This delicious salad with roasted butternut squash and quinoa is a great healthy Fall recipe that is packed with nutritious ingredients and full of flavors. It’s super easy to make and will be a perfect addition to any dinner, lunch, or even meal prep!
Butternut squash is one of the star ingredients during the Fall season and I love using it in my meals, like this delicious Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad. It’s so easy to prep, nutritious, and has an amazing flavor combination!
I love dressing it up with my favorite Citrus Vinaigrette that has beautiful aromas of orange and lemon. It perfectly balances all the flavors and adds vibrant notes to the whole dish. My other option is to use Lemon Vinaigrette with more lemony tart notes. I love using both of these dressings in my Farro Salad, Beet Salad Recipe, and Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad.
Why you will love it
This is such a great versatile recipe that you can serve for a low-key family dinner, lunch, or a fancy dinner, like for Thanksgiving or other events during the holiday season. It’s packed with nutritious ingredients, absolutely satisfying, and has a variety of vibrant flavors.
- Butternut Squash provides creamy texture and warm Fall notes.
- Quinoa and Arugula adds earthy flavors.
- Dried Cranberries add a touch of sweet and sour tang.
- Pepitas and Pomegranate Seeds add crunchy texture.
How to make it
Roast Butternut Squash
To start, we need to roast the main ingredient. I talk in depth about roasting it in my post “Oven Roasted Butternut Squash” to make it perfectly caramelized and tender.
Peel, seed, and chop it into 1×1-inch cubes. Transfer to a large baking pan, season with salt, pepper and drizzle some olive oil. Mix everything up and bake at 400°F for about 30-35 minutes. You can check if it’s cooked by piercing pieces of the vegetable with a fork.
When done, just take it out of the oven and let it cool off on the counter.
Cook Quinoa
Rinse 1 cup of quinoa in a mesh sieve and put in the sauce pan with 2 cups of water. Stir and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium/low and cover with a lid. Cook for about 15 minutes until it’s fully cooked and the water is absorbed. Season with salt to taste and let it cool off completely.
Assemble
To assemble, put all the ingredients in a big salad bowl (arugula, roasted butternut squash, cooked quinoa, dried cranberries, pepitas, and pomegranate seeds). Dress with Citrus Vinaigrette or Lemon Vinaigrette and give it a mix.
Tips for best results
You can cook quinoa and roast butternut squash a day before and refrigerate until ready to use. All you’ll need is just to assemble, which will take not more than 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can play around with flavors and add some other ingredients, like:
• Spinach (instead of arugula)
• Chickpeas (drained from a can)
• Walnuts or pecans (chopped)
• Goat cheese
If you have any leftovers, transfer them to an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups butternut squash peeled, seeded, cut in 1-inch cubes
- 4 cups arugula
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup pepitas toasted
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- 1 cup Citrus Vinaigrette
Instructions
Roast Butternut Squash
- Peel, seed, and chop it into 1×1-inch cubes. Transfer to a large baking pan, season with salt, pepper and drizzle some olive oil. Mix everything up and bake at 400°F for about 30-35 minutes. You can check if it’s cooked by piercing pieces of the vegetable with a fork. When done, just take it out of the oven and let it cool off on the counter.
Cook Quinoa
- Rinse 1 cup of quinoa in a mesh sieve and put in the saucepan with 2 cups of water. Stir and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium/low and cover with a lid. Cook for about 15 minutes until it’s fully cooked and the water is absorbed. Season with salt to taste and let it cool off completely.
Assemble
- To assemble, put all the ingredients in a big salad bowl (arugula, roasted butternut squash, cooked quinoa, dried cranberries, pepitas, and pomegranate seeds). Dress with Citrus Vinaigrette or Lemon Vinaigrette and give it a mix.
Notes
- Spinach (instead of arugula)
- Chickpeas (drained from a can)
- Walnuts or pecans (chopped)
- Goat cheese
This recipe is excellent and surpasses a previous lemon viniagrette I’ve used. I have an issue though with the layout of the recipe to print-and others on your site. The top part with the serving size, time etc. takes up a huge amount of space so that the recipe instead of being on one handy she becomes two. Why not put this info in a less space consuming format or put it at the end so that cooks can choose to either print it up or leave it off.
This recipe is excellent and surpasses a previous lemon viniagrette I’ve used. I have an issue though with the layout of the recipe to print-and others on your site. The top part with the serving size, time etc. takes up a huge amount of space so that the recipe instead of being on one handy sheet becomes two. Why not put this info in a less space consuming format or put it at the end so that cooks can choose to either print it up or leave it off?