This Italian Style low FODMAP quinoa salad is honestly the only low FODMAP quinoa salad recipe you’ll ever need. It takes 15 minutes to make from start to finish and is the perfect quinoa recipe. All you need to do is cook the quinoa (which is super easy) and chop some vegetables up and you’ve got a delicious meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
This low FODMAP quinoa salad features Italian flavors like tomato, basil, and an easy low FODMAP Italian dressing if you’re up for it. Not convinced? Here’s 8 reasons why you need this quinoa recipe in your life
8 Reasons Why You Need This Quinoa Recipe
We’re here to change your mind if you’ve ever had quinoa and hated it. This recipe is so simple and delicious, we could keep raving about it. Healthy food gets a bad rap for being tasteless or boring. Add the low FODMAP diet to that equation and the result might be grim, right?
Wrong! Here’s why you need this low FODMAP quinoa dish in your life:
- Quinoa is a superfood and has tons of benefits.
- It takes no time to make.
- This low FODMAP quinoa salad recipe is DELICIOUS. It’s sweet, savory, tangy, bright, rich and fresh.
- This recipe is perfect for meal prep. Make it days in advance and store it in the fridge foru up to 4 days.
- It’ll keep you fuller for longer because quinoa is high in fiber! So you actually eat less but stay satisfied.
- This low FODMAP quinoa salad is jam packed with vitamins and minerals. Not just from the veggies but quinoa is incredibly nutritious and has tons of zinc, copper, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, and thiamin.
- It’s completely customizable! You can add whatever vegetables you want to this quinoa salad.
- There’s virtually no cooking. All you have to do is boil the quinoa and chop the veggies.
Trust us when we say you won’t regret making this low FODMAP quinoa salad for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We made one batch of this recipe and had it for lunch 4 days in a row with zero complaints.
Next up is a little introduction to the main ingredient of this low FODMAP salad: quinoa.
About Quinoa
Ever wondered “where does quinoa come from?” or “what is quinoa made of?” Quinoa comes from the Andes. It’s a staple food in South America[1]. Quinoa is actually a seed even though it’s known as a grain.
Quinoa is easy to cook, like pasta or rice. It’s gluten free, protein rich, and high in fiber. It dates back to 5000 BC and ancient civilizations used to call this superfood “the mother grain” or “the gold of the Incas.”
Click here, if you want to learn more about quinoa, FODMAP levels, benefits, and more. If not, let’s tackle the details in the next section with the ingredient FODMAP notes.
FODMAP Notes For Italian Low FODMAP Quinoa Salad
All the information for the ingredient FODMAP notes in this low FODMAP quinoa salad is from Monash University and FODMAP Friendly. Please keep in mind that these are recommended serving sizes based on research. Every person and their tolerances are different.
Feel free to swap out any of the ingredients in this list for ones you know you can have.
Quinoa
Cooked quinoa is low FODMAP at a serving size of 1 cup or 155 grams. Make sure to cook the quinoa first and measure out the recommended serving size. Red, white, black, and tri-colored quinoa have the same FODMAP levels.
Interested in quinoa FODMAP? Have a look at our guide to quinoa: Is Quinoa Low FODMAP? Next on our list is tomatoes.
Tomatoes
Monash retested tomatoes and bell peppers [2] and updated their serving sizes in 2022. We used cherry tomatoes in this recipe but here’s a list of the serving sizes for various types of tomatoes:
- Cherry Tomatoes (Raw): low FODMAP at 45 grams.
- Regular Tomatoes (Raw): low FODMAP at 65 grams.
- Vine Tomatoes (Raw): low FODMAP at 69 grams.
- Roma Tomatoes (Raw):low FODMAP at 75 grams.
The other retested ingredient is bell pepper!
Bell peppers
These are Monash’s (2022) updated serving sizes for bell peppers:
- Yellow Bell Pepper (Raw): low FODMAP at 25 grams.
- Red Bell Pepper (Raw): low FODMAP at 43 grams.
- Green Bell Pepper (Raw): low FODMAP at 75 grams.
Orange bell peppers FODMAP levels are unknown because they’re untested. Feel free to skip out on the next ingredient if you want to keep this dairy-free or swap it out for vegan feta.
Feta
Feta cheese comes in cow’s, sheep’s or goats’ milk and there are even vegan options. The non vegan options are low in lactose and low FODMAP at 40 grams or 3 tablespoons. The next ingredient is the herby star of this low FODMAP quinoa salad.
Basil
Basil is low FODMAP at 1 cup or 16 grams. Pine nuts are next on our list! They’re optional but give this dish a pesto vibe when paired with fresh basil
Pine Nuts
Pine nuts are low FODMAP at 14 grams or 1 tablespoon. The next ingredient adds a freshness to this dish.
Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is low FODMAP at 1/2 cup or 125 grams.
Cucumber & Garlic Olive Oil
These two ingredients are free of FODMAPs!
With the FODMAP notes out of the way, how about we get cooking? We’re about to make the perfect quinoa, on the stove or in a rice cooker!
How To Cook Perfect Quinoa
Saponin is a bitter substance that coats each quinoa grain. Quinoa needs to be rinsed to get rid of this bitter substance. So make sure to rinse quinoa thoroughly before cooking it.
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil on high heat. Turn the heat down to medium high and cook the quinoa for 10 minutes. Drain the cooked quinoa and voila! Perfect quinoa.
You can also make quinoa in rice cookers. Rise the quinoa first and add 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa. Every rice cooker will differ in cooking time but it shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to cook in the rice cooker.
Finally, on to the last section of this blog post: how to make this easy low FODMAP quinoa salad.
Make This Easy Low FODMAP Quinoa Salad
This has become one of our favorite low FODMAP quinoa recipes recently because it takes no time to make, can be made days in advance, and is perfect for meal prepping and busy weeks.
Start making this low FODMAP quinoa salad by rinsing the quinoa about 2-3 times to remove the bitter substance that coats the grains. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add 1 cup of quinoa to the pot. Cook it for 10 minutes.
Chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces and do the same to the feta cheese.
Mix the basil and garlic oil in a blender (or mortar and pestle) until smooth. You can swap the basil out for low FODMAP pesto if you have it.
Drain the quinoa when it’s completely cooked. Add the quinoa, basil paste, chopped vegetables, feta, toasted pine nuts and salt to a large bowl. Squeeze 1/2 a lemon and toss everything together until everything is coated in the basil paste.
This quinoa salad is perfect on its own but it’s taken to another level with our low FODMAP Italian Dressing. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of balsamic vinaigrette over this Italian low FODMAP quinoa salad and it is truly amazing.
Would you make this low FODMAP quinoa salad? Whether you’re trying to eat healthier or expand your low FODMAP diet, this quinoa salad is a party in a bowl. For more exciting low FODMAP recipes, click here!
2 Low FODMAP Potato Salad Recipes
Have you tried our low FODMAP vegan Vegetable Strudel?
Italian Style Low FODMAP Quinoa Salad
This insanely easy and quick low FODMAP quinoa salad recipe takes 15 minutes to make. It's filled with fresh basil, lots of FODMAP-friendly veggies, and packs one heck of a punch. You can make this easy low FODMAP quinoa salad days in advance.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa (this will yield 3-4 cups of cooked quinoa)
- 1 cup basil
- 3 tbs garlic oil
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup feta
- 1/2 cucumber
- 2 tbs toasted pine nuts
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Optional: drizzle Low FODMAP Italian Dressing on top!
Instructions
Rinse the quinoa in water at least 3 times. Quinoa grains are coated in a bitter substance that needs to be washed off before cooking.
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil on high heat. Turn the heat down to medium high and add the quinoa into the pot.
Cook the quinoa for 10 minutes.
While the quinoa cooks, chop up your vegetables and feta cheese into bite sized pieces.
Add the basil and garlic oil into a blender and mix until smooth. You can also swap out the basil for low FODMAP pesto.
After 10 minutes, drain the quinoa.
Toss the quinoa together with the chopped vegetables, feta, salt, lemon juice and basil paste.
Top with a drizzle of our Low FODMAP Italian Dressing for a sweet tangy kick.
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