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This recipe was so good! Made as a side for a flat iron steak, and as great as the steak was, this stole the show. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch today
Megan
Do I love quinoa? No.
Do I love this luscious and juicy summery salad, which does, in fact, contain quinoa? YES.
If you are a quinoa hater – I think I can get you on board with this quinoa salad. I really do.
This gem of a salad is a win for anyone who:
- Can appreciate a really good textured salad – I mean, look at all the little bite sizey bits!
- Prefers to hang out in the sun instead of spending hours cooking (aka THIS RECIPE IS SO EASY)
- Does or does not like quinoa – we accept all
- Appreciates a good meatless meal
- Goes weak in the knees for big, juicy, summery flavor
The amount of texture and flavor here is staggering. We have quinoa and corn making the base, marinated tomatoes as the juicy crown jewel, avocado to butter things up, shallot, chives, cilantro, lime zest and lime juice to wake you ALL THE WAY up, and Cotija cheese for just the tiniest bit of something creamy / crumbly (just omit if you’re vegan).
Let me just say this: it’s been a long time since I loved a quinoa salad as much as I love this one.
And maybe just a salad in general.
Healthy, but not too healthy. Punchy, textured, and craveable at all hours. Colorful and happy. Exactly how I like to eat.
And if you keep the avocados out until just before serving, it can be a lunches-made-ahead thing that will keep the mood high all the week long.
Quinoa, you win.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Corn, Avocado, and Quinoa Salad:
Watch Lindsay Make This Recipe on Stories!
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Corn, Avocado, and Quinoa Salad with Marinated Tomatoes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 generous servings 1x
Description
The perfect summery quinoa salad – fresh corn, buttery avocado, nutty quinoa, juicy marinated tomatoes, and tons of fresh herbs. SO GOOD.
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 4 ears raw sweet corn, kernels cut off the cob
- 1–2 cups marinated tomatoes (see recipe below)
- 1 shallot, minced
- lots of fresh cilantro and chives, minced
- 1–2 limes, juice and zest
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup Cotija cheese (optional)
- 1–2 avocados, diced
- 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced herbs (I like parsley)
- salt to taste (I use about 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt)
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions.
- Prepare marinated tomatoes.
- Toss cooled quinoa with corn, tomatoes and juice, shallots, herbs, lime juice and zest, olive oil, and salt.
- The mixture will hold up pretty well for a few hours in the fridge (or even for a day or two, if you don’t mind that it will look a little less perky). Wait to toss in your avocado and cheese just before serving for optimal freshness, and if it’s been sitting for a while, give it one more salt / oil / lime juice treatment to wake it all up. YUMYUMYUM.
Equipment
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Buy Now → Notes
If you’re using regular tomatoes instead of marinated tomatoes, you’ll want to add some fresh grated garlic, salt, and olive oil to compensate for the missing juices!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Toss
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: corn salad, quinoa salad, tomato salad, summer salad, salad for potluck, cookout recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of incredible corn recipes. Check it out!
This was SOOOOO tasty!! If you, like me, went to two different grocery stores and they were BOTH out of cotija, you can use grated pecorino romano! And definitely make sure you do the marinated tomatoes a couple hours in advance. If you want to add in a protein, grilled shrimp is so phenomenal here. Thanks for such a tasty recipe!
Made this and it’s so good. I will definintely keep this in the rotation.
This is the only thing I want to eat on a summer day. Sooo good. Thank you!
Do you think this would be good with pearl couscous instead of quinoa?
Yes!
This recipe is amazing! Full of flavour
Perfect for the heat of summer. Added shrimp and it might be a new household staple!
This looks delish! Can’t wait to make it. How long do the tomatoes need to marinate? Can I make them ahead of time? Thanks!
So yummy! I only used half the called for quinoa and it turned out to be so delicious! We served with smoked chicken and it made an excellent summer dinner.
This salad was DELICIOUS! It was so flavorful and delicious. I will definitely be making again!
My family loved this, including my three year old grandson. Made it as written , using chives and parsley. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi this salad looks amazing! Not an expert on the kitchen – could you please clarify how much lemon juice, etc., as well as cilantro and chives/herbs amounts? Thank you!
Excellent! So fresh and perfect for summer garden produce It got rave reviews from our growth group last week!
Such a great recipe and easily adaptable. Tomatoes and corn are in season right now so the flavors are so robust. Two of my kids don’t like lettuce so this recipe is a win win. Thank you.
This was surprisingly easy and the tastiest way to eat quinoa! I added roast sweet potato and feta instead of cotija cheese.
That’s so delicious salad. I will make this dish for my grandma.
Very healthy for weight loss! 🙂
Really good. But I’d love if this were written with more specific instructions. Such as – What exactly do I need to do to prepare the marinaded tomatoes (I assumed just mix the list of ingredients under the marinated tomato heading together and that seemed to be correct – why not just be clear say that?)? How long do the tomatoes need to marinade? Exactly how much lime juice is appropriate (the size of limes vary so much I wasn’t sure if I was adding too much or too little)? I’d also prefer more specifics about the cilantro and chives rather than “lots of”. Otherwise, it tasted great.
Super easy to make and really good! I added feta and used a quarter of a white onion and still delicious.
Good Food equals Good Mood
Article is great and well written, thanks for sharing.
Forgot to rate on previous comment. 5/5
This is so easy, and good enough to serve to guests! I already know I’ll be looking forward to making this every summer when the fresh corn comes in.
This salad is so good…a “greater then the sum of its parts” recipe! I did not even add the avocado, and we loved it!
It’s a great salad, made it with couscous instead of quinoa and topped with chillies in oil. Amazing 🤩
SO SO delicious! I don’t have AC and while that didn’t used to be a problem in the Pacific Northwest, summers are getting hotter and hotter. I’m always on the lookout for recipes that require minimum heat/time in the kitchen. Made this for the first time last night and it’s a new summer staple.
I did add some chickpeas to bulk it up for a filling main dish, and that worked great. Thank you so much Pinch of Yum team for such reliably great recipes!!