Bright, fresh, and bursting with flavor, this Zesty Quinoa Bean Salad is a vibrant celebration of wholesome ingredients.
With fluffy quinoa, hearty black beans, sweet bell peppers, crisp red onion, juicy corn, and a tangy lime dressing, it’s the perfect dish to bring to potlucks, workplace gatherings, or to prep ahead for your weekly meals. Photos and blog posted updated 8/14/2025
One of the best things about this recipe is its versatility — enjoy it hot for a cozy comfort food vibe or serve it chilled for a refreshing, energizing salad. Either way, it’s a colorful crowd-pleaser you’ll find yourself making again and again. We like to serve it over a bed of spring mix or fresh spinach and take it with us on a day hike.
It’s such a beautiful salad as well – visually pleasing food is always a bonus! We even made a video to show you just how easy peasy this recipe is to make.
Watch the video to see how quickly and easily this recipe comes together.
I love make ahead salads like this that hold up well in the fridge over several days.
Zesty Quinoa Bean Salad
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In an Instant pot electric pressure cooker add the rinsed and drained quinoa with 2 1/2 cups water. Put the lid on making sure the sealing vent is in the sealing position. Set time for 5 minutes at high pressure and let it come down using natural pressure release. When it is done, fluff with a fork.
- Add the quinoa and the rest of the salad ingredients to a large bowl and stir until well combined.
- In a measuring cup mix together the lime juice, mustard and lime zest. Pour over the prepared salad and stir until well combined. This can be eaten hot or cold. Refrigerate the leftovers. It can be reheated to serve it warm. Serve it cold over a bed of greens or over a Big Beautiful Chopped Salad.
- Variations: If desired you can add some chili powder, ground cumin, salsa, diced jalapeno or the California Balsamic Vinegars like Sweet Heat, Blazin Habanero or Gilroy Garlic.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!You might also like my California Quinoa Salad Recipe.
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Hi Tami,
Is his a salad that I could batch cook and freeze?
I would love to be able to freeze in individual amounts for lunches on the go.
Thank you!
I think you could freeze it. The red peppers won’t stay crisp so if I was going to eat it cold rather than heated up I might not include them before freezing the recipe. I usually suggest people freeze one serving and see how it goes. That way you don’t waste an entire batch of something. Let me know how it works.
Happy Cooking,
Tami
What is the typical serving size and how many servings does this salad make?
I guess that all depends on how hungry you are and if you are eating this as your main dish or serving it as a side dish. I didn’t measure how many cups it is – it makes a lot!
I tried to play the video and it wouldn’t play! It looks like s great salad. I am new to your utube and thought to connect here on Twitter.
What does subscribe mean exactly?
Joan
Hi Joan,
I am sorry you had trouble with the video. I just tried it and it played fine for me. Maybe try it again.
If you fill out the subscribe box at the top of the blog page then you will get an email notification every time
we post a new blog post or recipe.
Happy Cooking,
Tami
Hi Tami, this looks so good; can’t wait to make it and put it on my big beautiful salad. I watched your video on the big salad a few days ago and am preparing those today. Question though, do you wash your romaine whole or after you chop it? Also, are you using a salad spinner (which I don’t have) to dry it? It’s a lot of lettuce to wash and dry; just wondered if you have a quick way to do it. Thanks for your wonderful videos and your site. I just turned my sister on to you; she’s excited to do the batch salads.
Vivian
Hi Vivian,
Thank you for your kind comments – we love getting feedback like this!
How I wash the romaine really depends on how dirty it is. If it doesn’t appear to be really gritty or dirty I give it a quick rinse under the kitchen faucet. If it has dirt in it then it requires being in a big bowl of water. I like this video that I saw of Dr Fuhrman washing his romaine. https://youtu.be/SD9OkQzDcDw
Happy Cooking,
Tami
Hi Vivian,
Thank you for your nice comments! I wash the romaine under the kitchen faucet with cold water. If its really dirty you need to place it in a bowl of water and swish it around a bit. I like how Dr Fuhrman washes his romaine in this video!
https://youtu.be/SD9OkQzDcDw
Enjoy those salads!
Tami
How many fresh limes would I need for 1/2 cup? Could I skip the cilantro & flat-leaf parsley? Is the corn not cooked?
Hi Helen,
I can’t tell you how many limes it would take – limes come in different sizes and some are far juicier than others – I buy a bag of them at a time. An average lime yields on average abut 2 Tablespoons of juice. But some will have less and some more. The corn is frozen, then thawed. You need cilantro or flat leaf parsley for the extra flavor boost.
Happy Cooking!
I love this salad! So easy to make and delicious. I made this yesterday and served it on a bed of lettuce with chopped jicama and fresh tomatoes. I topped it all with salsa for extra dressing. Can’t wait to have it again for lunch today!
I’m excited to make this. What kind of mustard are you using for the dressing?
I used to use a salt free mustard but it discontinued so i use Dijon.