Quinoa Salad with Roasted Squash, Caramelized Onions and Wilted Spinach

New! I added a cooking video to this page so you could see just how simple it is to make this gluten-free Quinoa Salad with Roasted Squash, Caramelized Onions and Wilted Spinach.

If you’re new to this website, at the bottom of every recipe page is a printable recipe with exact measurements and directions.

Enjoy!

Update Fall 2020: This is the first salad I made this season when craving Fall flavors and this salad is everything!

It’s such a delicious mix of flavors and textures, and it’s easy to make!

Perfect for a weekday meal, meal prep or the holidays!

Hope you love it too!

Original post…

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

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 Quinoa Salad is warming and cozy but still fresh tasting!

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.

It’s the best flavor combo!

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 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 or sweet potato

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.

After prepping the ingredients, the squash (or sweet potatoes) roasts (for 30 minutes) at the same time that the quinoa cooks (20 minutes) and the onions caramelize (20-25 minutes).

So you can see how the salad comes together quickly.

After all those are prepared, you just mix it all together with the simple dressing.

Let’s talk about the caramelized onions…

A lot of 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.

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 20-25 minutes.

After they are caramelized, stir in the sage.

While they slow cook, the quinoa also cooks.

I follow the directions on the package and make the quinoa by combining 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water and bringing to a boil.

Then reduce to simmer and cover for 15 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.

Works every time!

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.

Other times, I use sweet potatoes and just cut them into cubes. Both work great!

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

Mix the quinoa with the cranberries and simple lemon juice/ olive oil dressing (it’s very light!). There’s not a lot dressing so don’t be surprised… you don’t need a lot here!

The add in the caramelized onions/ sage.

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.

Next top with cashews and enjoy!

Pro tip: if you’re not serving this all at once or using it for meal prep, don’t stir in the cashews until ready to serve. This will help make the salad taste fresher.

Enjoy as is, or even add goat cheese or feta.

Hope you love it as much as we do!

For more hearty salads, click here.

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