Green Bean, Cranberry, and Quinoa Salad

GFGluten Free

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This Gluten-Free & Vegan Green Bean, Cranberry, and Quinoa Salad is a delicious and healthy dish to serve at your next holiday meal or party.

What determines whether something can qualify as a “holiday dish”? Is it tradition, the ingredients, or the amount of  sugar?

To be honest, I’m not really sure. But what I do know is this Green Bean, Cranberry, and Quinoa salad is going to be on my table this year. Plus, we got some red and green colors going on in there, so that counts, right?!

Green Bean, Cranberry, Quinoa Salad - Easy and Healthy Vegan Holiday Recipe

Some things I love about this salad: it can be served warm or chilled, it’s hearty, and it won’t leave you feeling heavy. Plus, all of the ingredients can be prepped ahead of time to make your holiday season more hassle-free.

I’m not going to say this is better than Green Bean Casserole, because that’s definitely a classic. However, I think it’s pretty dang tasty, and definitely worth a try!

Green Bean, Cranberry, Quinoa Salad - Easy and Healthy Vegan Holiday Recipe

Heck, even if it’s not the holiday season and you just randomly stumbled upon this blog post, go for it! The ingredients remind me of chillier days, but they are all pretty accessible so you could really make this any time of year. You do you, boo. 😉

Green Bean, Cranberry, Quinoa Salad - Easy and Healthy Vegan Holiday Recipe

A Few Final Thoughts:
  • I purchased all of the ingredients from this recipe (aside from nonperishables) from Thrive Market. If you’re looking to save money on your groceries and live in the US, click here to get a free trial + 25% off of your first purchase!
  • If you’d like to prep this salad ahead of time, the green beans, quinoa, and dressing can all be made in advance. Just mix everything together day-of, and you’re good to go!
  • If you would like to make this recipe Nut-Free, you can substitute the Walnuts for Pumpkin Seeds.

If you’re looking for more recipes with Quinoa, you may also like my One Pot Mexican-Inspired Quinoa, or my Chipotle, Pumpkin, and Chickpea Curry!

Finally, if you make this recipe and share a photo on Facebook or Instagram, be sure to tag me @frommybowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂

Print

Green Bean, Cranberry, & Quinoa Salad

This Gluten-Free & Vegan Green Bean, Cranberry, and Quinoa Salad is a delicious and healthy dish to serve at your next holiday meal or party.

  • Prep Time: 7 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 27 minutes
  • Yield: 5 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2/3 cup Dry Quinoa
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • ~ 1 lb. Green Beans, ends trimmed and cut in half
  • 1/3 cup Dried Cranberries
  • 1/3 cup Chopped Walnuts

For the Maple Dijon Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup Tahini
  • 3 tbsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 1/4 tsp Fresh Black Pepper, or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Instructions

  1. First, prepare the Garlic Quinoa. Add the dry Quinoa, Garlic Powder, and a pinch of Salt to a medium sized pot. Pour in 1 1/3 cups of water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, then let sit for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
  2. In the meantime, prepare the Green Beans by sautéing them in a pan with a splash of water or veggie broth (if you would like to use oil, you may also do so here). Cook them over medium heat for around 5-7 minutes, until bright green and slightly tender, but still crispy. Set aside.
  3. Prepare the Maple Dijon Dressing by adding all ingredients to a medium bowl and whisking together until well incorporated.
  4. Finally, prepare the salad by combining the Garlic Quinoa, Green Beans, and half of the Dressing together in a large bowl, adding additional dressing to taste, as necessary. Garnish with Cranberries and Walnuts, and serve hot or chilled.

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Green Bean, Cranberry, Quinoa Salad - Easy and Healthy Vegan Holiday Recipe

Green Bean, Cranberry, Quinoa Salad - Easy and Healthy Vegan Holiday Recipe

About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

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Comments

  1. Decided I’d finally leave a review after making this multiple times in the past two years. This recipe is my go-to party/potluck/holiday dish. It’s always a huge hit with friends and family and without fail, I get asked for the recipe each time I make it. This swish is sweet, savory, and satisfying without being too filling or unhealthy. Thank you Caitlin!

    1. Oh wow! That’s awesome, I’m so glad you’ve been getting such good use from it. Thank you so much!

  2. Stumbled onto this recipe just a few months ago; it is now a favorite of our whole family – nutritious and so tasty!! I always make a double batch. It’s great as is, but my family prefers french cut frozen green beans. I could find only larger jars of tahini when I first wanted to try the recipe so got a small packet of sunflower seed paste instead, and that works well. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

  3. Hi Caitlin, thanks for sharing this recipe. I tried it out today, and though I’d fresh run out of tahini and maple syrup (and substituted that with honey), it still turned out really good!

  4. 5 stars
    I made this tonight and it was SO GOOD! I served it over some kale to get some extra greens in- definitely worth trying next time! 🙂

  5. 5 stars
    Hi Caitlin! I made this green bean dish for christmas dinner last night and it was a huge success! I absolutely loved that dressing!

  6. 5 stars
    Oh MY, this was de-LISH! This has some serious potential to become an addiction, the tahini-mustard-lemon mixture gives this meal an incredibly savory, umami-like flavor! Will definitely make this again…and again (…and again)!