One of my go-to salad lunches is this chicken quinoa salad. It has all the elements that are must for a balanced mid-day meal and satiates your tastebuds with its delicious taste! A perfect win-win weightloss recipe!
During my weightloss journey I discovered this grain called quinoa. I mean I knew that it existed but never had the inclination or courage to give it a try (blame it on my ignorance!).
Then I started looking for a substitute for rice. I know what you may be thinking – that like many other fitness enthusiasts, I am also criminalizing rice! But trust me that is not the case for me!
I genuinely believe that rice is not a problem at all; it is just a simple carb and will give you sustainable energy during the day if you eat the right portion.
My problem with rice is a little different! I love to eat rice so much that I was having a real hard time controlling my portion of rice!
And rice being our daily staple for lunch, it was becoming a concerning issue towards my fitness goal as portion control is the primary key to healthy living (and I cannot emphasize it enough!).
Hence enters the weight-watchers’ delight, quinoa, into my life! Of course quinoa is not as tasty as rice which is why I can easily maintain the portion with this grain!
What is chicken quinoa salad?
Now you may ask if I eat this chicken quinoa salad daily. Answer is a straight and simple “No”. As mentioned, I have replaced rice with quinoa which means I usually consume our typical Indian meals with quinoa instead of rice.
Just once in a while when you want to eat a little fancy at home, this delightful chicken quinoa salad comes into existence and makes you happy with its simplicity!
This salad is a quick one to put together with whatever you have handy. Just follow this high level guideline – a good salad = good/complex carb + lean protein + good fat + fiber + a healthy dressing!
In my chicken quinoa salad, quinoa serves as the complex carb. Then you have boiled chicken breast for the lean protein, walnuts for good fat, onion & cucumber as fiber and finally my signature hung curd dressing to round things up!
If you keep boiled chicken breasts and hung curd handy, this salad won’t take more than 10 minutes to put together; hence it is one of the best options for your working day lunch!
Ingredients for chicken quinoa salad
Lets see what you need to make your chicken quinoa salad
Quinoa: You will need about half a cup of cooked quinoa for each serving of this quinoa salad. You may increase or decrease the amount of quinoa based on your preference.
Pro tip: 1 cup of raw uncooked quinoa will make about 3 cups of cooked quinoa. You can store cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days if you consume them daily. I would not recommend storing it for more than 5 days as it turns very dry and loses almost all its nutritional value.
Chicken: The next key ingredient for this chicken quinoa salad is of course our good friend chicken! Use chicken breasts for this salad as this has the best fat to protein ratio.
If you don’t like chicken breast, then you can opt for boneless and skinless chicken thighs; but thanks to the creamy salad dressing of this chicken quinoa salad, chicken breasts also taste quite delicious in this one! Give it a try!
Onion: Add some thinly sliced red onion for a hint of sweetness. If you don’t like the pungency of raw onion, you can soak the sliced onions in water for 15 minutes before adding them to the salad.
Cucumber: I love cucumber in my chicken quinoa salad! They add the right amount of crunch without any overpowering taste. If you are using European cucumber, you don’t even need to peel it!
Walnut: My choice of nuts is the good old walnut but you can use any other nut of your choice. Walnut is a very good source of good fat and adds a perfect crunch which makes this chicken quinoa salad even more desirable!
Dried berry: Just to make my chicken quinoa salad, I threw in a few dried blueberries; but honestly this is completely optional! If you have any dried berry handy, add them; otherwise feel free to skip it!
Yogurt/curd: For the creamy salad dressing, I have used curd aka yogurt; but not just the simple curd! I used the magic ingredient called hung curd!
Hung curd is seriously nothing short of a miracle as it makes so many things so freaking tasty! I think I should dedicate a separate post for the uses of hung curd!
Check my post here to know how to make hung curd!
Extra virgin olive oil: Couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil will add a beautiful flavor to your chicken quinoa salad but won’t make it greasy.
Seasoning: Use the right amount of salt & pepper to season your quinoa salad.
How to make chicken quinoa salad?
Will see all the steps in detail to make the perfect high-protein chicken quinoa salad!
Step 1: First we will cook the quinoa. Wash the quinoa thoroughly under running water. You may use a large sieve to wash the quinoa. Then leave the quinoa in the sieve to allow the excess water to drain out for about 10 minutes.
Step 2: Now heat a saucepan with high sides and add about a teaspoon of ghee (aka clarified butter) or olive oil. Once the ghee/oil is hot, add the washed & drained quinoa to the sauce pan.
Step 3: Stir the quinoa well to mix it in with oil. Keep stir frying the quinoa for about 2 minutes on medium flame until you get a nutty smell coming out of the quinoa.
Step 4: Now add the water, double the amount of quinoa plus 2 tablespoons extra; i.e. if you are cooking 1 cup of raw quinoa then add 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of water.
