This post may contain affiliate links.
Zucchini Quinoa Chickpea Salad mixes zucchini, chickpeas, quinoa, fresh parsley and green onions, all tossed in a spiced olive oil dressing. This quinoa salad recipe has the rich flavors of cumin, turmeric and paprika and makes a light, filling lunch.
Do you meal prep on the weekend? I try each week to do some each week to make meal time easier. Today’s recipe for Zucchini Quinoa Chickpea Salad is a vegan salad I make on weekends and eat for lunches throughout the week. This salad is fresh, full of warm, rich spices and makes a hearty lunch.
It also works nicely as a side dish to your weekly meals, like this Air Fryer Cod, these Mediterranean Turkey Meatballs, Moroccan Chicken Thighs or this Black Sea Bass recipe. I don’t know about you, but I like warm spices like turmeric, cumin and paprika and I especially like them when they are mixed together. In today’s recipe they are mixed with olive oil to create a delicious dressing. I use chickpeas in the salad, but white beans would also work nicely. I also like to use zucchini, but a variety of vegetables would be great in this salad. I love quinoa salads like this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Greek Quinoa Salad, Mediterranean Lentil Quinoa Salad, Tomato Cucumber Feta Quinoa Salad and this Avocado Kale Quinoa Salad.
Recipe Ingredients
For exact ingredient amounts and instructions, see the full recipe card below.
- Quinoa: This salad uses quinoa which is a nice gluten-free grain for salads. Feel free to use your favorite grain. I think bulgur wheat, farro or wheat berries work nicely.
- Fresh Vegetables: For this salad it uses zucchini but other ideas that work great are carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, bell peppers and cauliflower.
- Fresh Herbs: The fresh herbs help this salad come alive. It uses fresh parsley and green onion. Other herbs that would be nice include basil and dill.
- Chickpeas: I love chickpeas { garbanzo beans } in salad. They add protein and texture to salads. You can leave them out if you don’t like them or try white beans in their place.
- Dressing: The dressing on this salad is very flavorful. It includes extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin and paprika. The spice mixture is great together!
How to Make This Zucchini Quinoa Salad
Step 1. Cook the Quinoa: First rinse the quinoa and then add the rinsed quinoa to a pot with the appropriate mount of liquid and cook quinoa according to package. Set aside to cool.
Step 2. Combine Salad Ingredients: In a large bowl chickpeas, zucchini, green onions and parsley together.
Step 3. Mix Together the Salad Dressing: In a small bowl or mason jar whisk together the dressing ingredients: olive oil, turmeric, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper for the dressing. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper.
Step 4. Stir in Quinoa: Add the cooked quinoa to the zucchini and chickpea mixture and combine.
Step 5. Mix Dressing: Mix in dressing and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Ways to Modify This Salad
- Beans: Try adding black beans or white beans in place of chickpeas.
- Spices: Spices are a nice way to add flavor to the salad dressing. Some good ones are sumac, za’atar, cumin, paprika or oregano.
- Vegetables: There are a lot of vegetables that would be nice in this salad. Some are carrots, red bell peppers, celery, red onion, radish, bell peppers or tomatoes
- Cheese: Feta cheese is often used in my salads but goat cheese, blue cheese, parmesan cheese or sharp cheddar cheese are also great options.
- Protein: A chickpea salad is a nice opportunity to add your favorite protein. If you have leftover grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon or steak add it in.
- Other Ingredients: There are a variety of other ingredients that you might like to add. One option for the dressing is you can sub in lime juice for the lemon juice or try adding a bit of honey for sweetness. Also some other great ingredients to put in this vegan quinoa salad are artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, creamy avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, green olives, black olives, pickled vegetables or pickled red onion.
Storage Tips
Store the leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Recipe FAQ
It depends on the texture you want in the salad. For more crunch you want to leave it raw. For a more tender texture you will want to roast it or cook it in a skillet. For a smoky flavor you can grill the zucchini.
You can use any color quinoa {red, white or trim-color}. I personally like white quinoa. It is mild and fluffy.
This is a great make-ahead or meal prep salad. I think it actually gets better the next day before the dressing really soaks into the quinoa and hold the flavor well.
More Salad Recipes
Mediterranean
Easy Lebanese Salad
Salads
Summer Orzo Pasta Salad
Vegetarian
Greek Orzo Pasta Salad
Vegetarian
Fattoush Salad
Tried this recipe? Leave a star rating and comment below! Subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest for the latest.
Zucchini Chickpea Quinoa Salad
Video
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1/2 cup quinoa, cooked according to package
- 1 – 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped into small chunks {about 1 1/2 cups}
- 3 green onions, green parts chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
For the dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice {optional}
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package and set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl mix chickpeas, zucchini, green onions and parsley together.
- In a small mixing bowl whisk together the olive oil, tumeric, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper for the dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Add the quinoa to the zucchini and chickpea mixture and combine.
- Mix in dressing and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Garnish with fresh parsley.
Notes
- This is a great make-ahead or meal prep salad. I think it actually gets better the next day before the dressing really soaks into the quinoa and hold the flavor well.
- You can use any color quinoa {red, white or trim-color}. I personally like white quinoa. It is mild and fluffy.
- If you want crunch in your salad you can leave the zucchini raw. For a more tender texture you will want to roast it or cook it in a skillet. For a smoky flavor you can grill the zucchini.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just love the spices you added to this salad. What a tasty way to use up summer garden vegetables!
Thanks so much! I love the spices too. The curry adds such great flavor to the salad–it is my favorite part.
This is my kind of salad, Julia! I love the flavor combo. Perfect for lunch!
Thanks Julie. It is great for lunch!
I love grain salads – quinoa is one of my favorites for salads, and chickpeas are another. this looks great!
Me too! Thanks!
Are the zucchinis raw in this recipe? Or do you roast them ?
I actually do raw but you really could roast them and it would taste great. Just be careful how soft they get since you might have leftovers and the fridge might make the zucchini mushy.
Hi Julia: I made this and i’ve been eating it every day. Add a bed of greens for a complete meal. I squeeze a bit of lemon on top when i eat it. I think you could add white raisins for a sweet accent w/o messing up the taste. A great summer salad!!
Oh I love the idea of adding raisins to add some sweet along with the lemon! Thanks for the great idea Beth. 🙂
Try zucchini pineapple nut bread-the recipe I use is in the American Bread & Breakfast cookbook -cannot remember if volume I or II.
Use the food processor to grate zucchini.
Long story short back in the late 1980’s my aerospace degreed hubby had
a job in Fort Worth and I had gone up for the weekend. We went to this winery
but alas the owners were not home and they did not have a tasting room. Her father lived on the premises and invited us in for a tasting and as we were leaving
I was admiring his garden. I left with the back of my car full of yellow squash and
zucchini. I spent the next week baking bread and this recipe was the winner.
I was doing 4 loaves an evening and freezing.
Sounds wonderful Suzann! I love zucchini and make bread with it a lot. Love the addition of pineapple and nuts!
I love chickpeas, they’re one of my all-time favourite foods. This spiced salad looks delish – I’ve actually never combined these particular spices with chickpeas before so the idea is quite exciting! Thanks for the lovely recipe Julia x
Love this! I think when I make it I want to roast the chick peas for an added crunch! PS we have to have a farmers market date this summer!!!
Oh what a great idea!! 🙂 Love adding some crunch. And yes! Farmers market date for sure. Ours started last weekend and I just love it!
This salad is perfect for my new gluten free diet and all those beautiful spices!
Yeah! I hope you like it. 🙂 I love the spices–the best part!
Oh I think I will try this. I may substitute cucumber for the zucchini though. I think I have everything else.
Cucumber would be perfect in this! I am going to try that soon–great idea! 🙂