Packed with fall flavor, this curried quinoa apple salad recipe makes one tasty lunch! You'll love the creamy curry dressing paired with crunchy sweet apples, chewy golden raisins and fluffy quinoa. Perfect for a meal prep lunch or to bring along to a picnic or potluck.

My Bernese Mountain Dog, Savannah, is such a basic dietitian's dog. While she has never turned down a pupperoni (or any food for that matter), fruits and vegetables have always been her favorite. She goes crazy for things like carrot tops, lettuce stems, and potato peelings…it's so weird.

Her absolute favorite food? Apples. She's even learned the word, which has become my go to call when she manages to sneak out of the backyard. She doesn't respond to her name, but yell "want an apple?" and she'll be back in our yard in two seconds flat. Savannah even recognizes the crunching noise of biting into a fresh apple. It's enough to wake her from a deep slumber and all of a sudden, she's at our feet begging!

Since she is our furry child, we are always more than happy to indulge her with her favorite food, and generally pick up a big bag every time we go to the store. Between Savannah and our snacking, they usually go fast, but occasionally we overbuy! That’s how I came up with this recipe for curried quinoa apple salad, a recipe that I threw together when pretty much the only produce in our house was a few apples and leftover red onion. It made me think of my favorite curried chicken salad, but without chicken in the house, I tried it with some quinoa from the pantry. It was a winner, hence me sharing it with you all today!

Tips for Making This Curried Quinoa Apple Salad

This curried quinoa apple salad recipe couldn’t be easier to make - just cook up some quinoa, whisk together the creamy curry dressing, and mix it all together with the chopped ingredients. However there are just a few tips for getting it just right.

First, make sure you cook the quinoa so it’s nice and fluffy, not gummy or mushy. To do that, make sure you rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve first, which removes the saponin, a bitter tasting compound that coats the seeds. Then I use this Cookie + Kate recipe for basic quinoa. She uses a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa and cooks it uncovered, followed by 5 minutes of covered steam time. It’s really simple and yields perfect, fluffy quinoa.
Since I usually make a big batch of this for meal prep, I always want to make sure the apples don’t turn brown. Unless you’re serving it right away, toss the apples with just a little bit of lemon juice to keep them nice and bright. Even though the creamy curry dressing will help prevent browning a bit (and the yellow color will cover it up a bit too!), I still like an added layer of protection.
What type of apple should you use for this curried quinoa apple salad recipe? Look for one that has lots of crunch (no mealy red delicious apples…EVER) and won’t brown too quickly. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Fuji apples are my favorite for this recipe. I think Granny Smith goes really well here too if you like the tartness of it.

Curried Quinoa Apple Salad Serving Suggestions

To round out this curried quinoa apple salad recipe and make it a bit more satisfying, I suggest adding a source of protein. Try a can of chickpeas, diced chicken, or cubes of baked tofu.
For a lighter meal, serve this salad over a bed of greens.
This curried quinoa apple salad is also perfect for a potluck or a picnic. If hosting a party, you could also scoop up the salad into individual mason jars.
My favorite way to eat this curried quinoa apple salad is as a side dish for a lunch sandwich. It’s great with a basic turkey and cheese, but you could also pair it with my roasted cauliflower sandwich, chickpea hummus salad sandwiches, or heirloom tomato tempeh BLT.

This curried quinoa apple salad recipe, images and text have been updated to give you the best possible content.

If you like this curried quinoa apple salad recipe, follow my favorite grain salads Pinterest board for more cooking inspiration.

Curried Quinoa Apple Salad Recipe

Serves: 4ish

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1/3 cup plain, full fat yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 small minced garlic clove

Salad:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/4 large red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 large apple, diced

Directions:

First, cook the quinoa according to package directions. When cooked, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature or place in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
Next, make the dressing. Whisk all dressing ingredients together and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
When quinoa is cool, toss with red onion, golden raisins, walnuts, parsley and apples. Dress with curry dressing as desired, starting with about half the dressing and adding more as desired. Serve cool or at room temperature.