Lemon Quinoa Salad

Elevate your next meal by making this Lemon Quinoa Salad recipe with chicken, avocado and tomato. This easy to make quinoa salad with a lemon dressing is perfect for a quick lunch or dinner at home.

2025 Update: This recipe was originally shared in July 2017. The recipe and post have been updated to make a salad for sharing and include new photos, as well as more tips and tricks. I hope you love it!

When I was pregnant with our older daughter, my husband and I traveled to New York City.

While there, we hiked the Brooklyn Bridge, climbed the stairs of the Statue of Liberty and lounged in Central Park.

And at the behest of my sister, who’d spent a lot of time there, we hit up her favorite pizza joint… and enjoyed the most amazing quinoa salad.

It was simple, but to this day, I think about it from time to time.

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Quinoa served as the base for the salad. When tossed with avocados, tomatoes, spinach and a fresh vinaigrette, we were obsessed.

We enjoyed it so much that I added it to my list of ‘to make’ recipes. This is my take on it.

Why I love this recipe:

This simple quinoa salad is jam-packed with delicious flavors. And while I’m not a meal prep kind of gal, I can see it being an absolute game-changer for people who do. (More on this in a bit.)

Calling for easy-to-find ingredients like rotisserie chicken, tomato, avocado and feta, this simple salad recipe comes together quickly and is the perfect dish to serve during the warm summer months.

Also, the lemon vinaigrette is not to be skipped. And yes, it probably takes more time to assemble than the salad itself because of the fresh herbs, but I promise that the bold flavors it brings will help the entire recipe sing.

I developed this recipe to serve one, but it can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. Serve it for lunch, dinner or even a side dish to a heavier meal.

More easy salad recipes to enjoy for lunch or dinner: Chicken Shawarma Salad | Orzo Pasta Salad | Simple Egg Salad | Rotisserie Chicken Salad | Turkey Taco Salad

What you need to make this recipe:

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• Large mixing bowl
• Mason jar
• Whisk or rubber spatula
• Citrus juicer
• Sharp knife and cutting board
• Tongs

Here are the ingredients you need to get at the grocery store:

• Quinoa — use the type you’ve got at home for this recipe. (I used tri-color quinoa.) I like to cook mine in chicken broth, but you could easily cook it in vegetable broth or water. It is naturally gluten free!
• Romaine lettuce — or your favorite greens for a hearty salad like this.
• Avocado — we use half an avocado for this salad, so choose one that’s not too large for you.
• Tomato — use the freshest tomato you can get your hands on! You’ll need one for a single serving. You could grab a handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, if you prefer those.
• English cucumber — slice this into rounds for a lovely crunch.
• Rotisserie chicken — shredded rotisserie chicken is an easy way to get tasty protein without extra work. You could also roast chicken breasts or chicken thighs and use those here,
• Feta cheese — crumbled feta cheese adds a lovely pop of salty creaminess to the salad. I love it. You could use goat cheese instead, if you prefer.
• Lemon juice — freshly squeezed, please and thank you. This adds a lovely bright acidic note to the homemade salad dressing. The shelf-stable bottled kind does not taste the same or impart the same lemony flavor.
• Extra virgin olive oil — or another neutral oil.
• Lemon zest — use this from the lemon used to juice. It adds awesome brightness.
• Fresh herbs — the combination of oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme give a beautiful brightness to our lemon vinaigrette. You can use dried herbs. However, those are more concentrated in flavor, so use half.
• Kosher salt and black pepper — these are the final pieces of the vinaigrette. I prefer medium-grain kosher salt (Diamond Crystal is my favorite brand) and freshly ground black pepper adds a pop to the dish, too.

​How to customize this salad to your tastebuds:

If you’d like to lean into the Mediterranean flavors and make this into a true Mediterranean Quinoa Salad instead of just a Mediterranean-Inspired Salad, I encourage you to chop up some more fresh vegetables to add. Red bell peppers, ​kalamata olives, red onion (or green onions) and chickpeas would be excellent additions.

Add some crunch. Sprinkle on some toasted pine nuts, sesame seeds or even sunflower seeds.

How to make this Lemon Quinoa Salad

Make the vinaigrette. Juice the lemon directly into a mason jar. Add the olive oil, too. Measure in the fresh herbs. Give it a vigorous shake, then taste. Add salt and pepper, if necessary. You could also mix this in a small bowl.

Cook quinoa, if it has not already been cooked. (You can learn about cooking quinoa here. Typically, the ratio is 1 cup of rinsed quinoa to 2 cups of liquid. I like to cook mine in chicken broth for some extra protein, but you can cook it in cold water, too.)

Chop the veggies. ​This includes chopping the romaine (thinly!), along with the avocado and tomato.

Add the ingredients to the large bowl. Combine the romaine with the sliced avocado, chopped tomato, chicken breast and feta. Measure in the warm quinoa, too. (Please note that you can use cold quinoa in this recipe, too, if you prefer.)

Drizzle with the lemony ​vinaigrette… as much or as little as you’d like.

Toss the entire salad with tongs until every ingredient is coated in the dressing.

Enjoy immediately!

How to store:

Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

Since it has been tossed with the dressing, it will not last super long, and I encourage you to eat it ASAP or the next day because everything will get wilty… and the avocado will go brown.

Quick tips and tricks for this easy quinoa salad:

• Customize it for your tastebuds. Feel free to add extra veggies in for crunch, color and flavor.
• Use the freshest ingredients you can find because they make a difference in a simple salad like this one.
• Half the recipe if you don’t plan to eat it all at once OR double it for a crowd. This does not keep super well, so keep that in mind.

Here’s how you can make this goodness in your own kitchen: