Quinoa Fruit Salad

Fresh and lively Quinoa Fruit Salad starts with tender quinoa and loads on fresh fruits and a tangy citrus vinaigrette.

Try some of our other fruit-filled quinoa salads like this Kale and Quinoa Salad or Citrus Quinoa Salad next!

Quinoa Fruit Salad

Ripe fresh fruit, tender quinoa, and a tangy citrus dressing are pure summer bliss in a bowl.

I love a good fruit salad recipe as much as the next person but adding some quinoa to the mix has resulted in a salad that has quickly become a new staple in my home. The quinoa adds tons of protein resulting in a salad that is surprisingly satiating. It also adds texture, a subtle nutty flavor, and vibrancy to the fruit and citrus vinaigrette.

While this salad likely doesn’t stand on its own for a meal, serving it with some grilled chicken or grilled steak makes for one of the best summer meals — fresh, light, nutritious, and flavorful!

Citrus Vinaigrette

This dressing only takes a few minutes to whip together and is quite easy to make–totally worth the effort. Nothing store-bought compares to this dressing!

• I recommend zesting the citrus with a microplane. A microplane makes the process quick and easy! See “quick tip” below.
• Add dressing to your personal preference — We add the whole batch of dressing to this salad, but you may not want to use all of it. store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week and use on other salads or to top leftover fruit.
• Don’t forget to season the dressing. A little bit of salt and pepper brings out all the flavors and adds life to the dressing; don’t leave these ingredients out!

Quinoa Salad Tips

Quinoa

• There are many different varieties of quinoa; my personal favorite in this salad is tri-colored quinoa which is a blend of white, black, and red quinoa. Any variety of quinoa works well in this salad.
• Make sure to rinse the quinoa before cooking it. Quinoa has a natural coating called saponin which can make it taste bitter. Pour the uncooked quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold water for 30 seconds to a minute.
• You can improve the flavor of quinoa by seasoning it generously. A little bit of salt goes a long way so don’t forget to add it in.
• Let the cooked quinoa cool completely before adding in the fruit. To speed up the process for quinoa cooling, spread the cooked and fluffed quinoa on a sheet pan in one even layer. Place the sheet pan in the fridge (or freezer) for 10-15 minutes or until cooled to room temperature.

Fruit

• I highly recommend waiting for the fruit to be fully ripe before adding it to this Quinoa Fruit Salad — good, ripe fruit makes all the difference!
• We love honey mangoes (also known as Ataulfo or yellow mangoes) best, but regular mangoes work great as well. To tell if your mangoes are ripe, gently squeeze the fruit. If it’s ripe, it will give slightly. (Here’s a quick and helpful visual guide on how to cut a mango!)
• Green or golden kiwi are equally delicious in this quinoa fruit salad. You can tell a kiwi is ripe if it gives to slight pressure.

Variation Ideas

• Add some meat. This salad is vegetarian by default, but feel free to grill some steak or chicken to serve on the side or to chop up and put on top of the salad. 
• Add other toppings. If you’d like to add some additional toppings beyond the fruit, add in some chopped dry roasted pistachios, pecans, or pepita (pumpkin seeds). Goat or feta cheese would also be a nice addition. If you’d like to add some creaminess, I’d recommend a diced avocado.
• Change up the fruit. This salad is very forgiving. As long as the quantities remain fairly consistent, feel free to change up the berries or fruit to personal preference!
• Sprinkle in fresh herbs. Fresh mint would add a nice contrasting flavor to this salad.

Quinoa Fruit Salad Storage

Once dressed, this salad doesn’t store well. The dressing will begin to break down the fruit and the salad becomes a bit mushy. With good, ripe fruit, this salad doesn’t last longer than a day.

More Quinoa Salad Recipes

• Quinoa Corn Salad with a chipotle vinaigrette
• Caprese Quinoa Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette 
• Thai Quinoa Salad with a peanut butter dressing
• Quinoa Apple Salad with a lemon-poppy seed vinaigrette
• Quinoa Salad with a lemon vinaigrette

SaveSaved Pin Print

5 from 6 votes

Quinoa Fruit Salad

By Chelsea Lords

This bright Quinoa Fruit Salad combines tender quinoa, fresh fruits, and a zesty citrus vinaigrette—simple, refreshing, and full of flavor!

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Quinoa Cooking & Chilling Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 as a side

Equipment

• Small pot

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 cup uncooked quinoa I use tri-color quinoa
• ▢ 1 large mango or 2 small honey mangoes, 1-1/3 cup, peeled and diced
• ▢ 1 (6-ounce) container raspberries 1 heaping cup
• ▢ 2 kiwis peeled and chopped
• ▢ 4 to 5 clementine oranges or Cuties, peeled and segmented
• ▢ 1 heaping cup fresh blueberries

Dressing

• ▢ 2 clementine oranges or Cuties
• ▢ 1 large lemon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon honey
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
• ▢ 1/4 cup olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Instructions 

• Combine all dressing ingredients in a mason jar. Zest and juice clementines and lemon to get 1 teaspoon clementine zest, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons clementine juice, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice; add to jar. Seal and shake vigorously to combine. Store in the fridge until ready to use, giving it another good shake before pouring over the salad.
• Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small pot over high heat. Once boiling, add quinoa and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir, cover the pot, and reduce heat to low. Let cook, undisturbed, until liquid is absorbed and quinoa has “popped,” about 13–20 minutes. Remove from heat, keeping covered, and let stand to steam 5–10 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and chill in the fridge until ready to make this salad. If you need it cooler faster, spread cooked and fluffed quinoa on a sheet pan in an even layer. Place the sheet pan in the fridge or freezer for 10–15 minutes or until cooled.
• Peel and chop the mango. Wash the raspberries and blueberries; thoroughly dry. Peel the kiwis and slice or chop. Peel and segment the oranges.
• Once quinoa is fully cooled, add to a large bowl. Add all the prepared fruit.
• Pour the dressing over the salad (add dressing to desired preference; I add it all.) and gently toss the salad to combine, taking care not to damage the fruit. Enjoy immediately. Salad is best enjoyed the same day it is made; leftovers don’t store very well.

Recipe Notes

Storage: This salad is best enjoyed the same day; leftovers don’t store well.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 370kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 671mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 829IU | Vitamin C: 114mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!