Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad

Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad featuring roasted butternut squash, peppery arugula, quinoa (or other grain of your choosing), crunchy toasted hazelnuts and a creamy apple tahini dressing to bring it all together. This side dish is naturally gluten-free, fresh, filling and full of fall flavors!

This delicious fall-inspired Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad has all the autumn-y feels. It's got sweet, soft butternut squash, quinoa (or any other grain of choice), peppery arugula, a tumble of crunchy toasted hazelnuts and a delicious, tangy tahini apple dressing to bring it all together in a very happy way.

It's loaded with flavor and interesting textures and like my Quinoa Cranberry Salad, it's a great way to keep enjoying fresh salads into the fall season and beyond.

Jump to:

• Ingredient notes & substitutions
• Alternative grains
• How to make Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad
• How to peel and cube butternut squash
• Optional mix-ins
• Making ahead & storing leftovers
• Recipe FAQS
• Hungry for more?
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredient notes & substitutions

For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card.

Here's what you will be needing to make Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad:

• Butternut squash - Cubed and roasted, but not for too long. We need it to stay in cubes and not get too soft. You could use any other type of squash or even sweet potato or yam.
• Arugula - For its peppery flavour. Baby spinach, baby kale or curly kale (massage it with a little of the dressing to make it more tender) would also work well.
• Hazelnuts - For their delicious flavour and their amazing crunch. Walnuts or pecans would make a great alternative.
• Quinoa - My grain of choice because it adds a delicate bite and lots of plant-protein for a well balanced meal. Feel free to switch it up with any other hearty grain. You can start with uncooked quinoa and follow my cooking instructions for the stovetop or Instant Pot, or use up already cooked quinoa. If it's already cooked you will need 3 cups quinoa.

And for the dressing:

• Tahini - For its rich, earthy flavour and creaminess. Almond butter makes a great sub as does cashew butter.
• Applesauce - To continue the fall theme. It must be unsweetened. If you don't have applesauce use a fresh apple instead but you will need to blend the dressing if you do. Instructions are in the recipe.
• Extra virgin olive oil - For richness and coat-ability. Omit to make the dressing oil-free.
• Apple cider vinegar - For that essential acidity in a salad dressing and to continue the apple theme.
• Garlic, cinnamon, sea salt, black pepper - Flavor!
• Maple syrup - In non vegan salads you usually see honey used to sweeten but as this is a vegan butternut squash salad, and because it works so well with the other fall flavors, we are using maple syrup for balance. It might not be necessary depending on the applesauce you use so it's a case of taste and see.

Alternative grains

How to make Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad

Here's how this delicious vegan squash salad comes together:

1. Cook then cool your grain of choice. This can even be done 2 or 3 days ahead. I find my Instant Pot invaluable when it comes to cooking grains. You can just set it and forget. There are no worries about anything boiling over or drying up and if you forget about it, like I almost always do despite the beep to tell me it's ready, whatever is in it is still fine for ages after.
2. Spread cubed butternut squash on a baking sheet and roast.
3. Mix up the dressing.
4. Toast some hazelnuts.
5. Combine everything in a large bowl.

How to peel and cube butternut squash

A really sharp chef’s knife is important when preparing butternut squash because they are very hard. A sharp knife will ensure your blade doesn’t slip and cause you an injury. 

Cut about half an inch off each end of the squash so both ends are flat. Then either use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel off the skin, or stand the squash on a wooden board, and cut vertical slices down and all around the edge until the skin is removed. 

Once the squash is peeled, cut it in half lengthways and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and most of the stringy bits. 

To cube it, lay the squash flat side down on your board and cut lengthways into strips, then each strip into chunks of the desired size. 

Once cut, you can use the squash immediately, or refrigerate it in a sealed container for 2 to 3 days. 

Optional mix-ins

Making ahead & storing leftovers

All of the components of this Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad can be prepared in advance. The dressing will keep for up to 3 days, the roasted squash and the quinoa for up to 3 days and the toasted nuts for a week or two. Just store them all (except the nuts) in the fridge before combining them.

Once made the salad will hold up for a few hours after dressing. If you wish to store it for a longer amount of time I recommend storing the salad, and the dressing, and the toasted nuts in separate containers. The salad and the dressing should be kept in the fridge and the nuts are ok at room temperature but should be in an airtight container so they stay crispy. Dress the salad right before serving.

Recipe FAQS

Hungry for more?

Love butternut squash? Be sure to check out my Easy Butternut Squash Curry.
Love quinoa? Take a look at my Peanut Crunch Salad in a Jar and Beet Lentil & Quinoa Burgers.

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📖 Recipe

^{This recipe was originally published on November 7th, 2018. I've since tweaked the recipe very slightly, rewritten the post to include more helpful information and now I am republishing it for you. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!}