This spinach chopped salad is full of greens, nourishing veggies, and brown rice. It’s the perfect salad to pack for a busy week of lunches, but is also great salad option for a quick plant-based dinner.

This chopped spinach salad with brown rice is my favorite salad right now. It is one of those recipes I would eat every day of the week. It has so much crunch and flavor, and with the addition of brown rice, will keep you satisfied longer than your average salad.

Everything is chopped up small, which to me is the key for an awesome salad.

Keep in mind that brown rice takes a little longer to cook (about 45 minutes) and then it needs to cool in the fridge. For that reason, I don’t like to leave this meal completely unprepared to make on the fly, unless I’m making it on the weekend and can take my time.

With the rice prepped and ready in the fridge, you can definitely make this quickly on a weeknight.

Spinach and Brown Rice Chopped Salad Ingredients:

You’ll find the full ingredient list below—but here’s what to expect in this plant-based recipe!

Spinach
Brown Rice
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Red Onion
Black Olives
Pecans
Feta Cheese (can be vegan)
Lemon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper for dressing

flexible ingredients:

I ultimately created this salad with all of my favorite salad elements in mind—fresh, filling, briny, crunchy—but know that this is a recipe that can be flexible to your own taste, or what you have on hand.

I’ve made many of the following substitutions depending on what I had available to me in the moment:

Greens: the recipe calls for spinach, which I truly love in this salad, but I have also used kale.

Olives: black olives are great in this salad, but green Spanish olives also work. Feel free to use your favorite option.

Pecans: I tend to use almonds and walnuts more often in salads, but the pecans add a flavor and texture I just love in this recipe. I really encourage the pecans, but they can be swapped out for what you have or prefer.

Add chickpeas: chickpeas can be added as a fun little extra boost of protein.

Feta cheese: You can choose to eliminate the feta cheese altogether from this recipe if you are vegan, but there are a handful of vegan cheese brands that make a vegan feta available. As I have mentioned before, I do not eat a 100% vegan diet, and feta cheese on some salads tends to be an exception I make when I cannot find a vegan variety at my local store.

The dressing: I totally freehand the dressing for this salad, and I strongly encourage you to do the same. I think this can be so helpful in developing your cooking skills, and learning what you like. Doing so will make you more and more comfortable with experimenting each time you try it—this can be a small step. That said, I have included some measurements for a basic oil/vinegar ratio if you’d prefer to try that, or you can always use your favorite homemade or store-bought balsamic dressing.

prep and serving tips:

Salad recipes are typically simple by nature, but I wanted to share with you a few tips that can make them a meal you truly look forward to.

Chop everything small, and similar in size. I don’t know about you, but there is something about a giant piece of lettuce that is just not that enjoyable to me when eating a salad. I love chopped salads, and I think it’s because you can get more of the flavors and ingredients all in one bite.

Add a grain. This salad uses brown rice, but I’d recommend adding a grain to any salad you make.

Season you greens. If you have yet to season your greens, then you may have been surprised to see salt and pepper on the ingredient list. The salt and pepper are key, as it brings out all the great flavors in your salad. I freehand the dressing for this dish, so I add the salt and pepper at the end before I give everything a big stir.

add this salad to your vegan meal prep rotation:

Everyone has a different mindset when it comes to weeknight dinner preparations, and this recipe caters to most all of them.

If you are someone who enjoys the full process of start to finish cooking on a weeknight—whether that’s because you find it calming and decompressing, or simply because it’s fun—I see you, and this recipe works for that. You can leave everything unprepped, and cook this meal from start to finish after work. You may have to enjoy this one with the rice still warm—but that just transforms the recipe from a salad to a yummy savory grain bowl.

If you like to have a few shortcuts ready to go, but don’t mind minimal prep upon walking through the door—you can prep just the rice on Sunday night, and then chop all of the vegetables the evening of. You can even chop the vegetables in advance if you ultimately just want to add all of the ingredients into a bowl and top with dressing ingredients. Your call!

Finally—you can definitely prep this entire salad in advance to enjoy for the week ahead. I’d make sure cooking the rice is one of the first things you do on your prep day. That way it can cook then cool throughout the day as you prepare your other meals. Once the rice has cooled, assemble the entire salad into your individual containers.

Spinach, or if you choose to use kale, is a pretty hearty green, so you can keep the dressing separate until serving, or you can dress the salads and they will keep well in the fridge.

I hope you love this salad as much as I do!

Be sure to follow along for more plant-based goodness on Pinterest and Instagram.

Spinach and Brown Rice Chopped Salad

Serves 2

10 minutes to make salad when rice is prepped in advance. *see note about brown rice.

*brown rice takes about 45 minutes to prepare, and will need additional time to chill in fridge. It is suggested to make rice the day before preparing salad.

Ingredients:

Make this salad your own! Salads should be made to your preference, and the amounts for the ingredients listed below are to be used as a general guide. Add more of the ingredients you love, and less of the ingredients you don’t.

Salad:

2 large handfuls of spinach (can substitute kale), chopped finely
1.5 cups of brown rice (cooked)
1 cup of broccoli florets chopped small
1/2 cup cucumber diced small (more to preference)
1/4 cup red onion (to taste) diced small
1/2 cup black olives, chopped
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese

Dressing**:

olive oil
balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/4-1/2 of a lemon
salt & pepper to taste

**I do not prepare and combine this dressing separately. I eyeball the ingredients and drizzle the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice directly onto my prepared salad. I then salt and pepper the salad. I encourage you to try the same, taste as you go, and adjust to your own personal preference, but if you need some guidelines: I’d mix about 1/2 cup olive oil and 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper (leave out the lemon). Use as much of this very basic vinaigrette as you prefer, and store any leftovers in the fridge. Before serving, give the salad a good squeeze of lemon.

You may also use your favorite store-bought balsamic vinaigrette.

Instructions:

Prepare brown rice in advance and chill in the fridge before making salad*.
Finely chop and dice spinach, broccoli, cucumber, red onion, olives and pecans.
Add chopped ingredients to serving bowl with prepared and chilled brown rice, and feta cheese. Give everything a good mix so ingredients are all evenly distributed.
If you prefer, eyeball the dressing ingredients and add a few drizzles of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Or, premix the ingredients using the ratios as noted above and below**. Refrigerate leftover dressing. You may also use your favorite store-bought balsamic vinaigrette.
Serve immediately after dressing salad. Or, store salad without dressing ingredients in the fridge for 3-4 days as meal prep.

Notes:

*Brown rice takes about 45 minutes to prepare, and will need additional time to chill in fridge. It is suggested to make rice the day before preparing salad.

**I do not prepare and combine this dressing separately. I eyeball the ingredients and drizzle the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice directly onto my prepared salad. I then salt and pepper the salad. I encourage you to try the same, taste as you go, and adjust to your own personal preference, but if you need some guidelines: I’d mix about 1/2 cup olive oil and 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper (leave out the lemon). Use as much of this very basic vinaigrette as you prefer, and store any leftovers in the fridge. Before serving, give the salad a good squeeze of lemon.

You may also use your favorite store-bought balsamic vinaigrette.