This Chickpea Quinoa Power Salad with Jalapeno Dressing is a delicious rainbow slaw with diced mango and chili lime chickpeas!
How to make this recipe
- Make the chili lime chickpeas.
- Meanwhile, cook quinoa.
- Mix ingredients for jalapeno dressing in a food processor or blender.
- Chop and prepare veggies and mango, dumping into a large bowl.
- Toss all salad ingredients together and serve immediately.
- If using for weekly meal prep, keep chickpeas and dressing separate, adding right before serving to ensure salad stays fresh.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Quinoa – use couscous, barley, farro or another grain of choice for this recipe.
- Napa cabbage – use green cabbage, Savoy cabbage or bok choy in place of Napa cabbage
- Red cabbage – if you don’t have any red cabbage on hand, double the Napa cabbage, Brussel sprouts or kale instead.
- Carrots – replace with parsnips, turnips or celery for similar taste and texture.
- Cucumber – leave out altogether or replace with celery, green papaya, jicama or zucchini.
- Basil – oregano, tarragon or mint are great basil replacements.
- Mint – fresh basil, parsley, cilantro or rosemary can be used in place of mint.
- Mango – peach, papaya, nectarines or apricots can be used in place of mangos.
- Pea shoots – if you’re in a pinch, leave the pea shoots out altogether or replace with watercress or baby spinach.
- Radishes – jicama, white turnip, beetroot or parsnips can be used in place of radishes.
- Shredded coconut – use unsweetened or sweetened coconut for this recipe.
Jalapeno Dressing
- Jalapeno – use fresh jalapenos or jarred pickled jalapenos for less of a kick.
- Sour cream – use plain, unsweetened greek yogurt in place of sour cream.
- Cilantro – if you’re not a fan of cilantro, use basil or parsley in place of cilantro.
- Shredded coconut – use unsweetened or sweetened coconut for this recipe.
- Lime juice – use bottled or fresh lime juice.
Chili Lime Chickpeas
- Chickpeas – beans or lentils would also work
- Chili powder – use cayenne pepper, paprika or crushed chilli peppers.
- Lime juice – use bottled or fresh lime juice for this recipe.
Storing this chickpea salad
These bowls are better enjoyed immediately. However, if you'd like to store these bowls in the fridge as a meal prep meal, they will store in the fridge up to 5 days. To make sure that this dish lasts five days in the fridge, keep the dressing separate to ensure that the ingredients remain fresh and that the cabbage doesn't get soggy.
Freezing leftover quinoa
Unfortunately, this power bowl isn't a freezer-friendly meal. On the bright side, if you made extra quinoa, you can freeze the leftover cooked quinoa for another time. Quinoa can be used in so many dishes that it's a great option to double the serving to use for future dishes. Store in freezer safe glass containers for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge the night before you're ready to use it.
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More delicious salad bowl recipes
- Summer Buddha Bowl with turmeric chickpeas
- Warm tahini kale + quinoa bowl with roasted chickpeas
- Mediterranean chickpea salad jars
Meal prep tools
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning these bowls into your weekly lunches.
- These mason jars are great for salads too
- Freeze the quinoa in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months
Chickpea Quinoa Power Salad {Gluten Free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa usually 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water cooked in a rice cooker or pot on the stove
- 2 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage
- 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
- 1 cup Carrot matchsticks
- 1/2 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1/3 cup basil, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup mint, finely chopped
- 1 mango, diced
- 1 cup pea shoots
- 1 bunch radishes, cut into matchsticks
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Jalapeno Dressing
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
Chili Lime Chickpeas
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together ingredients for chili lime chickpeas. Set aside. Meanwhile, cook quinoa according to package directions at the same time.
- Mix together ingredients for jalapeno dressing in a food processor, blender or Magic Bullet and set aside.
- Chop and prepare veggies and mango, dumping into a large bowl. Toss all salad ingredients together and serve immediately.
- Alternately, if serving later or using for weekly meal prep, keep chickpeas and dressing separate, adding right before serving to ensure salad stays fresh. Enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Caitlin says
Can I use parsley in place of the cilantro in this recipe? Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
You definitely could Caitlin! The flavours would be a bit different but probably still very tasty 🙂
Rebecca says
I’ve been Flock and it is totally délicieuse!! I had a burger there and shared the Mac’n’cheese with a friend- mmmmmm!
Kristin says
Can you give a vegan option for dressing? Looks so good!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Kristin! I would say a non-dairy milk like almond or coconut milk would work here – because the sour cream is thicker, you may want to use less non-dairy milk than the sour cream though. Instead of 1/2 cup sour cream, try 1/4 cup non-dairy milk and if it’s too thick you can always add more milk. Alternatively, I found this vegan sour cream recipe if you’re really looking to make a proper substitution: http://www.glutenfreeveganpantry.com/the-best-damn-vegan-sour-cream/. Hope this helps 🙂
Meredith | Earth & Oven says
This looks AMAZING. Love the dressing idea. Really enjoying browsing your stunning blog :)!