Harvest Quinoa Salad is a delightful mix of texture and flavors. It is made with roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, quinoa, and a pumpkin vinaigrette for a delicious gluten-free and vegan side dish.
This dish comes together easily when made with leftover Roasted Butternut Squash and Instant Pot Quinoa.
Years ago I attended a HUGE Thanksgiving Pot-Luck that featured dozens of dishes.
I happened to bring my homemade applesauce and mashed potatoes.
But the one that stuck out to me was a wild rice salad that had a pumpkin dressing and slightly sweet and savory at the same time.
I fell in love with it. Pumpkin vinaigrette--genius!!
Over the years, I have modified the butternut squash rice salad and turned it into this Harvest Quinoa Salad.
Harvest Quinoa Salad
This simple quinoa Salad is full of fall flavors and makes a perfect side dish or a hearty meatless entree. This salad is a little bit sweet, a little bit savory, and full of various textures.
But the star of the show is the pumpkin vinaigrette. It is savory, yet a bit sweet from the maple syrup. It is a unique dressing that makes this simple Quinoa Salad something spectacular.
Ingredients
- Quinoa
- Butternut Squash
- Dried Cranberries
- Pecans
- Pumpkin Dressing
How to Make Harvest Quinoa Salad
Prepare Quinoa
I like to cook my quinoa in the Instant Pot, however, you can easily cook on the stove-top While you can use any variety of quinoa, a tip is to cook the quinoa in vegetable or chicken stock.
Roast Butternut Squash
If you can, plan ahead and make a large batch of roasted butternut squash earlier in the week. Serve the squash as a side dish and then use the leftovers to whip up this salad with ease.
Pumpkin Vinaigrette
This may sound odd--pumpkin in a vinaigrette? But it works! The pumpkin adds an earthy savory note to this salad and it is the thing that makes this dish stand out to people!
Toss the Fall Quinoa Salad
Once the ingredients are assembled, toss the quinoa, dressing, squash, and cranberries together. At this point it is best to refrigerate for at least 4 hours to let the flavors marry. Add the pecans RIGHT before serving, so that nuts stay crispy and add texture and contrast to the salad.
While this salad will last in the fridge for up to 4 days, I recommend prepping no more than two days in advance. That way leftovers can be kept for a couple days after enjoying. Just remember, just leave the nuts off until ready to serve.
More Quinoa Recipes
- Instant Pot Quinoa
- Mexican Quinoa Salad
- Veggie Packed Quinoa Burgers
- Banana Nut Quinoa Porridge
- Quinoa Spinach Salad

Harvest Quinoa Salad with Pumpkin Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Harvest Quinoa Salad
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 2 cups roasted butternut squash ½ inch chunks
- ½ dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
Pumpkin Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
Roast Butternut Squash
- Toss squash chunks with 1-2 teaspoons oil and roast at 425 for 25 minutes, or fork tender and starting to crisp up around edges. Cool before tossing in salad.
Cook Quinoa
- Bring the vegetable stock, seasoned salt and quinoa to a boil and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed. Or cook quinoa in instant pot.
- Cool quinoa completely.
Pumpkin Dressing
- Prepare the dressing by mixing the pumpkin puree, vinegar, syrup, oil, salt, pepper, and thyme together.
Harvest Quinoa Salad
- Toss the quinoa with the dressing and then add the squash, and cranberries and fold into the quinoa gently.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until flavors have had time to marry together. Right before serving, add in the nuts.
Notes
- Feel free to use cooked wild rice in place of quinoa if desired.
- This quinoa salad needs a crunch factor, but if pecans are not your thing, feel free to use walnut, almonds, or pumpkin seeds for texture.
- This Harvest Quinoa Salad is fine served warm but best after being refrigerated for a couple hours.
- Fall Quinoa Salad will last in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Lisa
I made this as a side dish to bring to friends house for thanksgiving, so the verdict is still out on that let u know in a day what they thought. I roasted the butternut squash with coconut oil love the flavor it added my daughter and i snuck a little bowl when when were done making it that vinegerette is strong im sure as it sits in frig it will mello out and incorporate. This was good though and easy to make and filled us up thank u 4 sharing👍.Fingers crossed that company likes it to🤞
Kristen Chidsey
I love hearing you enjoyed this Lisa and I am sure your company will as well. Happy Thanksgiving!
MARSHA L PATRICK
This is OUTSTANDING! I made the salad yesterday and let it sit over night in the refrigerator. It is simply amazing. Thank you so much for all of your great recipes, I haven't made one yet that my whole family didn't love!
Kristen Chidsey
I love hearing how much your family enjoys my recipe Marsha. Thank you for sharing!