Step 5: Keep the flame on high and bring the water to boil. Once the water starts to boil, reduce the flame to minimum, cover the saucepan with a tight fitting lid and let the quinoa cook until all the water is absorbed.
Step 6: It would take about 10 to 15 minutes for the quinoa to absorb all the water and fluff up. Keep checking in between and give a stir using a spatula.
Step 7: Once all the water is soaked up, switch off the flame and leave the saucepan covered on the stovetop for another 10 minutes; this will soak up any excess moisture leaving the quinoa fluffy. Your quinoa is ready for consumption.
Step 8: Boil the chicken breast in salted water for 15 minutes until the chicken is fork tender and turns completely white. Take them out and leave it for 10 minutes to cool before cutting them into pieces.
Step 9: Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, cut them into small bite-sized pieces. Set it aside while you prepare other ingredients.
Step 10: Cut the cucumber into half-moons of 1 cm thickness. Finely slice the red onion. Chop the walnuts into small pieces. Set everything aside while you make the salad dressing.
Step 11: Make the salad dressing by mixing hung curd/yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Give a very good whisk using a fork to mix all ingredients evenly.
Step 12: To assemble the salad, take a large mixing bowl. Then add all the prepared ingredients one by one – cooked quinoa, chopped chicken breasts, cucumber, onion, walnut and dried blueberries. First give a good mix before adding the dressing.
Step 13: Now add half of the prepared salad dressing. Start mixing the salad with the dressing making sure the dressing is evenly distributed. You can do a taste test at this point to check if you need more dressing or not.
Step 14: If you want a creamier salad, then add the remaining dressing and give another thorough mix using a spatula.
Step 15: Your salad is ready to serve. You can sprinkle a handful of mixed seeds to add an extra crunch to your creamy salad as well as enhance its nutritional quotient. Serve & enjoy!
Other delicious weightloss recipes from Flavor Quotient
- Cooked quinoa - 1 to 1.5 cup
- Chicken breast - 250-300 gms / about 2 chicken breasts, skinless & boneless
- Onion - 1, medium
- Cucumber - 1, large
- Walnut - 8 to 10 kernels
- Dried blueberry - 2 to 3 tbsp
- Hung curd/yogurt - ¾ cup
- Extra-virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp
- Salt & pepper to taste
- First we will cook the quinoa. Wash the quinoa thoroughly under running water. You may use a large sieve to wash the quinoa. Then leave the quinoa in the sieve to allow the excess water to drain out for about 10 minutes.
- Now heat a saucepan with high sides and add about a teaspoon of ghee (aka clarified butter) or olive oil. Once the ghee/oil is hot, add the washed & drained quinoa to the sauce pan.
- Stir the quinoa well to mix it in with oil. Keep stir frying the quinoa for about 2 minutes on medium flame until you get a nutty smell coming out of the quinoa.
- Now add the water, double the amount of quinoa plus 2 tablespoons extra; i.e. if you are cooking 1 cup of raw quinoa then add 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of water.
- Keep the flame on high and bring the water to boil. Once the water starts to boil, reduce the flame to minimum, cover the saucepan with a tight fitting lid and let the quinoa cook until all the water is absorbed.
- It would take about 10 to 15 minutes for the quinoa to absorb all the water and fluff up. Keep checking in between and give a stir using a spatula.
- Once all the water is soaked up, switch off the flame and leave the saucepan covered on the stovetop for another 10 minutes; this will soak up any excess moisture leaving the quinoa fluffy. Your quinoa is ready for consumption.
- Boil the chicken breast in salted water for 15 minutes until the chicken is fork tender and turns completely white. Take them out and leave it for 10 minutes to cool before cutting them into pieces.
- Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, cut them into small bite-sized pieces. Set it aside while you prepare other ingredients.
- Cut the cucumber into half-moons of 1 cm thickness. Finely slice the red onion. Chop the walnuts into small pieces. Set everything aside while you make the salad dressing.
- Make the salad dressing by mixing hung curd/yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Give a very good whisk using a fork to mix all ingredients evenly.
- To assemble the salad, take a large mixing bowl. Then add all the prepared ingredients one by one - cooked quinoa, chopped chicken breasts, cucumber, onion, walnut and dried blueberries. First give a good mix before adding the dressing.
- Now add half of the prepared salad dressing. Start mixing the salad with the dressing making sure the dressing is evenly distributed. You can do a taste test at this point to check if you need more dressing or not.
- If you want a creamier salad, then add the remaining dressing and give another thorough mix using a spatula.
- Your salad is ready to serve. You can sprinkle a handful of mixed seeds to add an extra crunch to your creamy salad as well as enhance its nutritional quotient. Serve & enjoy!
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