Mango Chicken Quinoa Salad (With Mango Yogurt Dressing)

This mango chicken quinoa salad is so fresh and packed with whole foods to make you feel your best. With 38 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber per serving, it’s sure to keep you full for hours.

Ty and I loved this Southwest quinoa salad so much that I had to make another version. The mangos give it a sweet twist that makes it feel so summery, and the light mango yogurt dressing brings it all together.

Not only does it taste amazing, but it makes me feel SO GOOD after eating. Which makes sense because it’s packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, all the things. I truly can’t get enough of this stuff.

What You’ll Need

Mango Chicken Quinoa Salad

• Quinoa: I think the tri-color quinoa is really pretty, but any will work.
• Chicken: To make this super easy, I use pre-cooked shredded chicken, or rotisserie chicken.
• Ripe mangos
• Red bell pepper: Yellow or orange works too.
• Black beans
• Jalapeño
• Cilantro
• Fresh lemon juice
• Salt + pepper
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Paprika

Mango Yogurt Dressing

• Ripe mangos
• Non fat plain greek yogurt
• Honey
• Fresh lemon juice
• Salt + pepper

How To Make It

1. Cook the quinoa: The quinoa takes the longest, so get that going first. Make sure to rinse the quinoa off before cooking – I use a mesh strainer for this. After rinsing, you can choose whether or not to toast the quinoa on a hot pan before cooking – I love to do this to add more flavor. Then cook according to package instructions. I use my rice cooker and cook on the “white rice” setting.
2. Prep and chop the mangos & veggies: While the quinoa is cooking, prep the rest of the ingredients. Peel and dice the mango, cutting as close to the pit as you can to get all the fruit off. Wash the other veggies well and chop up into small pieces, or whatever size you prefer (I chop the jalapeño the smallest, very finely diced). Rinse and drain the black beans.
3. Chop the chicken: As mentioned above, I use pre-cooked chicken to make this super easy. Just chop it up into bite sized pieces.
4. Add everything together: After the quinoa has cooked and cooled off, fluff it up with a fork and add to a large mixing bowl along with the veggies and chicken. Season with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper, and fresh lemon juice (I use a lemon squeezer). Toss it all together!
5. Make the yogurt dressing: In a food processor or blender, add mango, yogurt, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Tips

• To serve: I like to keep the dressing and salad separate, until I’m ready to serve. I find this helps it stay fresh the longest.
• Picking mangos: When looking for ripe mangos, gently press the mango – it should feel soft but not mushy. Ripe mangos also have white or brown speckles on their skin, and will have more of a yellow/orange/red color instead of green.
• Cutting the mango: I know there are a lot of different methods out there, but all I do is carefully peel the outside of the mango with a peeler, then carefully cut around the pit, getting as close to the pit as I can to remove all the fruit.
• Toast the quinoa: For a delicious roasted flavor, add rinsed quinoa to a hot frying pan to toast for just a few minutes before cooking. I always do this!

Toppings

Some other toppings I love to have on this salad:

• Avocado
• Homemade hummus

To Store

Store leftover quinoa salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

You’ll Also Love

• High protein Southwest quinoa salad

As always, be sure to leave a comment and review if you try this mango chicken quinoa salad recipe!

Mango Chicken Quinoa Salad (With Mango Yogurt Dressing)

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time:25 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 5

Calories: 404kcal

Ingredients

Mango Chicken Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup quinoa (180 g) dry
• 1 lb cooked chicken breast (16 oz) chopped
• 2 cups ripe mangos (330 g) chopped – about 2 large mangos
• 1 large red bell pepper (170 g)
• 1 15oz can black beans
• 1 large jalapeño pepper
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (30 g)
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ea: chili powder, cumin, paprika, pepper

Mango Yogurt Dressing

• 1 cup ripe mangos (165 g)
• 1/2 cup non fat plain greek yogurt (113 g)
• 1 tbsp honey (21 g)
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (30 g)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2-3 tbsp cold water to thin

Instructions

Mango Chicken Quinoa Salad

• Rinse the quinoa well and cook according to package instructions. For a delicious roasted flavor, toast on a hot pan for a couple minutes before cooking.
• Peel and chop the ripe mangos, cutting as close to the pit as you can to remove all of the fruit.
• Wash and chop the rest of the veggies into small pieces (very finely dice the jalapeño into tiny pieces), drain and rinse the black beans, and set aside.
• Once the quinoa has cooked and cooled off, fluff with a fork and add to a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Enjoy with mango yogurt dressing, avocado, or any other toppings you love!

Mango Yogurt Dressing

• Peel the ripe mango and cut the fruit off of the pit. Add to a food processor or blender along with the yogurt, honey, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and water (I usually do 2 tbsp cold water). Blend until smooth.

Notes

• Nutrition: Each serving is calculated without the dressing. A 2 tbsp serving of mango yogurt dressing is 19 cals/1P/4C/0F. 

Nutrition

Serving: 366g | Calories: 404kcal | Carbohydrates: 50.7g | Protein: 38.2g | Fat: 5.4g | Fiber: 11g

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