Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad Recipe
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!
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.
Key Ingredients
There is some prep worked need to make this recipe. That’s because the salad calls for cooked rice, cooked quinoa, and cooked lentils.
You’ll also need to chop your vegetables including cucumber, bell pepper, kale, parsley, and tomato.
Lastly, you’ll need the ingredients to make the dressing including olive oil, lemon juice, and vinegar.
Recipe Steps
Step One
Cook your brown rice, lentils, and quinoa on the stovetop.
As always, please do see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Step Two
While they are cooking, chop your veggies and add them to a large mixing bowl.
Step Three
Prepare the ingredients for the dressing.
Step Four
Toss all the ingredients together with the dressing.
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.
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.
Recipe FAQs
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.
In general I recommend keeping the salad covered in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days maximum.
Yes, this recipe is very versatile and adaptable. Feel free to make adjustments based on your personal preferences or based on what you have on hand.
More Healthy Salad Recipes You Might Like
- Romaine Salad with Simple Vinaigrette
- Mango Avocado Salad
- Sweet Potato Beet Salad
- Vegan Tuna Salad
- Healthy Tuna Pasta Salad
- Costco Chicken Salad
Or, check out my entire index of Clean Eating Salad Recipes.
I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
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Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad Recipe
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!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 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
- Combine the cooked rice, lentils, and quinoa in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
- 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.
- Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to let the flavors combine.
Notes
- You can use red or white quinoa, or a mixture of both for this recipe.
- You can cook for rice, lentils and quinoa up to several days ahead of time prior to making this recipe.
- 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.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Keywords: quinoa and rice salad, copycat costco salad, vegan quinoa salad
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This looks so good. I am Nutritarian, so if I left out the syrup and the oil do you think it would still turn out?
Yes but you might need to add some vinegar to add some more flavor.
I love the Costco quinoa salad so was happy to stumble across your “deconstruction”. I had to make changes (I didn’t have lentils or kale handy). I added avocado and the whole thing was delicious! And filling!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it, Hilary! Happy New Year!
I make a similar salad, but I don’t include tomatoes, cucumbers, or bell peppers if I’m going to store it since they can deteriorate more quickly. I just add them to my individual bowl before I eat. I do add grated red cabbage which turns it pink if stored for 2 days! I also add whatever raw veggies I happen to have such as bok choy, celery, radishes, grated carrots, grated beets, etc. I usually soak some sunflower seeds and unhulled sesame seeds with the quinoa overnight, but next time I’ll have to try it with lentils. Thanks!
★★★★★
brilliant, thanks Shari!
This was really, really good and tasted almost exactly like the Costco version. One thing that would’ve been really helpful for me was to have the uncooked quantities of brown rice, quinoa, and lentils listed. I had to do some digging from other sources to figure out home much would yield the cooked quantities for this recipe. Directions for possibly cooking all the grains together would also make this recipe much easier to make. Overall, a very tasty recipe that was what I was looking for.
★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it and I will add in those quantities you suggested…great idea.
Thank you! This recipe is delicious. I appreciate you taking the time to add that info in.
Delicious! Tastes very similar to the Costco version, if not better; hard to beat fresh ingredients. I subbed black beans for the brown rice since I didn’t have any. It looks beautiful! I might try halving the dressing next time to see if half is sufficient. The current amounts are fine, not overly dressed, I just thought I’d try to cut a few calories if I can. Thank you!!
★★★★★
So glad you like the salad, Meagan! And thanks for sharing your substitutions.
Hi! Should the grains be cooled first?
Maybe just a few minutes but it’s not totally necessary as the salad gets chilled after it’s assembled.
Nice! Looks super delicious and easy to make – win win!
Thanks, Kelly!
I love quinoa! I’ve made something very similar to this using honey instead of maple syrup and added chickpeas. I’ll have to try your version. 😊
★★★★★
Great I hope you enjoy Jocelyn!
Love this main dish salad recipe.
★★★★★
Beautiful clicks , and beautiful looking Salad . Perfect for a healthy lunch .