Winter Quinoa Salad with Roasted Squash, Caramelized Onions and Wilted Spinach

Update 3/23/20: I know I call this a “Winter” salad, and I might be regretting that name right now lol, but it was so perfect on this cold, Winter-like Spring day! It is warming and cozy but still fresh tasting — I substituted sweet potatoes for squash it is was delicious!

Even in the cold weather (and we are definitely in a cold snap right now!), we love a good salad.  Only now, we are loving heartier and warmer salads.

This simple salad is a Winter upgrade of our Autumn Quinoa Salad and is sooooo perfect right now.

Just 7 ingredients plus an olive oil/ lemon juice dressing, this salad is easy to prep but still packed with different flavors & textures and DELISH!

It’s simply cooked quinoa, caramelized onions, roasted butternut squash (substitute sweet potatoes if you don’t have squash), fresh baby spinach, dried cranberries, salted cashews and fresh sage all tossed with a little EVOO and lemon juice.

The caramelized onions, roasted squash and wilted spinach give the best warming flavors and pair perfectly with the brighter lemon juice and tart cranberries , while the salted cashews provide just a little crunch.

Delicious warm or room temp, this Winter Quinoa Salad is a versatile dish working equally well alongside other roasted veggies or grilled protein or even with the addition of feta or goat cheese.

And this recipe makes a large quantity, making it perfect for a crowd or for dinner, lunch and meal prep.

All you need to make it is: quinoa, 2 onions, cubed butternut squash, fresh baby spinach, salted cashews, dried cranberries, fresh sage, lemons for lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and a little salt.

And it comes together quickly because so much is made at the same time.

The first thing I like to do is get the caramelized onions started because lots this salad’s flavor comes from the caramelized onions.

There are lots of ways to caramelize onions but the key is to not rush the cooking, let them cook up slowly.  These take about 20 minutes to caramelize which is the amount of time to cook quinoa  and the squash roasts in about 30 minutes, so it the entire salad comes together quickly.

Back to caramelizing onions…. Onions are naturally high in sugars and when they cook, they soften and get tender, releasing sugars which give them that yummy caramelized flavor as they continue to cook up and brown when you cook them slowly over a medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes.

While they slow cook, I like to make the quinoa…

And roast the squash with simply olive oil or neutral oil of choice and some salt.

To make it easy, I usually purchase already cubed butternut squash from the grocery store.

Then when everything is cooked up and still warm we assemble the salad.

First we stir in the fresh sage with the caramelized onions. Then we mix the quinoa with the cranberries and simple lemon juice/ olive oil dressing (it’s very light!).

Then we mix in the still warm squash and fresh spinach and gently combine so that the spinach wilts just a little bit.

Pro Tip: If you don’t get to mix in the spinach while the quinoa and squash are still warm you could saute it for just a few minutes so it start to wilt prior to adding to the salad.

Enjoy as is, with the addition of goat cheese or feta.

Hope you love it as much as we do!

For more hearty salads, click here.

Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you try.