Red Quinoa, Orange and Spring Mix Salad

As a mom of 2 young children, I’m in the never ending quest to expose them to a variety of vegetables, fruits and healthy food. I’m no nutritionist or dietitian. I grew up eating seasonal foods and I was exposed from an early age to a myriad of fresh produce. There’s barely anything I don’t eat and I believe it has to do with the way I was raised. Simple homemade cooked meals, mostly consisting of some protein & seasonal vegetables and fruits. Therefore I often find myself putting together colorful ingredients to create new salads and meals. This red quinoa, orange salad was a hit with my family!

Jump to Recipe

Some links in my posts may be affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you purchase items by clicking on these links. I will always disclose when a product in a post has been gifted by a company as well as when a post or product is sponsored.

Red Quinoa

Few years ago, you couldn’t find any red quinoa recipes online unless you searched for them in Spanish. As quinoa in general is becoming more popular because of its nutritional benefits, its use is becoming mainstream and not just something that chefs or bloggers use to make their recipes look better.

I normally use white quinoa to replace rice in recipes and red quinoa in salads. However, if I only have one type of quinoa at home I’ll use them interchangeably. Red quinoa takes an extra minute or two to cook. I prefer this type of quinoa in salads mostly because of its visual appeal. It looks beautiful against greens and other colorful vegetables.

Red Quinoa, Orange and Spring Mix Salad Recipe

This salad is simple to make but packs a lot of nutrients per portion. I love the flavor combination of red quinoa and oranges. Plus, having quinoa in a salad makes you feel full longer because of its high fiber content. Usually I serve this salad with a side of protein like roasted chicken.

I normally use a simple olive oil/vinegar dressing. I prefer simple salad dressings. However, if you prefer a more flavorful dressing, you can whip up a quick orange salad dressing that would be a perfect match for this salad.

Several notes about the recipe:

• I cooked about 1 cup of quinoa, but I don’t add all of it to the salad. I always have leftovers for the next day. You can decide how much quinoa you would like to have in your salad. I kind of eye-ball the quantity I add to my salad, it is usually half of what i cooked because usually i make another salad next day with the leftovers.
• If you are serving this salad as a side salad to a meal, then the below ingredients should provide about 6-8 portions. I usually serve it with a side of protein, so we tend to eat bigger portions of the salad that’s why I categorized it as 4 portions in the recipe card.

If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below image to Pinterest. I would love to hear from you in comments if you made it and what you think about it. Thank you for following along my blogging journey:).

Other Quinoa Recipes:

I like using quinoa in my recipes. Here are some of the quinoa recipes I have published so far and I have a lot more coming up:).

1. Puffed Quinoa Breakfast
2. Stuffed Pumpkin with Quinoa
3. Quinoa Pasta
4. Black Quinoa Pasta in Tarragon Chicken (not a quinoa recipe but it shows an alternative of how to serve the chicken)

I found this article on health benefits of quinoa very interesting. I knew about a lot of quinoa’s nutritious values but this really puts in perspective on why quinoa is a superfood.