Gordon Ramsay’s quinoa salad is fluffy quinoa with toasted almonds, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, raisins and fresh mint, dressed with lime juice and olive oil, ready in 20 minutes. This is what he serves at Bread Street Kitchen.
In Ultimate Home Cooking, Ramsay calls quinoa “a slightly nutty grain that makes a great alternative to couscous, rice or lentils” and builds this salad around clean flavours. No vinaigrette, no mustard, no garlic. Just lime and olive oil, letting the almonds and raisins do the work.
The step most people get wrong is cooling the quinoa. Ramsay spreads it on a plate to cool quickly rather than leaving it clumped in the pan. Clumped quinoa steams into a sticky mass. Spread thin, each grain stays separate and fluffy.
Gordon Ramsay Quinoa Salad
Course: Salads, Sides4
servings10
minutes10
minutes20
minutesFrom Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking, this quinoa salad is based on a Bread Street Kitchen favourite: toasted almonds, cherry tomatoes, raisins, cucumber and mint dressed with lime juice and olive oil.
Ingredients
200g (7 oz) quinoa
50g (2 oz) flaked almonds
Half a large cucumber
125g (4½ oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
50g (2 oz) raisins
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
Bunch of mint, leaves only
Juice of 1 lime
Olive oil, for drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Cook the quinoa: Cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions. Drain, then spread out on a large plate or tray to cool quickly rather than leaving it in the pan.
- Toast the almonds: Toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan until golden and place in a large salad bowl.
- Prepare the cucumber: Using a vegetable peeler, take lengthways strips of skin off the cucumber so it looks stripy. Cut in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds and chop into half-moon slices. Add to the almonds.
- Toss and dress: Add the cherry tomatoes, raisins, spring onions and half the mint to the bowl. Add the cooled quinoa and mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper, dress with the lime juice and a good drizzle of olive oil. Garnish with the remaining mint leaves.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay use raisins in a quinoa salad?
The raisins add pockets of concentrated sweetness that balance the lime juice and the slight bitterness of the quinoa. Without them the salad tastes one-dimensional. They are doing the same job as pomegranate seeds in a Middle Eastern salad, just with a softer texture. If you prefer something sharper, dried cranberries or barberries work as a swap.
Does Ramsay have a second quinoa salad?
In Ultimate Fit Food he makes a Roasted Cauliflower, Quinoa and Pomegranate Salad with a pomegranate molasses dressing, roasted cauliflower florets and parsley. It is heavier and more substantial than this one, designed as a complete healthy lunch rather than a light side. The molasses dressing gives it a sweet-sharp depth that the lime and olive oil version here does not have.
What is the best way to cook quinoa?
Rinse it first under cold water to remove the bitter saponin coating. Use a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water, bring to the boil, then simmer covered for about 12 minutes until the water is absorbed and the tails have unfurled. Then the critical step: spread it on a tray to cool. Never leave it in the hot pan or it clumps into a stodgy mass that no dressing can rescue.
Can you use red quinoa instead of white?
Yes, and it holds its shape even better because the grains are slightly firmer. Red quinoa has a nuttier, earthier flavour that works well with the almonds and raisins. It takes a couple of minutes longer to cook than white. The colour also makes the salad look more interesting against the green cucumber and red tomatoes.
What should you serve quinoa salad with?
Ramsay pairs it with his mackerel ceviche from the same book, and the lime in both ties them together. It also works alongside grilled chicken, pan-fried salmon or as part of a bigger spread. For a light lunch table, serve it with his beetroot salad and the butter bean salad for three different textures.
Does quinoa salad keep well?
Better than almost any salad we cover on this site. The quinoa does not wilt, the almonds stay crunchy for a day, and the lime dressing holds without separating. Store in a sealed container for up to two days. Add a fresh squeeze of lime before serving leftovers as the acid fades overnight. This makes it one of the best options for meal prep or packed lunches. For more batch-friendly options, see his best meal-prep salads.
