lots of cucumbers and peppers and corn.

In the fall and winter, it’s things like butternut squash, beets, apples and more, which you can find in butternut squash beet salad – so perfect!

There are so many healthy salad recipes that actually make eating vegetables much more fun – even including these cranberry almond green beans with quinoa.

Why You’ll Love This Apple Cranberry Quinoa Salad

• Perfect blend of flavors and texture – Crisp apples, crunchy celery, chewy cranberries, creamy goat cheese. Everything molds seamlessly in this winter quinoa salad.
• Ready in 20 minutes– Quinoa is known for being a quick-cooking grain, and is the basis for this easy, weeknight quinoa vegetable salad.
• High in fiber – Just one serving of this cranberry apple quinoa salad offers 8 grams of fiber!
• Served with a versatile lemon honey dressing – You can add this lemon honey dressing to everything! It always soaks up flavor while adding so much.

Gather Your Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this winter quinoa salad recipe.

• quinoa – see the note below for cooking!
• Toppings – While you can certainly personalize these, we’ve chosen dried cranberries (I buy less sugar ones), celery, honey crisp apples, almond, arugula and hard boiled eggs
• red onion – I kindly note this as optional because while I love red onion, it can easily overpower the rest of this apple cranberry quinoa salad. I would recommend only adding a little bit if you choose to add it!
• Goat cheese – I love the addition of a creamy goat cheese. Feta cheese would also work!
• Garnish – Choose any herb as a garnish on top! I love parsley or even basil in warmer months.

How to Make Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad

First, cook your quinoa according to the directions, which is usually one part quinoa to two parts liquid.

While the quinoa is cooking, dice your celery, apples, arugula and red onion, and prepare the lemon honey dressing.

If using, chop your hard boiled eggs into small pieces.

While the hard boiled eggs are optional, you can hard-boil quickly in the instant pot – it just takes about 10 minutes. You can even start that while the quinoa is cooking.

Add the cooked quinoa, hard boiled egg pieces and the rest of the ingredients to a large mixing or salad bowl.

Top with a squeeze of lemon juice, additional goat cheese crumbles and parsley, if desired. You’re ready to enjoy!

Tips for Success

Here are some tips that I recommend for the best outcome:

• If you don’t want hard-boiled eggs or want to keep it vegetarian or vegan, white beans would be a great substitute!
• I recommend starting light with the red onion, especially if you don’t like red onion. It can easily be overpowering in this salad. You could swap it for white onion for a milder taste!
• Honeycrisp apples are my favorite for their natural crispness and sweetness, however, Gala or Macintosh are other nice options. If you want a tart flavor, go for Granny Smith green apples.
• While one serving of this quinoa cranberry apple salad offers about 16 grams of protein, you can easily add more with shredded chicken, tuna or tofu!

Servings 4

Apple Cranberry Quinoa Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing

Sarah Schlichter, MPH, RDN

While this Apple Cranberry Quinoa Salad is a hit during the holidays, it's an easy recipe for everyday life, too! Ready in only 20 minutes, this combination of quinoa, cranberries, apples, celery and almonds combines with a creamy lemon dressing for the perfect match.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• 1.5 cups quinoa, uncooked
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 medium apples, diced (I like honeycrisp)
• ⅓ cup dried cranberries
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds
• ½ cup arugula, thinly chopped
• ¼ cup red onion, diced* see notes below
• 2 hard boiled eggs, optional
• 1 oz goat cheese
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Parsley, optional

Lemon Honey Dressing

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp honey
• tsp salt

Instructions 

1. Cook quinoa according to instructions (I cook 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water). I also like to cook it in bone broth for extra protein and nutrients.
2. While quinoa is cooking, dice celery, apples, arugula and red onion, and prepare lemon honey dressing.
3. Chop up your boiled eggs into small pieces.
4. Add the cooked quinoa, hard boiled egg pieces and the rest of the ingredients to a large mixing or salad bowl. Top with squeeze of lemon juice, additional goat cheese crumbles and parsley, if desired.
5. Pour dressing on top and enjoy!

Notes

*If you choose to use red onion, it can be overpowering. I love red onion, but recommend a fine dice in order to taste the other ingredients. You can also omit it.

 

Storage: I like to mix the dressing in a mason jar and store it for other salads too. I prefer to pour it on the salad only right before I’m enjoying. If you store it separately and want to enjoy cranberry apple quinoa salad leftovers, they won’t be soggy!

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 420kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 16gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 64mgPotassium: 580mgFiber: 8gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 330IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 86mgIron: 4mg

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