A hearty, healthy salad recipe with creamy avocado, nutty quinoa, chicken, fresh cilantro, and lots of bright citrus flavors. The perfect light dinner or easy lunch!
This satisfying bowl of healthy goodness has so much going on. So many flavors and textures; each bite you get a little something different! It’s the perfect recipe for those of us who like the “stuff” in salads, rather than the lettuce. Are you like that too? There’s no lettuce in this salad at all, by the way.
Hearty, super-healthy quinoa is the base for todays salad recipe. We love quinoa because it is impressively versatile. Use it in these quinoa patties, berry quinoa salad, andย quinoa crunch bars. You can also use it in this maple-roasted squash kale salad.
We aren’t cooking a sauce like we do in lemon thyme chicken, so a lot of this salad’s flavor comes from the chicken itself. Cook the chicken with roasted garlic and a little smoked paprika in some olive oil. If you don’t have smoked paprika, you can use regular or even a pinch of chili powder instead.
Toss the chicken in with the cooked quinoa, sliced avocado, and 2 sliced oranges. For a little dressing, simply whisk together fresh lime juice, honey, olive oil, fresh cilantro, and a touch of juice from the sliced oranges. That’s it!
If you make this salad 1 day ahead, the flavors become more pronounced because the quinoa has a chance to really soak everything up. And the more you stir it, the creamier the avocado becomes. Since it tastes so wonderful on day 2, it’s a great make-ahead meal option. Just like my creamy chicken pasta salad!
This citrus chicken quinoa salad is a wonderful gluten free choice for a lunch or a light dinner. Feel free to add a little more quinoa or even try serving this healthy salad over greens.
If you love these flavors together, you might also enjoy this Blood Orange Avocado Quinoa & Kale Salad.
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Citrus Chicken Quinoa Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: serves 3
- Category: Salads
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
A hearty, healthy salad recipe with creamy avocado, nutty quinoa, chicken, fresh cilantro, and lots of bright citrus flavors. The perfect light dinner or easy lunch!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cloves garlic or roasted garlic,ย finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoonย smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large oranges, peeled and segmented
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced or cubed
Dressing
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (packed)*
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions. Transfer cooked quinoa to a large bowl and let cool.
- Pour olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and roasted garlic, stirring it all around to coat with oil. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and salt. Stir and cook until chicken is done, about 8 minutes. Add cooked chicken, oranges, and avocado to the quinoa. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Make the dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Pour over salad and toss to coat everything evenly. Serve immediately. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: This is a perfect recipe to make ahead of time because the flavors taste even better by day 2. Simply prepare through step 3, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk
- Cilantro: If you don’t care for cilantro, leave it out or replace with chopped fresh basil or parsley.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This salad is so easy to make and absolutely delicious! It tastes like summer. I will definitely be making this again. I used mandarin oranges, basil instead of cilantro and I actually had some leftover chicken that was marinaded in mesquite by McCormick. It turned out great. Will try her chicken seasoning next week!
Looking forward to serving this for my galsโ luncheon!
Making ahead- do you serve fridge cold or heat up?
Thanks for yet another delicious recipe!
We usually serve it cold, but you can do it either way!
Great, recipe. I ended up having lemons on hand instead of limes for the juice. It was a good substitute. It’s probably even better with the lime.
Do you know the nutrition information for this recipe?
Hi Sarah, We donโt usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
This was great! I added feta cheese and subbed roasted chickpeas in for the chicken. Delicious.
Love this recipe. My wife and I have made it several times and served it to company. Always a hit. We are having a vegan couple for lunch tomorrow and are planning to substitute cubed, extra firm tofu for the chicken and I thought I might add some black beans. Any reactions?
Hi John, we haven’t tried this recipe with tofu, but let us know if you do!
Doubled the recipe and made one half with chicken breast and one half with extra firm tofu. Since we love the recipe as originally published, I was a bit leery about making the tofu substitution. Surprisingly, the tofu version was even more to our liking than the chicken version. After letting the tofu sit in paper towels to absorb water for a while, I cubed it and cooked it just as directed for the chicken. Cooked it until the tofu was just getting a bit browned. The flavors from the garlic and smoked paprika were nicely absorbed by the tofu and the texture was excellent. Our guests and I preferred the tofu version to the chicken version.
By the way, I cooked some black beans and added a cup to the doubled recipe (1/2 cup of cooked beans for a single recipe) and that was a good addition/modification as well. Could have added more.
