Smoky-Spiced Quinoa Salad with Black Beans

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A super tasty quinoa salad with black beans, sweet potato and a smoky lime and chipotle chili dressing. This is a perfect recipe for weekday meal plans and picnics!

This quinoa salad makes the most of a handful of ingredients — canned black beans, chunks of sweet potato and a smoky-tasting chili-lime juice dressing. It’s perfect to make ahead and stick in the fridge for a busy week.

The tender quinoa grains are tossed with black beans, cooked sweet potato chunks and a tangy-smoky dressing blended with spicy chipotle, lime juice and garlic.

Quinoa and black beans

I think black beans and sweet potatoes go together beautifully. It might be because quinoa has a naturally earthy, beany taste all by itself.

For that reason, I enjoy spicing up this black bean and quinoa bowl with earthy, smoky spices and sweet potatoes, a lot like my spicy roasted sweet potato salad.

About quinoa

• Quinoa is actually a “pseudo-cereal” grain, harvested from a grassy plant that is not classified as a grain.
• You might already know that quinoa is known as The Mother Grain, basically regarded as a miracle among whole grains.
• How it tastes: Cooked tender quinoa has an appealing fluffy texture that’s pleasantly crunchy. Quinoa has a fairly neutral taste that some describe as mild and nutty. Those qualities make quinoa a great base for so many different global flavors in recipes.

How to cook quinoa:

To rinse or not to rinse: Basic recipes for cooking quinoa often call for rinsing the grains in a mesh strainer, because the grains are coated with saponin, a naturally occurring chemical that can have a bitter taste. Since I’ve learned that most of the quinoa we buy is pre-rinsed to remove the saponins, I skip the rinsing step most of the time.

1. To cook quinoa, combine 1 cup in a saucepan with 2 cups water.
2. Simmer until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. When it’s ready, the grains will have a small translucent ring, showing that the seed has “popped” open.
3. Quinoa cooks fairly quickly, in less than 20 minutes.

How to store quinoa salad:

• Quinoa salad holds up well in the fridge up to 5 days without getting soggy or losing its tastiness.
• I recommend eating it at room temperature or slightly warmed for the best flavor. Straight out of the fridge cold salads can taste dull.

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Smoky-Spiced Quinoa Salad with Black Beans

Karen Tedesco

A delicious make-ahead quinoa salad for lunch or as a fresh-tasting side dish. This salad is mixed with black beans, sweet potato and a delicious homemade smoky chipotle-lime dressing. Feta cheese is a fantastic addition!

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5 from 2 community reviews

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Salad

Cuisine Vegetarian

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

Dressing

• ▢ 3 tablespoons (45 mi) extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lime juice
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) maple syrup, or honey
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) red wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon (15 ml) tamari sauce
• ▢ 1-2 canned chipotle chilis with adobo sauce, to taste — choose 2 for a good amount of heat
• ▢ 1 small garlic clove
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Salad

• ▢ 1 cup (170 g) quinoa
• ▢ 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• ▢ 1 cup cooked sweet potatoes *see note below on how to cook, cut into cubes
• ▢ ½ cup chopped green onions (about 4-5 onions)
• ▢ 1 fresh red or green chili pepper, finely chopped

US Customary – Metric

Instructions 

Make the dressing

• Pulse all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth, or whisk together in a bowl.

Make the salad

• Put the quinoa and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff the grains with a fork and transfer to a serving bowl to cool slightly.
• Stir in the black beans, sweet potato, green onions, chili pepper and cilantro. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to mix. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Karen’s Notes and Tips

• Add in avocado chunks, sweet red bell pepper slices and feta cheese crumbles if you like
• The salad will keep refrigerated up to 5 days.
• To cook sweet potato: Peel and cut a large sweet potato into cubes. Place in a steamer basket set in a saucepan of simmering water, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can roast the sweet potato cubes in a 425F oven: Toss the cubes on a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil and roast until golden and tender, about 25 minutes.
• If you have leftover cooked sweet potatoes, this recipe comes together in about 20 minutes, and just as quickly if you steam the sweet potato while the quinoa cooks.

Nutrition

Calories: 322kcal Carbohydrates: 44g Protein: 7g Fat: 13g Sodium: 652mg Fiber: 5g Sugar: 9g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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• Gluten Free
• Salad
• Vegetarian and Vegan
• Whole Grains

Hey, I’m Karen

Creator of Familystyle Food

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I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.