Spin those salad wheels with this Basic + Awesome Chicken Quinoa Salad that’s easy to customize. Cherry tomatoes, shredded bits of artichoke, tender chicken, and fluffy quinoa all snuggled between pieces of fresh spinach.
Basic + Awesome Chicken Quinoa Salad
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Just made this for lunch and YUM. So easy but packed with flavor!!! Used marinated artichokes and Newman’s Greek dressing. Added some pepitas I had on hand. Next time I’m thinking feta or goat cheese. A KEEPER!!!
Haylee
Hello. Meet your new salad crush.
She’s a tasty one, full of happy little grape tomatoes and shredded bits of artichoke (!!) all snuggled in nicely between bites of tender chicken and fresh spinach, with quinoa and a yummy Greek-style vinaigrette clinging to all the little salady spaces in between.
What You’ll Need To Make This Salad Happen
The ingredient list is going to make all of us SOS-ers feel very good:
- rotisserie chicken
- grape tomatoes
- artichokes (canned or jarred! easy)
- spinach
- pre-cooked quinoa
- store-bought dressing
Now that I’ve got your salad wheels spinning, I would like to also tell you the other important thing which is that – surprise! – you can actually pick and choose whatever you like because, in addition to freshness and crunch and tang, versatility might be the very greatest thing about salads.
Swap In Whatever You’d Like Here
Substitutions that might make you happy:
- use chickpeas instead of chicken
- use a different grain, or cook your own
- use a different dressing – something lemony, herby (like basil), more or less sweet, classically creamy, whatever you like
- add capers for extra briney-ness
- add roasted vegetables of any sort – sweet potato, bell peppers, zucchini
- add cheese
- add nuts or seeds
The world is your salad!
Whether you go my direction with the quinoa / chicken / artichokes / Greek dressing, or go your own way with a spin-off of this combination, you will be eating well.
She is beautiful, colorful, flavorful, nutritious, family-friendly, and everything good that your SOS spring + summer heart could ever want.
Chicken Quinoa Salad: FAQs
Can this salad be made vegetarian?
It can! For a vegetarian version, just use white beans or chickpeas!
Can I meal prep this salad or make it ahead of time?
Yes! This can be made ahead and will last in the fridge for 1-3 days. The part that doesn’t last very well is the spinach, so I would suggest waiting to add the spinach to until just before serving, or make a big batch for the fridge and then just add spinach to individual servings.
I have a little bit of extra time to make my own dressing. Any recommendations?
The dressing from this pasta salad recipe or this LA Chop would be so, so good!
Should I eat this warm or cold?
Honestly, it’s great either way!
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
Source notes: I based this off of a salad I used to make a lot from an old Cooking Light cookbook called Fresh Food Fast. Three cheers for old favorites!
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Basic + Awesome Chicken Quinoa Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Spin those salad wheels with this Basic + Awesome Chicken Quinoa Salad that’s easy to customize. Cherry tomatoes, shredded bits of artichoke, tender chicken, and fluffy quinoa all snuggled between pieces of fresh spinach.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or diced (I use pulled rotisserie chicken)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (I buy this pre-packaged, usually comes in 8–10 ounce packages)
- 1–2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- one 14-ounce can chopped artichokes, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup vinaigrette of choice (I used the Panera at Home Greek dressing)
- a handful of spinach or other fresh greens of choice
- salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined.
- Season to taste. YOU’RE DONE!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Toss
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chicken quinoa salad, quinoa salad, chicken salad
More Fresh Spring Recipes
- Firecracker Vegan Lettuce Wraps (These lettuce wraps are a big deal, because a) they taste, obviously, aaaamazing, and b) they are lettuce wraps that know how to actually keep you full)
- Roasted Vegetable Bowls with Green Tahini (Delicious perfection with a magic sauce!)
- Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (For those of us who love Mediterranean flavors)
- Avocado Kale Caesar Salad + Sweet Potato Fries (Salad and fries The restaurant power-combo.)
- 5-Minute Spicy Chickpea Salad (It’s chickpeas, mayo, and sriracha. That’s it.)
Want more veggie-forward recipes? Checkout our Plant-Powered series!
Filed Under: All Recipes Dairy-Free Dinner Gluten-Free Healthy Lunch Main Dishes Meal Prep Meat and Chicken Quick and Easy Quinoa Salads SOS Series Spinach Spring
May 10, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
If you have a Wegmans near you, the Lemon Vinagrette is PERFECT for this! I make a similar version and add corn, too!
Thanks for the tip, Katie!
I love this template! Thank you!
Just made this for lunch and YUM. So easy but packed with flavor!!! Used marinated artichokes and Newman’s Greek dressing. Added some pepitas I had on hand. Next time I’m thinking feta or goat cheese. A KEEPER!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Haylee!
This is a keeper! Very flavorful.
Hi Lindsay,
Can you be more specific as to the amounts of salt, pepper, and garlic powder you add?
I am planning on making this for family on Saturday. Thanks it sounds delicious!
Hi Lorrie! You could try 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder to start. Enjoy!
This was great! I could also this recipe being a good one to use up veggies or greens in the fridge that need to be used up ASAP. I subbed the chicken for a can of chickpeas, and subbed the quinoa for a bag of Aldi’s 7-grain mix (prepackaged mix of quinoa, rice, millet, etc.) and used Aldi’s version of the Olive Garden copycat Italian dressing and it tasted amazing!
Just made this for dinner. It was delicious & so easy! I added corn, cucumbers and feta with some homemade Greek dressing. I will definitely be making this again. Yum!
Nice mix of chicken and salad
In 1 month I have made this chicken recipe 6 times, this chicken recipe is very delicious.
That’s awesome! So glad you’ve been enjoying it!
This was so good!! I used all Aldi imgredients (knockoff Olive Garden vinaigrette, frozen protein burgers, premade quinoa garlic basil mix) and it was delicious and easy. These SOS meals are saving my butt right now in a very busy season of my life. Thank you for keeping me on track making healthy, homemade meals 💖 and encouraging me to buy the freaking premade dressing to make my life easier! I don’t always have to make my own freaking vinaigrette!!!
So glad the SOS recipes have been helpful for you! Thanks so much for the comment, LaReesa!
Made this for lunch today and it was delicious! I used champagne vinaigrette that I had in the fridge and added some croutons for a little crunch. I didn’t tell my picky husband there were artichokes in it. He could see them but wasn’t sure what they were. He loved the salad and gobbled his all up but now that he knows there were artichokes in it he doesn’t want any leftovers. 🙄
Don’t like bottled dressing, do you have a recipe fir a homemade dressing
Yes, you could try the dressing from this salad or this one.
miss, you create such a wonderful recipe. been making it like 4-5 times a week, you helping me a lot when i wanna make something delicious meal for my diet routine !
I love artichokes but my family prefers asparagus. Do you think it would work to sub for asparagus?
Absolutely!
It is better to know more about how much salt, pepper, and garlic powder you use in your cooking. Thanks for a great recipe.
Excelente receta vegana. Muchas gracias por las publicaciones.
Muchas gracias.
Made this for dinner this week and it was soooo good. Light & healthy yet still filling and satisfying. Made a homemade balsamic vinaigrette that was perfect on top. Used sliced deli chicken chopped up and added crumbled feta on top. Marinated artichokes are a MUST. Great go-to recipe for a quick and healthy weeknight dinner!
Es una receta muy saludable.
This is a great basic chicken quinoa salad recipe! I love the addition of the diced red onion and the diced avocado.
Nice kind of salad! Thank you