When you want a healthy salad that is filling enough to be a main dish, then you need this Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad recipe. Cooked quinoa gets combined with chopped veggies and a delicious lemon dressing. Skip the store-bought version and make it at home instead!

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wooden spoon stirring a bowl of copycat costco quinoa salad

If you’ve never had the Costco Quinoa Salad, then you are missing out! But, that’s okay because I’ve re-created it for you today. The salad has a delicious mixture of brown rice, quinoa, and lentils, plus lots of chopped veggies like cucumber, bell pepper, kale, and tomato.

The seasonings and dressing for this vegan salad are really simple. Everything gets tossed together and tastes just like the store-bought version. The benefit is that you get to control the quality of the ingredients and you don’t have to make a trip to the store.

Let me show you how easy it is to make this copycat version of the beloved Costco Quinoa Salad with a super easy lemon and olive oil dressing.

ingredients laid out on a table to make the costco quinoa salad

Recipe Steps

Step One

Cook your brown rice, lentils, and quinoa on the stovetop. While they are cooking, chop your veggies and add them to a large mixing bowl.

process photos in a collage for costco quinoa salad recipe

As always, please do see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.

Step Two

Prepare the ingredients for the dressing and then toss everything together.

photo showing someone pouring the vinaigrette dressing onto the quinoa salad

Step Three

Serve the salad immediately, or chill it to serve later.

Is this Recipe Healthy?

  • This salad is very healthy because it’s made using real food ingredients with lots of vegetables and fiber.
  • Instead of using canola oil and soybean oil which is what Costco uses, I used olive oil instead. Olive oil is considered to have a much healthier nutritional profile than either canola oil or soybean oil. Read more about the healthiest cooking oils.
spoonful of costco quinoa salad

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

  • One-fourth cup of dry brown rice will yield one cup of cooked brown rice. 
  • One-half cup of dry uncooked lentils will yield about 1 cup of cooked lentils. 
  • One-half cup of dry uncooked quinoa will yield two cups of cooked quinoa.
  • You can substitute more or less of the rice, lentils, or quinoa. Overall for the salad, you’ll need about four cups of cooked grains or lentils. 

FAQs

Is the Costco Quinoa Salad vegan?

Yes, both the store version and this copycat version of the salad are vegan and vegetarian. My version is also gluten-free (the store version may have some cross-contamination for gluten). The store version also contains soybean oil. My version is soy-free.

How long can you keep this salad in the fridge?

In general I recommend keeping the salad covered in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days maximum.

bowl of quinoa salad with fresh lemon

More Healthy Salad Recipes You Might Like

I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.

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bowl of costco quinoa salad on a linen

Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad Recipe

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Description

When you want a healthy salad that is filling enough to be a main dish, then you need this Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad recipe. Quinoa and lentils get combined with chopped veggies and a delicious lemon dressing. Skip the store-bought version and make it at home instead!

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • 1 cup cooked red, brown, or green lentils
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 red bell pepper, de-cored and chopped finely
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 1 cucumber, diced
  • 1 cup baby kale, chopped finely
  • 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine the cooked rice, lentils, and quinoa in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
  2. Next, add the red bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, parsley, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, ground cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine.
  3. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to let the flavors combine.

Notes

  1. You can use red or white quinoa, or a mixture of both for this recipe.
  2. You can cook for rice, lentils and quinoa up to several days ahead of time prior to making this recipe.
  3. One-fourth cup of dry brown rice will yield one cup of cooked brown rice. 
  4. One-half cup of dry uncooked lentils will yield about 1 cup of cooked lentils. 
  5. One-half cup of dry uncooked quinoa will yield two cups of cooked quinoa. 
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Salads
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: quinoa and rice salad, copycat costco salad

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