• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Simply Happy Foodie
  • Home
  • Recent Posts
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosures / Disclaimers / Copyright
    • Contact Me
    • Meet Gizmo, Our Foodie Pug
  • Cook's Shop
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Recent Posts
  • Recipes
  • My Cookbook
  • About
  • Cook’s Shop
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recent Posts
  • Recipes
  • My Cookbook
  • About
  • Cook’s Shop
×
Home » Blog Recipe Posts » Vegetarian

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing

August 28, 2024 by Sandy 4 Comments

Jump to Recipe

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing is an incredibly delicious grain bowl. It is healthy and full of healthy veggies and has yummy Tex-Mex flavor. This quinoa bowl recipe is perfect for a weekend lunch, or make it the day before for a satisfying and delicious work lunch.

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing in white bowl

 
Originally published 8/12/17

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing

Grain Bowls are super popular. We used to call it "Rice Salad" back in the day. We hadn't discovered quinoa yet! This is a super flavorful quinoa recipe with a stellar cilantro dressing!

Quinoa is a wonderfully versatile . I love it in soups, and mixed with rice, with gravy, in salads, and grain bowls, of course!

Nowadays Quinoa is considered a Superfood. It has a lot of protein and other great nutrients in it. It is technically not a grain, but a seed, but let's not split hairs. It's delicious, healthy and versatile!

Quinoa used to be hard to find, and was just in health food stores. Now you can find it just about everywhere!

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing in white bowl

The Cilantro Dressing takes this Southwest Quinoa Bowl over the edge of flavor amazingness!

You will have leftover dressing, and I encourage you to use it for dipping my Sweet Potato Steak Fries in. Or save it for tacos!

Is Quinoa easy to cook?

Yes it is! It is cooked similar to rice, and is very simple:
Boil water, add well-rinsed quinoa, put lid on. Cook for 15 minutes, then let it sit off of the heat for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork. Easy!

Why is Quinoa Sometimes Bitter Tasting?

That is because the quinoa wasn't rinsed prior to cooking it.
Quinoa has a naturally occurring coating called Saponin. It is like quinoa's natural bug repellent! It tastes either kind of bitter, or like soap.

    Luckily the saponin rinses off easily.

  • Put your quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and immerse it in a bowl of cool water and let it sit there in the water for a few minutes. Drain. Then add the rinsed quinoa to the recipe as directed.
  • Or just rinse it very well and drain it and it's ready to cook.

blue banner with the words you might also like
Easy Instant Pot Quinoa
Instant Pot Quinoa Taco Bowls
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Caprese Orzo Salad

If you make this easy quinoa bowl recipe, please leave a comment below with a star rating and let me know how you liked it!

pink button with the words follow Simply Happy Foodie on Pinterest

5 from 1 vote
Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing
Print
Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Cooling Time
15 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing is a hearty healthy grain bowl packed with amazing flavors! So easy to put together, and you will love the dressing!

Course: Salad, Vegetarian
Cuisine: American
Keyword: quinoa bowl recipe
Servings: 1 Serving
Calories: 434 kcal
Author: Sandy Clifton
Ingredients
Quinoa
  • ½ cup Quinoa, well rinsed
  • 1 cup Water
  • Pinch of Salt
Cilantro Dressing
  • ¼ cup Mayonnaise
  • ¾ cup Sour Cream (or Greek yogurt)
  • 1 clove Garlic
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Pinch of Pepper
  • Handful of Fresh Cilantro Leaves, rinsed & chopped
The Salad
  • ½ Ripe Avocado, mashed
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 Squeeze of Lime Juice
  • ¼ cup Corn Kernels, (fresh, froze, or canned)
  • ⅛ Red Onion, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup Black Beans, canned, rinsed & drained
  • ½ Roasted Red Pepper, sliced
Garnish
  • Sliced Jalapeño
  • Cotija Cheese
Instructions
Prepare Quinoa
  1. Add rinsed quinoa, water, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

  2. Take the pan off of heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

  3. Remove lid and fluff quinoa with a fork. Quinoa is done when it looks translucent and you can see the germ (the little sprout).

  4. Set aside to cool.

Make the Dressing
  1. Add dressing ingredients to a mini food processor and pulse several times, until ingredients are well chopped and blended.

Assemble the Bowl
  1. When Quinoa has cooled (you can serve it warm, but I don’t recommend hot), transfer to a bowl.

  2. Mash the avocado with the salt and lime juice. Place in bowl with quinoa.

  3. Add the corn, onion, black beans, and roasted red pepper to the bowl.

  4. Drizzle with the cilantro dressing and garnish with sliced jalapeño and cotija cheese, or as desired.

Recipe Notes
  • This recipe can be doubled or tripled for more servings or for meal prep.
  • Store unassembled in the fridge if making ahead (quinoa having been cooked).
  • Assembled salad can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Pin This Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing Recipe

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing with title and simplyhappyfoodie.com logo

More Vegetarian

  • baked herbed onions
    Herb Baked Sweet Onions
  • Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Potatoes in a black bowl
    Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Potatoes
  • Fresh Homemade Guacamole on a chip in hand
    Fresh Homemade Guacamole
  • Spinach Mushroom Orzo in a skillet
    Spinach Mushroom Orzo

Sharing is caring!

65 shares
  • Tweet
  • Share

My Instant Pot Cookbook is Here!

Instant Pot Cookbook Cover

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Gail

    April 11, 2018 at 12:22 am

    This salad bowl was so delicious and filling! Oh my goodness, that cilantro dressing! My favorite of the year!

    Reply
    • Sandy

      April 11, 2018 at 9:45 am

      Hi Gail! It's one of my very favorites, too! So many flavors going on, and it's healthy!

      Reply
  2. Karly

    September 07, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    This looks soooo good- love it as a nice hearty lunch that will actually keep my full until dinner time. Definitely saving!

    Reply
    • Sandy

      September 08, 2017 at 2:25 pm

      Thanks Karly! It is so delicious, and it will definitely fill you up!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Hi there! I’m Sandy - foodie with a passion for cooking and sharing my tasty recipes. My hubby Paul, our Pug Gizmo, and I live in Washington.

Sandy wearing a black shirt and a red apron

More about me →

Reader Favorite Recipes

  • Easy Slow Cooker Meatloaf on a white plate garnished with parsley
    Easy Slow Cooker Meatloaf
  • Air Fryer Rib Eye Steak
    Air Fryer Rib Eye Steak
  • Slow Cooker Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
    Slow Cooker Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
  • Short Ribs over mashed potatoes on a black plate next to a bunch of fresh parsley
    Instant Pot Short Ribs

More favorites

Footer

↑ back to top

Copyrighted Content
This website and its contents are the copyright of Simply Happy Foodie LLC – © 2016-2025.  All rights reserved.

Disclaimers

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

About

  • About
  • Contact
  • Meet Gizmo, Our Foodie Pug

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing
Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing