Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
“Quinoa Salad? More like QuinWOW salad!” – direct quote from my husband after he tasted this Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
Besides getting rave reviews from my husband, this Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad has a bright, fresh, clean flavor that just makes me feel good when I’m eating it. The citrus flavors from the dressing, the rich creaminess from the goat cheese, the sweet roasted butternut squash and the freshness of the parsley just combine really beautifully with the earthy quinoa. This dish makes a great side dish, but it’s also really nice in a larger serving for lunch. To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
I was inspired to make this Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad after visiting the Sabra headquarters last week where their chef made us a quinoa salad with butternut squash. It was incredible, so I couldn’t wait to get home and make my own. I used some different flavors, so it doesn’t taste the same, but I love this one as well! I totally recommend cooking the quinoa ahead of time. I tossed mine into our rice cooker on the white rice setting and it turned out perfect, so if you have a rice cooker that’s recommended!
Looking for more tasty lightened up salads? Check out my Greek Orzo Pasta Salad, Harvest Apple Salad, Hummus Chicken Salad, Doritos Taco Salad, Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad, Cheeseburger Salad, Avocado Chicken Salad, Chicken Souvlaki Salad and more in the Salad section of my recipe index!
Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb cubed uncooked butternut squash, cut into ½” cubes
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- Sea salt, to taste
- 3 cups cooked quinoa, room temperature (I used a mixture of white and red)
- 2 oz crumbled goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cubed butternut squash in 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with cracked sea salt. Spread the squash onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Pace into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- When the squash has cooled, combine it in a mixing bowl with the quinoa and stir in the goat cheese and parsley.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining tablespoon of oil, the orange juice, lemon juice, cider vinegar and honey and stir together until combined. Pour over the quinoa mixture and stir until the salad is evenly coated with the dressing. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Notes
3 per (1/2 cup) side dish serving, 7 per (1 cup) lunch sized serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition information below)
This is not something I’d have ever thought to make, but it looks fantastic! I think I’ll give it a try.
I hope you love it, Lisa!
This looks delicious. I have never ate goat cheese. I am a cheese person except for regular cheese. Ha! It has to be melted too or I can’t handle it.
Goat cheese is amazing!!
This sounds amazing! And I have a pound of pumpkin in the fridge. It’s fate. This will be my lunch for the week.
It is fate! 🙂
Made this today, it is fantastic! Can’t wait to have leftovers for lunch again tomorrow. Could not find goat cheese, so I substituted feta and it worked well. Thanks for all of you wonderful recipes!
I’m so happy you loved it, thank you for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
I made this last week and substituted roasted sweet potato for the squash – what I had on hand. Loved it! It made a great, easy to grab, lunch. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’m so happy you loved it! 🙂
We really enjoyed this recipe…I didn’t have any goat cheese but used parmesan instead and thought it was great. Even the leftovers are delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I just made this for my lunch at work this upcoming week. It’s delicious! I used a goat cheese with herbs in it. So yummy! Thank you! Do you have any ideas for fun add-ins or substitutions?
I love this recipe! I’ve made it many times and loved it more every time. Would you mind if I featured it on my new food blog? I did make some changes but as I didn’t come up with the recipe on my own I thought I should ask. I’ll link your blog, of course. Thanks for letting me know! xoxo
I’m a bit confused. Should I measure out three cups of dry quinoa then cook it. Or should I measure threee cups of ready cooked quinoa out. There’s quite a difference so I’m not sure. Thanks. X
Hi Kat, I’m sorry if it was confusing! I specified cooked quinoa in the ingredients, so it would be 3 cups cooked. Hope that helps 🙂
Thanks Emily. I’ve actually made this before and loved it. I just forgot how much quinoa I used last time. Thanks for the reply and for the lovely recipe.
Will this taste good without the goat cheese? If so, can I just leave it out, or do I need to substitute with something. Trying to make it dairy free.
You can definitely try it without 🙂
This looks so yummy! Do you know if this would this keep well for a week’s worth of lunches if I made it on a Sunday? Thanks for the fab meal idea. I love anything with goat cheese!
It has never lasted a whole week in my house because my husband LOVES it, but I’ve definitely eaten it for several days 🙂
This looks amazing! If I don’t have any apple cider vinegar, should I replace it with something else? or can I just leave it?
Just made this and it tastes ABSOLUTLEY INCREDIBLE!
So good!!
Surprisingly good! Hubby was the biggest surprise liking it. I added some cooked chicken breast and served over baby spinach with extra of the dressing. I also added some of the fresh orange I cut open for juice too. Made a nice light complete dinner.