Name: Healthy Quinoa Caprese Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa; 10 cherry tomatoes; 1 cup mozzarella small balls; greenies; salt; 2 tbsp olive oil

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Quinoa Caprese Salad is one of my staple spring/summer salads to enjoy any time of the day. Healthy, refreshing, colourful, and super delicious.

Spring is all about healthy and refreshing salads to enjoy next to anything. Soft and tangy mozzarella, sweet/sour tomatoes, balsamic dressing, and healthy quinoa. What more to dream of?

Why Caprese with quinoa? Simple, I adore the classic Caprese salad as it is so easy, simple, but so delicious and restaurant-like. You can check the traditional recipe here.

However, one of my friends once served me this salad along with quinoa. I said, ‘wow!’

Such an excellent pairing, tastes, and flavours. Nothing too much and nothing too complicated. Moreover, one tip here, you can boil the quinoa a day before serving it in a salad, and this will easier your cooking. A refreshing cold spring/summer salad with lovely inviting colours and a surprising aroma.

Once you boil quinoa, you will not use it warm as you tend to spoil the salad because mozzarella will melt instantly. So, a helpful lifehack here is that you can cook it ahead of time and use it right away you serve it.

This quinoa Caprese salad is perfect for people who are vegetarian or vegans, as well as a gluten-free diet menu. It is a versatile salad that is very healthy, light, easy, and just some 10 minutes to make.

I adore salads and try to eat them more in spring and summer. Salads are healthy and light, so after some copious days full of hearty meals, they are everything you need. I adore most about this salad because it nicely balances some of my two favourite ingredients: soft mozzarella and fluffy quinoa. For this salad, you can use mozzarella small balls like mine, or a whole one.

Why is it called Caprese salad?

Caprese comes from the famous Italian island Capri, where all Italians believe it has its origins. The classic Caprese salad is made just of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil; however, nowadays, it can be paired with many other ingredients.

What is Quinoa?

Quinoa is a famous grain rich in vitamins, proteins, dietary minerals and is much more healthy than other cereals. Nowadays, it became very famous and popular in many restaurants and in frequently met in the different bowl such as:

How to cook quinoa perfectly?

Many rules are teaching us how to cook quinoa properly. Well, I have to admit that I never rinse quinoa, as you may find lots of suggestions that rinsing is better. It is optional.

The rule for black quinoa or the white one is simple 1:2 ( 1 cup of quinoa goes with 2 cups of water).

I add the quinoa and the water at a time and let it boil. Add some salt at the end when the water boils off, and I know that quinoa is ready to serve. Usually, it takes some 10-15 minutes no more. It should be fully cooked, soft, tender, but not crunchy.

You can cover the pot with a lid and let it sit for some minutes, and be sure it is properly cooked. Also, you can cook it in advance if you plan to make this delicious quinoa Caprese salad.

How to make quinoa Caprese salad?

If you plan to make this easy and simple salad with such inviting colours, then you have to have the following ingredients:

1 cup of black or white quinoa
Cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella small balls
Greenies or basil
Olive oil
Seasoning

For this salad, you need to have a fully cooked cooled down quinoa. So if you made it in advance, then it will take you just minutes to assemble.

In case you plan to boil it at the time you make it follow the rule I have mentioned above.

Take a cutting board and cut halves of tomato cherries if you have a whole mozzarella cut slices; if you have used a mozzarella small ball just like me, keep them as they are.

Take a platter and nicely arrange all of these ingredients and gently mix them together. Pour some olive oil and season with salt and pepper at your liking. Optional for more flavours; add some Balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!