This Quinoa Pumpkin Salad is absolutely delicious, while so filling and satisfying. It’s the perfect fall salad and has fresh baby spinach, perfectly roasted pumpkin, toasted almonds and pumpkin seeds, zingy red onion, salty feta and fluffy quinoa all drizzled in the perfect Sweet Balsamic Dressing.
I am a salad lover from way back and one ingredient that I add to my salads time and time again is quinoa. It adds protein and complex carbohydrates to a salad to make it more filling, turning the salad from a side into a meal. Quinoa is also high in fibre, making it amazing for gut health! Some of my other favourite quinoa salads include this Winter Quinoa Salad, Chickpea Feta Cucumber Salad and this Quinoa Lentil Salad (to name a few!).
What You’ll Need to Make This Pumpkin Quinoa Salad
You won’t need any fancy or hard to find ingredients to make this quinoa pumpkin salad recipe. Just easy-to-find, simple ingredients from your local grocery store! Here is everything you will need to make this recipe, including ingredient notes and possible substitutions. You can find the ingredient quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- quinoa – for this recipe I have used white quinoa but you can use tri colour quinoa instead if that’s what you have on hand.
- Kent pumpkin – I’ve used kent pumpkin in this recipe at the peek of their season, when they’re nice and sweet! You can swap pumpkin for butternut squash or sweet potato if you prefer.
- sea salt flakes & cracked black pepper
- baby spinach – feel free to use other leafy greens in place of baby spinach like arugula, kale or mixed lettuce leaves.
- flaked almonds – I love adding some toasted nuts to this salad. If you have a nut allergy you can swap the almonds for more pepitas or another seed like sunflower seeds.
- pepitas – also known as pumpkin seeds.
- dried cranberries – adding dried cranberries adds a little pop of sweetness to the salad. You can swap for pomegranate arils or leave out if you’re not a fan of dried fruit.
- extra virgin olive oil – the olive oil is used for roasting the pumpkin, I always recommend extra virgin olive oil as it is more rich nutritionally.
- red onion – also known as Spanish onion or purple onion. If you’re not an onion fan then you can leave this out, however I do think it really adds a great flavour to the salad!
- firm feta – to make this salad dairy free and vegan, leave out the feta or swap for a dairy-free feta. You can also use goat’s cheese in place of feta.
Dressing Ingredients
- fresh garlic cloves
- balsamic vinegar
- pure maple syrup
- wholegrain mustard
- extra virgin olive oil
How to Make This Quinoa Pumpkin Salad Recipe
Follow the instructions below o make this pumpkin quinoa salad!
First, preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F. Grease a large baking dish with olive oil or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the cubed pumpkin to the baking dish along with the olive oil and season pumpkin with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly and then place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the garlic cloves with their skin still on to the baking dish and bake for a further 30 minutes.
While the pumpkin and garlic roasts, add the pepitas and almonds to a baking tray and place into the oven to toast for 5-7 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
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Meanwhile, cook the quinoa. Add the quinoa to a large saucepan and top with water. Use clean hands to swish the quinoa around in the water to rinse it. Strain the quinoa through a fine mesh sieve, return to the pan and repeat another two times. Return the rinsed quinoa to the pan and top with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and boil until most of the water is absorbed. At this point, turn the heat to low and place the lid on. Once no more water is bubbling through the quinoa, turn off the heat and leave the lid on to steam the quinoa.
Pop the cooked garlic out of it’s skin and into a small bowl. Use a fork to mash up the garlic as best as possible. Add the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and wholegrain mustard to the bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk to combine and then slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking until the dressing is well combined and smooth.
Once the pumpkin and quinoa are room temperature it’s time to assemble the salad. To assemble the salad, add a layer of baby spinach followed by some thinly sliced red onion, roasted pumpkin, toasted almonds and pepitas, cooked quinoa and dried cranberries. Repeat to create another layer, crumble feta over the top and drizzle with the dressing before serving.
Alternatively, add the baby spinach, red onion, dried cranberries, toasted nuts and seeds, roasted pumpkin and cooked quinoa to a large bowl. Top with the dressing and toss to combine. Crumble the feta over the top of the salad before serving.
Tips & Storage
Only dress the salad just before serving to prevent the leaves from going soggy. If meal prepping, divide all of the components evenly between 4-6 airtight containers. Add the desired amount of dressing to a small container, place the lid on and place inside the salad container. Place all the lids on and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Alternatively, place any leftovers into an airtight container and into the fridge for up to 3 days (dressed).
What to serve with Pumpkin Quinoa Salad
Serve this pumpkin and quinoa salad as a main dish or alongside your favourite protein.
Perfect Pumpkin Quinoa Salad
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Wooden board
- Large Baking Dish
- Baking sheet
- Salad bowl or serving platter
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 1.1 kg kent pumpkin, skin and seeds removed, cut into 2-3cm cubes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
- cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup flaked almonds
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup quinoa
- 120 grams baby spinach
- ¼ red onion, peeled, sliced into very thin rounds
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 100 grams feta, firm
Sweet balsamic dressing
- 40 ml balsamic vinegar
- 15 ml pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F conventional or 180°C/356°F fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper or grease a large baking dish with olive oil and set aside.
- Add the cubed pumpkin to the baking tray or dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and then spread out evenly in a single layer. Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, place the whole garlic cloves with their skin on into the oven with the pumpkin and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- While the pumpkin bakes, tip the flaked almonds and pumpkin seeds onto a small tray and place into the oven to toast for 5-7 minutes or until toasted to your liking. Remove from the oven and tip into a bowl to prevent them from toasting further in the pan.
- Meanwhile, add the quinoa to a large saucepan and top with water. Use clean hands to swish the quinoa around in the water to wash. Strain the quinoa through a fine mesh sieve and then return to the pan. Repeat this process another two times. After returning the quinoa to the pan for a final time, top with 2 cups water and place onto the stovetop. Bring to a boil and boil until most of the water has been absorbed. Turn the heat to low and place the lid on the saucepan. Once any liquid has stopped bubbling up through the quinoa, turn off the heat and leave the lid on, allowing the quinoa to steam.
- To make the dressing, squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins into a small bowl and use a fork to mash. To the bowl add the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and wholegrain mustard and whisk to combine. Begin pouring the olive oil into the bowl while whisking and whisk until the dressing is smooth and well combined. Season with a little sea salt flakes to taste.
- Once the quinoa and pumpkin are room temperature, assemble the salad. Add the baby spinach to a large salad bowl and top with the cooked quinoa, roasted pumpkin, flaked almonds, pepitas, dried cranberries and thinly sliced red onion. Drizzle the salad with the salad dressing and toss to combine. Top with crumbled feta to serve.
Notes
Tips
- If making ahead of time, leave the dressing off until just before serving to prevent the leaves from going soggy.
- If serving at a gathering, rather than tossing in a bowl, layer each of the components on a serving platter and then drizzle with dressing before serving.
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