Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl

If you’re on the lookout for a delicious healthy lunch that's great for work or home, then you have come to the right place! These Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls are easy to make, filling, and drizzled with the most amazing hummus dressing.

I am obsessed with grain bowls and salads at the moment. Literally, every time I make quinoa or another hearty grain, I double or triple the recipe to make sure I have enough leftovers for quick and healthy grain bowls like today's Mediterranean-inspired Quinoa Bowl.

Now the secret sauce that makes this recipe so good is the hummus dressing. It couldn't be easier - it's just hummus, lemon juice, and water.

Switch up the flavor of the dressing by using different types of hummus like avocado hummus, black bean hummus, or roasted red pepper hummus.

The other thing I love about this recipe is that it is very versatile. Switch up the veggies. Add extra protein with cooked proteins, like the chicken in this Mediterranean Bowl recipe. Try different styles of hummus in the dressing. Use different grains. You decide.

There are so many ways to make this recipe work with items you already have at home. Think of it as a clean-out the pantry and fridge meal.

How to Make a Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl

This Mediterranean quinoa bowl calls for arugula, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, kalamata olives, feta cheese, red onion, and parsley, plus the quinoa of course.

However, you can make a quinoa bowl with almost any combination of quinoa, veggies, and dressing you like.

• Quinoa: Start with the quinoa. Any variety will work and let it come to room temperature if made in advance or for a cold or salad-style dish. To cook quinoa, start with a ratio of 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring the water and quinoa to a boil. Stir and turn the temperature down to a simmer. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat but let the quinoa sit with the cover on for 5 minutes. Open and fluff with a fork.
• Add veggies: Any raw or cooked veggies will pair well with quinoa. Start in your fridge, freezer, or pantry and build from there. Leftover roasted vegetables are delicious in quinoa bowls. Fresh greens and crunchy veggies like cucumbers and bell peppers add texture. Even defrosted frozen veggies like broccoli, edamame, and corn work great.
• Dressing: One of the main ways to add flavor to a quinoa bowl is with the dressing or sauce. You can use a homemade dressing like this healthy ranch, a homemade sauce like pesto or teriyaki, or grab a store-bought sauce or dressing for something quick. If you love Mediterranean flavors, the homemade hummus dressing in the recipe is so good, or use tzatziki.
• More options: To add even more flavor to your quinoa bowl, consider adding some protein with chicken, shrimp, or tofu. Cheese is another great way to add flavor with fresh mozzarella, feta, or goat cheese. Add some nuts or seeds for crunch or consider adding some chickpeas or black beans for added fiber. 

Recipe Tips for the Best Quinoa Bowl

Making a quinoa bowl is fairly straightforward, but there are some quick tips for you to follow to make sure you end up with a stellar salad.

• Rinse the quinoa: Rinse your quinoa before you cook it. It never hurts to give your quinoa another rinse to get rid of that bitter coating I mentioned before.
• Meal prep in a glass jar: If you’re meal prepping, put your salad bowl in a glass jar. Start with the dressing on the bottom and then layer in the heartier ingredients that won't get soggy. Finish with the arugula on top.
• Switch up the veggies: You can put pretty much any veggie in your salad that you want – I recommend using anything you have leftover from previous meals.
• Different flavors of hummus: Try out different flavors of hummus to change the taste of the recipe. Roasted red pepper, garlic, and olive hummus are my favorites to use.
• Add all the Mediterranean flavors: Play into the Mediterranean by adding feta cheese, olives, capers, roasted red peppers, artichokes, or sundried tomatoes.

How to Make Hummus Dressing

Hummus makes a pretty amazing dressing, though it's a bit thick to be a dressing on its own. To turn it into a delicious dressing, just add lemon juice, olive oil, and water to your hummus to make it a bit thinner so you can drizzle it on top.

You can also add any other spices you want to kick up the flavor. Consider oregano, dill, thyme, za'atar, or red pepper flakes.

This will also work with different types of hummus. Roasted garlic hummus makes a delicious garlicky dressing. Roasted red pepper hummus turns into a sweeter dressing. Try a spicy hummus dressing if you love things spicy. The options are endless.

Meal Prep and Storage

In a lot of ways, quinoa is like rice, including its ability to be made in advance. So, yes!

You can make this salad in advance as part of your weekly meal prepping. However, if you are prepping more than one day in advance, wait to chop the cherry tomatoes and cucumbers since they will begin to release liquid and make the other ingredients soggy. Like all salad recipes for meal prep, pack the dressing separately.

One more tip. Make sure that the quinoa is at room temperature before you put it in containers in your fridge. This precaution will help the inside of the container from getting steamed up and wilting anything you put in there with it.

Leftover cooked quinoa can be stored in the freezer, but we do not recommend freezing the additional vegetables or dressing.

What is Quinoa?

Quinoa is actually a seed. You could be forgiven for thinking that quinoa is a grain similar to rice or wheat because that’s how we use it when we cook. However, the part of the plant we’re eating when we eat quinoa is actually the seed!

If you are a quinoa fan, you won't want to miss these easy build-your-own Thai Bowls.

Is Quinoa Better for You than Rice?

Over the last decade, quinoa has been exploding in popularity as this once-unknown grain gained the status of superfood.

The answer is yes – it has fewer calories and carbohydrates than rice. It also packs in twice the protein and more fiber. It is naturally gluten-free.

All of this means that you will feel full faster with fewer calories than you would have had with rice. It also does great things for controlling your blood sugar levels.