Moroccan Quinoa Salad Recipe: A Flavorful and Nutritious Delight

Nov 18, 2025 0

Introducing the vibrant and delicious Moroccan Quinoa Salad, a dish that's fresh, aromatic, and bursting with flavor. This salad is not only easy to make but also suitable for various dietary needs, including gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and dairy-free diets. It's perfect for meal prepping, picnics, or as a side dish with dinner.

If you've enjoyed the Sweet and Spiced Quinoa Lentil Salad, you'll find a similar vibe in this recipe, but with a unique preparation style. The Moroccan Quinoa Salad is fantastic for meal-prepping as a lunch, and since it travels well, you can pack it up for a picnic or busy day on the go.

This hearty grain salad is loaded with vegetables, protein, and sweet dried fruit. It's a really, really easy dish to prepare with just a couple simple ingredients that combine to pack a delicious punch. This easy Moroccan Quinoa Salad offers plant-based protein and a variety of nutrients, it's easy to make, and absolutely delicious! It's vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and contains no refined sugar.

Quinoa Recipes | Best Quinoa Salad | A&A Homemade

Why You'll Love This Salad

This salad has a good amount of protein thanks to almonds, which are also low in carbohydrates and offer a good source of fiber, healthy fats, vitamin E and magnesium. The Moroccan Quinoa Power Salad is hands-down my new favorite!

Versatile: Served both warm or cold, this golden quinoa salad is super versatile, whether you’re taking this as a work lunch or packing it for a camping trip.
Flavorful: Think fluffy quinoa with Mediterranean spices, paired with herbs, chewy dates, almonds and sweet red onion.
Nutritious: This salad offers plant-based protein and a variety of nutrients. It’s vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and contains no refined sugar.

Key Ingredients

Here’s your grocery list for this Moroccan quinoa salad recipe:

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Quinoa: This protein-packed, gluten-free grain truly makes this salad one of a kind. One cup of dry quinoa will produce three cooked cups, the perfect amount for this recipe.
Green Onions (Scallions): Dice your green onions small! You could also opt for ¼ cup red onion for beautiful color.
Sliced Almonds: A little crunch in a fresh salad is a must!
Dried Cranberries: This gives the salad a sweet contrast and adds a chewy texture that's addictive. I always go for unsweetened dried cranberries since their natural flavor is already so good!
Vegetables: Shredded carrots add vibrance to the salad and are a great source of fiber.
Chickpeas: For a boost of plant-based protein.
Dates: Have tons of fiber and give this salad a nice pop of sweetness.
Raisins: I like to use golden raisins for this recipe because they are typically used in Moroccan cuisine, but feel free to swap this for any variety you like.
Pistachios: Adds color and crunch. Give them a rough chop so you get a little bit in every bite!
Parsley: Adds lots of color! We’re using a full bunch of parsley for this recipe.

How to Make Moroccan Quinoa Salad

This colourful Moroccan Quinoa Salad is fresh, aromatic and bursting with flavour. It’s easy to make, but you’ll feel like you’re eating something from a high-end restaurant.

Cook the Quinoa: Traditionally, most instructions for cooking quinoa will use one part quinoa to two parts water. For this recipe, we are using one part quinoa to one part water to one part vegetable broth. This will help season the quinoa and give it more flavour in the final dish.
Roast the Veggies: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Toss the veggies in olive oil, salt and pepper and then scatter on the baking pan.
Prepare the Quinoa: Add the water, vegetable broth, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric and salt to a pot and bring to a boil. Add in the quinoa then reduce heat to low and cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Putting it Together: In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, roasted veggies, shredded carrots, slivered almonds, pomegranate seeds, chopped parsley and chopped coriander.

Tips for Making the Best Quinoa Salad

Cook Quinoa Perfectly: I like to use a little less water than called for when cooking my quinoa.
Toast the Quinoa: Toasting the quinoa beforehand adds such a great nutty flavor.
Chop Finely: For some reason, it just tastes better when all the herbs and veggies are chopped super fine.
Season Well: The key to making a quinoa salad that tastes really good is to make sure you are adding plenty of different flavours and textures to the salad.

Variations and Substitutions

The substitution or variations for this salad are limitless! Make it your own.

Instead of using dates, you can make this moroccan quinoa salad with raisins.
Add some chickpeas, lentils or other legumes to this salad if you’d like to make it more protein-rich.
Add extra veggies: I love adding peas to this salad!
You could also add other fresh veggies that are chopped into small pieces, use dried cranberries, and cubed feta cheese, or swap the scallions for minced red onion.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

This recipe holds up well in the fridge and becomes even more flavourful over time, so it’s a great dish to prepare ahead of time.
It will last! Like, what is considered forever in salad years. As in I tossed this salad with the dressing and packed away the leftovers in the fridge and had them 2 days later and it was still just as delicious. So meal prep this; seriously!