Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
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Published Aug 29, 2018, Updated Apr 26, 2023
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A delicious roasted broccoli quinoa salad made with sweet potatoes, kale, chickpeas and feta cheese all tossed in a flavorful lemon dressing. Gluten-free + vegetarian!
Oh my, do I have a treat for you today. This salad recipe is my new obsession and I have a feeling you’re going to be obsessed too!
I have to thank my old boss for sending me the original recipe that I used as an inspiration when making this dish. She and I have the same taste when it comes to food and she’s always finding some of the best recipes so whenever she mentions that she made something that was delicious, I pretty much immediately put it on my to-make list.
Since this salad is jam-packed with so many of my favorite foods, I knew I was going to fall in love with it. You can never go wrong with roasted veggies and I love the fact that the kale is also roasted and gets a little crunchy. It’s like having kale chips in your salad!
Broccoli Quinoa Salad Ingredients
- quinoa
- water or veggie broth
- broccoli
- sweet potato
- chickpeas
- kale
- olive oil
- fresh parsley
- feta cheese
- lemon juice
- apple cider vinegar
- maple syrup
- salt and ground pepper
- crushed red pepper (optional)
Substitutions & Notes
Roasted Veggies – Have different veggies on hand or want to add your favorite roasted vegetable? Go for it!
Lacinato kale – I prefer Lacinato kale (also known as Dinosaur kale, Black kale or Tuscan Kale) for this salad, but you can use curly kale if that’s all you can find.
Chickpeas – I love the addition of roasted chickpeas in this salad but you could try a different type of bean!
Protein – The chickpeas and quinoa do add a good amount of plant-based protein to this salad but you could absolutely add a grilled protein to this salad to make it even more filling! This apple cider vinegar chicken would be delish.
Feta cheese – I love the addition of feta cheese, but if you’d like to make this salad vegan you can totally skip the cheese or use a dairy-free cheese.
How to Store Broccoli Quinoa Salad
This salad tastes wonderful warm, right after mixing the warm roasted veggies with the quinoa, but it also tastes great cold. I made one batch, ate it for dinner one night and then ate it for lunch and snacks several days in a row.
Store any leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days. As the salad sits it tends to soak up the dressing and become dry. If needed, add an extra splash of lemon juice to brighten it back up before serving.
More Quinoa Salad Recipes:
- 19 Quinoa Salad Recipes
- Carrot Raisin Salad
- Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- Southwestern Quinoa Salad
- Greek Quinoa Salad
- Corn Quinoa Salad
- Roasted Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad
- Jennifer Aniston Salad
Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 2 cups water, or veggie broth
- ½ pound broccoli, cut into florets
- 1 sweet potato, chopped into ¼ – ½ inch chunks
- 1 can, 15 oz chickpeas
- 1 bunch laccinto kale, roughly chopped
- olive oil, as needed
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley
- 3 Tablespoons feta cheese
- juice from one lemon
- 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- salt and ground pepper, to taste
- crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Rinse and drain quinoa if needed. Place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer, cover and let it cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat after 15 minutes and place quinoa in a large bowl to cool.
- Drain and rinse your canned chickpeas. Place the chickpeas on a paper towel or hand towel to dry.
- Toss broccoli and sweet potato chunks with enough olive oil to coat and season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast veggies at 425ºF for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add your kale and chickpeas to the roasting pan. Add a bit more oil, salt and pepper, if needed and toss. Roast for another 15 minutes. Stirring the veggies around at least once during the roasting process.
- Once your veggies are nice and roasted, remove from the oven and combine them with the quinoa.
- Chop parsley, crumble feta and add to the quinoa and vegetable mixture.
- In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, vinegar and maple syrup. Gently stir in oil, and add salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to taste. Toss dressing over quinoa/vegetable mixture. Taste and season with more salt and pepper before serving, if needed.
- Store any leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days. As the salad sits it tends to soak up the dressing and become dry. If needed, add an extra splash of lemon to brighten it back up before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fantastic recipe. Made a vegan version without feta cheese and it’s so great!
So glad you loved this recipe, Kaarel! Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
I made this to have as a small dinner and unfortunately it was a bit too bland for me. I do like dressings with a bit of zing which I felt was missing so maybe some balsamic vinegar would have fixed that or increasing the lemon juice. I want to try this again with some edits as it sounds really healthy!
Hey Debbie – Thanks for the feedback. Definitely feel free to make this recipe your own based on your taste preferences. 🙂
I’ve made this recipe multiple times. It has become a standard in our menu rotation. It’s perfect for dinner, as a side, hot or cold. I use the pre-cut baby kale to save time. I’ve also substituted brussel sprouts for broccoli. No fail recipe that is full of flavor! Highly recommend!
Ah yay! This makes me so happy to hear, Suzanne! So glad this recipe has been a hit. Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it!
This was soooo amazing! Maybe one of the best quinoa salads I have made. Thanks for sharing❤️
Woo! So happy this recipe was a hit for you, Jacquie. I appreciate you sharing a review and star rating, it means the world to me!
I made this tonight and oh my goodness!!!! This is so good! I’m definitely making this again! Thank you for the recipe!
Yay! So glad to hear that, Ana! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review, I appreciate it so much.
This looks like a tasty salad. Just looking for some new salad ideas.
Thanks, Mary! Let me know how it turns out if you try it 🙂
This was so good! My new favorite! The roasted kale took it to the next level.
Ahh that’s great Tracy! Thank you for leaving me a comment and review, I truly appreciate it!
Already had roasted, sweet potato, steamed broccoli, and fresh kale mixed them with olive oil, roasted in the air fryer, doubled the dressing, delicious salad
YUM! Sounds delicious, Edith. Glad to hear that you are loving this salad. Thank you for your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
Do you serve this warm or cold?
Hi Tracey – This salad tastes wonderful warm, right after mixing the warm roasted veggies with the quinoa, but it also tastes great cold. I made one batch, ate it for dinner one night and then ate it for lunch and snacks several days in a row. Enjoy!
Made this with feta and didn’t like it at all. Ate the next day with goat cheese, and it was amazing. Loved the dressing, too.
I am so glad you loved this recipe with the goat cheese, Katie. Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your review + star rating, I so appreciate it!