This is an absolutely delightful recipe for summer! I didnโt have any cilantro and I subbed plain paprika for smoked paprika. Still turned out delightful. I went for seconds!! Thank you for releasing this recipe.
Yum! I was a little apprehensive about trying this one, since I’m not in the habit of eating quinoa, but I love it! I am eating it still slightly warm right now. I will put the leftovers in the fridge and eat them cold tomorrow! I’m sure this recipe will be a repeat one for me!
I discovered this recipe last summer and have been anxiously awaiting warmer weather so I could add it back to our dinner rotation! So delicious. Tastes even better cold the next day. Can easily sub grapefruit or clementines for the oranges/juice.
This was incredibly delicious. I was skeptical at first with the oranges in the salad, however -WOW- the flavors, textures and taste were fantastic. I had it for my dinner tonight and it is filling, I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow to have it again (leftovers).
Made this before for dinner once and loved it that night and the next day as leftovers. 3 years later, I just made it again for meal prep for a couple lunches. I don’t know if you have the answer to this but can this salad be frozen as is (maybe dressing separate). I’d leave out the avocado. I know I can freeze cooked quinoa and assemble the salad once defrosted but I was really looking to freeze as is. Any idea?
Hi Erin! We would keep the dressing, avocado and oranges separate (and add them fresh). You could prepare the chicken and quinoa ahead of time to freeze for later use. Let us know what you try!
What a great, light dinner! I can definitely see making this for lunches this summer too. We grilled our chicken and used boneless, skinless thighs. I also tossed some black beans in mine and thought it complemented the flavors nicely and added a little more protein. My husband added some red pepper flakes to give a little bite to his as well. The smoked paprika made it and shouldnโt be skipped if you can help it. Iโll be keeping this one in my rotation! Thanks Sally!
This looks and sounds delicious! I have two questions though…
1. Does the avocado turn brown by the next day or is the citrus juice enough to keep things ok as a left over lunch?
2. If the oranges arent looking great in the store would canned mandarin oranges (in water) be an ok substitute?
Hi Jenn, If there are large chunks of avocado sitting on top they might brown a bit, but give everything a good stir and they will be just fine the next day! Yes, you can use canned mandarin oranges if needed. Enjoy!
This is great! Made it tonight and it was excellent. Too many heavy meals lately with the holidays, so happy to have this refreshing dinner. ๐
Have loved this recipe for years! Tomorrow I’m going to serve it as a side with roast chicken — so if I’m not adding chicken to the salad itself, do you think I should be adding in the salt, garlic and paprika to the salad mixture or dressing? Thanks!
Yes! I’d add each, to taste.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! My husband loves cilantro and avocado as he is Colombian and these two ingredients are a staple in Colombia. After a very long winter, this summer salad was perfect for one of the first sunny days of March, we just had it for Sunday lunch. Really yummy and very easy to follow!
Sally, I am new looking for healthy meal into your webpage, I just did the Citrus Chicken Quinoa Salad for my wife and daughter (12 and 15) and we all four were very amazed for this recipe. I wanted to thank you so so much and I will be staying tune with your recommendations. !!!
I just found your blog, Sally, and love the recipes. ย I have the Orange Poppy Seed Bars cooling on the counter as I type! ย
I’m having ribeye steak tonight and know there will be plenty of leftovers. ย I’m wondering if I could substitute the chicken in this salad with sliced steak? ย I’m thinking so… what do you think?
I can’t see why not. If you love it, add it!
This is an excellent dish!! My family and friend loved it, and they thoroughly enjoyed the nutritious and boosting flavors.
This was delicious! I subbed the chicken for chicken sausage to save time. The dressing was so good, and I’m not usually a fan of cilantro. Thanks for the recipe! I’ll be making this again.ย
This was my lunch yesterday and today. And it was fabulous! The roasted garlic is really a great addition. LOVED it!
I don’t normally comment on blogs but I have to say that this recipe is delicious. I just made it for my husband and me for dinner and we were blown away by how good it is – amazing balance of sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy. Will definitely be apart of my normal recipe rotation!
Yum! I made this last night and it was delicious!! I had it for lunch today and it was just as good. The only sub I made was using a few tablespoons of Trader Joe’s reduced guilt guac instead of fresh avo, since none of them were ripe ๐ Great recipe!