Refreshing, veggie-packed, and topped with the best homemade lemon dressing, you need to add this Salmon & Mint Quinoa Salad to your weekly dinner line up. It’s filled with a mix of crisp green beans, crunchy napa cabbage, fresh spinach, nutty quinoa, and of course, tender salmon – this salad is a keeper!
This salmon salad is a prime example of how healthy can be easy and taste delicious too. It’s made with 7 ingredients and topped with a dairy-free, creamy lemon dressing for a fresh yet hearty meal. Andy and I can’t get enough of this salad!
For another fresh and light pescatarian friendly salad, check out my Grilled Shrimp Caesar Salad. A fresh and flavorful twist on a classic caesar salad. The charred lettuce and grilled shrimp skewers pair perfectly with the creamy homemade caesar dressing for a tasty summer meal!
Ingredients for Salmon Spinach Salad
Quinoa – I love the chewy texture and nutty flavor of quinoa in this salmon salad. I suggest cooking it in advance so that the salad can come together real quick and easy! Check out this post for my ‘how-to’ steps for cooking quinoa.
Green Beans – I love the crisp texture of par-boiled beans, you could also swap these for snap peas if you’d prefer.
Napa Cabbage – Adds a great crunch to the leafy greens mix.
Baby Spinach – One of my favorite greens because of the mild flavor and softer texture of spinach.
Cherry Tomatoes – Feel free to use larger tomatoes if needed, simply chop them into bite sized pieces beforehand!
Mint Leaves – If you’ve never tried mint in a salad before, this is your sign to do it! Adds such a fresh and crisp flavor to this salmon salad, the perfect garnish.
Salmon – I’ll share below my top tips for pan searing salmon. It’s my favorite way to prepare it!
Salmon Salad Dressing
This creamy and dairy-free lemon dressing adds the perfect pop of fresh flavor to this healthy salmon salad. It’s made with 6 simple ingredients and will become your new go-to salad dressing!
All you need is olive oil, unflavored nut milk (or other non-dairy milk), lemon zest + juice, fresh garlic, salt, and black pepper. Then it’s as easy as adding all the ingredients to a hand blender and blending until smooth. Set it aside while you make the salad then boom, dinner is served!
One thing I will note about this lemon dressing is to make sure you use an unflavored nut milk. This is important for the overall consistency of the dressing as well as the flavor!
How to Make Salmon Quinoa Salad
Besides the pure deliciousness of this salad, the other reason I love it so very much is how simple it is to make. You can prep and combine everything within 30 minutes for dinner OR you can prep in advance for an even quicker dinner. Meal prep your cooked quinoa, make the dressing in advance, then night of you can sear the salmon while prepping the greens. Easy and simple!
- Start by preparing your dressing – add all ingredients to a hand blender, and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add sliced green beans and boil for ~2-3 minutes. Do not overcook – beans should be al dente. Rinse in cold water immediately.
- Prepare your salad. In a large serving bowl, combine cooked quinoa, green beans, sliced napa cabbage, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mint. Add lemon dressing and stir until evenly combined. Top with salmon pieces and garnish with extra chopped fresh mint leaves and lemon zest. Serve immediately and enjoy!
How to Pan Sear Salmon
I love pan seared salmon because it’s easy to make, easy to clean up, and quick! All you have to do is:
- Pat both sides of the salmon until dry then sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
- Heat a medium cast iron pan or skillet to medium and add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Add salmon, and let cook for 5-6 minutes undisturbed on one side. Make sure you don’t touch the salmon – this is how you ensure it gets crispy! Flip, and repeat.
- Cook until the thickest part of the salmon filet reaches 145F or starts to flake on the inside.
Recipe Substitutions
- Instead of quinoa, use whatever grain you prefer! I think this would be delicious with my savory steel cut oats.
- Don’t love salmon? Feel free to substitute your preferred protein. I think it would be tasty with seared or grilled shrimp!
- If you don’t have green beans, snap peas would be a great substitution and would add the same crunch!
How to Store Salmon & Mint Quinoa Salad
The leftovers of this salmon salad are just as delicious as fresh … when stored properly. It’s important to separate certain aspects of this salad to keep ideal texture and flavor.
I suggest storing any extra salmon in its own container so that the flavor doesn’t overpower the salad. And on that note, save a bit of dressing to redress the salad each time you eat it. That will help add flavor and moisture back into it!
P.S. – I love having these various sized Pyrex glass containers for meal preps/ meal storage like this!
For another healthy quinoa salad, try my Kale, Quinoa, & Apple Salad. Fluffy quinoa and quick pickled apple slices are the star of this massaged kale salad that’s brimming with fresh flavor and great textures. Plus the healthy homemade salad dressing is a simple way to make this salad extra creamy and give it a bit of tang!
If you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you and it helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Salmon & Mint Quinoa Salad 🙂
Ingredients
Salmon Quinoa Salad
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 ½ cups green beans sliced width wise into ¼” lengths
- 4 cups napa cabbage sliced into ½” slices
- 2 cups baby spinach packed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves coarse chopped
- 2 cups cooked salmon filets* broken in ½” – ¾” pieces (~2, 6oz filets)
- Garnish – extra chopped mint & lemon zest
Lemon Dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup unflavored nut milk do not sub dairy alternative
- 1 ea lemon zest + juice (~1 tbsp zest + ⅓ cup juice)
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Start by preparing your dressing – add all ingredients to a hand blender, and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add sliced green beans and boil for ~2-3 minutes. Do not overcook – beans should be al dente. Rinse in cold water immediately.
- Prepare your salad. In a large serving bowl, combine cooked quinoa, green beans, sliced napa cabbage, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mint. Add lemon dressing and stir until evenly combined. Top with salmon pieces* and garnish with extra chopped fresh mint leaves and lemon zest. Serve immediately.
Notes
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