Quinoa Salad With Chicken, Almonds and Avocado

By Genevieve Ko

Quinoa Salad With Chicken, Almonds and Avocado
Linda Xiao for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(729)
Notes
Read community notes

Tricolor quinoa combines the tenderness of white quinoa with the pop of the red and black grains. All soak up a Dijon-sherry vinaigrette in this blend of chewy tangy cranberries, crunchy salty almonds, creamy avocado and refreshing parsley. This salad —tasty warm, at room temperature or cold — is a great way to use up leftover or rotisserie chicken. It’s perfectly satisfying without the chicken, too, if you’re vegetarian.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 2cups tricolor quinoa (12 ounces), rinsed well and drained
  • ¼cup finely diced shallot or onion
  • 3tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • ⅓cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 2cups leftover chicken meat, torn from a rotisserie bird
  • ¾cup dried cranberries
  • 2cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • ½cup roasted salted almonds, chopped
  • 1avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

605 calories; 29 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 18 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 61 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 28 grams protein; 574 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large saucepan of generously salted water to a boil. Add quinoa and boil, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, whisk the shallot, vinegar, mustard, oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper in a very large bowl. When quinoa is done, drain very well, then add to the dressing, along with the chicken, cranberries and parsley. Fold until evenly mixed and cooled, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

  3. Step 3

    Divide the salad among dishes and top with the chopped almonds and avocado.

Tip
  • It’s fastest and easiest to rinse grains in a sieve. Simply run cold water over them while gently shaking the sieve, then gently shake dry. It’s important to rinse grains to clean them and in the case of quinoa, to remove saponins, which can leave a bitter or soapy aftertaste. As it’s also tough to get flavors into grains once they’re cooked, it's a good idea to season them with salt at this point.

Ratings

5 out of 5
729 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

womeninart

A terrific base. Omitted chicken to make vegetarian. For dinner, I added roasted asparagus. For tomorrow’s lunch, I’ll add diced apple and cheese.

Laura

I swapped the parsley for cilantro since it's what I had on hand and cilantro goes nicely with avocado. It was quite nice. I think next time I will buy a chili lime rotisserie chicken and use cilantro again.

Carol

Just had this for dinner. It was delicious, and I'll definitely make it again. My only modification would be in the proportion of chicken to quinoa: more chicken and less quinoa would be my preference. In other words, I would probably make perhaps 8 ounces of quinoa with 2+ cups of chicken. Then of course I'd have to make adjustments to the quantities for the dressing. But it was a little on the dry side, so maybe I'd cut it back by 1/4 instead of 1/3.

Julie

Added roasted Brussel sprouts. Served salad bar style. Used pistachios and my own balsamic.

Lynda H.

Quinoa is not cooked like pasta (in lots of boiling, salty water) but like other grains with just enough water so that it's absorbed in the cooking process. I used 9 ounces Lundberg tricolor quinoa, 2 cups water, and 1 tsp salt cooked for about 20 minutes until all the water was absorbed and the quinoa was fluffy (follow package directions). I cut the chopped parsley to 1 1/2 cups for the reduced amount of quinoa but kept all the other ingredients the same. Still served 4 nicely.

jmee

This comes together so quickly and is a lovely summertime meal. Would work well for a picnic or potluck. I was skeptical about the cranberries but they turned out to be an important burst of flavor. And the almonds for texture were key too. Next time I might try some mint along with the parsley.

cadiejill

Made this with leftover NYT Cooking Roasted Chicken with Maple Butter and Rosemary. It was perfect. Next time I will serve over a bed of arugula to up the veggie count. Really good flavors.

Cathy

I loved this recipe! Perfect to prepare in the morning and served cold on a summer day. I took the advice of changing the proportion of chicken to grain, as well as using cilantro-I actually used a mix of parsley/cilantro. I didn’t have quinoa on hand, so used farro. Nice combination of textures. I will be making this again!

Acfh

Spectacular. Everyone loved. I added a can of chickpeas and some shredded kale to boost the veg. Any and all fresh herbs welcome.

Maureen

I have a question, do you use 2 cups uncooked quinoa or 2 cups cooked quinoa? Because I cooked 2 cups and there was a LOT of quinoa and the salad was quite bland until I added a whole lot of stuff.

Cyd

I agree whole heartedly with another commenter that this is far too much quinoa for the amount of dressing. I decreased the quinoa to 9 oz, followed the rest of the recipe and still found it a bit dry. Loved it either way! Next time will just make double dressing and add to taste .

anne

This makes a huge volume - consider cutting the quinoa in half, or double the flavorful parts of the dressing.

Rob

Super easy and very tasty!

Elizabeth

Try toasting the dry quinoa in the pan first (instead of rinsing it). Tossing the dry quinoa in the pan until it's smelling a bit nutty and toasted will remove the saponins and give it a nuttier flavor. Once it's smelling good and maybe looking a bit tanner, add just enough water or stock for the quinoa to absorb over the next 20 minutes of gently stirring it. I use 1.75 cups water or stock to 1 cup dry quinoa. It takes more oversight, but the quinoa is much tastier!

fettucine w asparagus

Used balsamic instead of sherry vinegar. Added some leftover green beans

Zoe G.

Literal winner winner chicken dinner!I forgot about this salad but now that the warm weather is here, it will once again be in heavy rotation. Forgiving, versatile, textured, flavorful, impressive, and nourishing. I usually cook my quinoa in chicken stock as others mentioned. I added kale and subbed the chicken for salmon today. Magnificent!

JenniferD

I made this tonight and loved it. I would follow the directions on the quinoa package as opposed to the water salt ratio in the recipe. I had mine on a bed of fresh spinach. Perfect summer supper.

kelis

This was absolute perfection, no adjustments whatsoever!

Madison

So good! I added tomatoes and arugula. Will definitely make again.

Betsy

Loved this! It’s the perfect use for leftover roast chicken. I didn’t have sherry vinegar, so I used cider vinegar, and it was delicious.

change up

Did 1/3 cup quinoa, full sauce recipe with 1/4c oil. Needed more sauce. Add salt to the marinade. Maybe 1/2 tsp?

Ashley B

I used golden raisins because it's what I had, and I soaked them in sherry vinegar and water for a bit to plump them up. Added a nice dimension to their sweetness!

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