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Bursting with fresh colorful veggies, this vibrant millet salad is as nutritious and tasty as it is pretty. This whole grain salad is naturally gluten-free and whole30 friendly.

This recipe makes 4 servings of millet salad as a main course or 8 servings as a side.

Table of Contents

(click the links below to skip to the section you’re looking for)

• Vegan Millet Salad Recipe
• Vegan Salad Dressing
• Assemble and Decorate
• Tips and FAQ
• Ingredient Substitutions

• Nutritional Information
• Contact Me with Questions
• Similar Recipes

When I first went vegan in 1999, there weren’t many plant-based alternatives to dairy products. So, I actually made a cheesecake out of cooked millet. The takeaway here is that I’ve been eating millet since before it was cool. Just kidding, it’s not cool now either haha.

This grain salad uses half millet and half quinoa. This is a nice way to ease people into millet if they haven’t had it before. However, if you’re like me and have been eating millet since The Get Up Kids were popular, then you can use a cup of millet and omit the quinoa. I must have made this cold millet salad 10 times this summer. It’s so friggen good!

Ingredients you need for Vegan Millet Salad

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• ½ cup (100g) millet
• ½ cup (95g) quinoa
• ¾ teaspoon (6g) pink sea salt
• 1 ¾ cups (412g) - 2 cups (472g) water
• 1 cucumber (~2 cups or 225g), diced
• 3 carrots (~2 cups or 180g), grated
• 1 purple daikon (~2 cups or 160g), peeled and grated
• 1 ⅔ cups (250g) kidney beans

How to Cook the Millet and Prep the Veggies for this Salad

prep time: 10 min | cook time: 15 min

Rinse ½ cup (100g) millet and ½ cup (95g) quinoa.

Add the rinsed grains to a pot or the liner of an instant pot.

Add ¾ teaspoon (6g) pink sea salt to the pot.

Add water to the pot. If you’re cooking the millet and quinoa on the stove, use 2 cups (472g) water. If you’re cooking the grains in an instant pot, use 1 ¾ cups (412g) of water.

Cook on high on the stovetop until the water starts to boil. Then, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed by the grains.

If you’re using your instant pot, lock the lid and press the rice button.

Prepare the veggies while the grains cook.

Dice 1 cucumber if you haven’t already. You’re aiming for around 2 cups (or 225g) diced, so choose a long cucumber if you can. If your cucumber produces less diced cucumber, that’s fine. Add the cucumber pieces to a large bowl.

Grate 3 carrots if you haven’t already. Since carrots come in different sizes, aim for about 2 cups (or 180g) of grated carrot. That might mean you need to use more or fewer than 3 carrots. But to be honest, you can’t really mess this recipe up, so just use whatever amount you have, and it will turn out great. Add the carrot to the bowl with the cucumber.

Peel and grate a purple daikon if you haven’t already. You technically do not have to peel it first, but the peel is spicy. I’m a spice wuss, so I always peel mine. Daikon is another veggie that comes in vastly different sizes, so aim for 2 cups (or 160g) grated. Add the daikon radish to the bowl with the cucumber and carrot.

Rinse 1 ⅔ cups (250g) kidney beans if you haven’t already. You can use more than this too. I’ve used up to 3 cups before, and it always tastes amazing. Add the rinsed beans to the bowl with the veggies.

If the millet and quinoa are still cooking, make the dressing next.

Ingredients for Millet Salad Dressing

• ⅓ cup (65g) olive oil
• ¼ cup (56g) apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons (10g) nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 teaspoon (1g) dried oregano (optional)
• 1 teaspoon (1g) dried thyme (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon (1g) garlic powder (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon (1g) onion powder (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste (optional)

How to make Italian Dressing for Millet Salad

prep time: 5 min

Measure or weigh ⅓ cup (65g) olive oil and ¼ cup (56g) apple cider vinegar into a jar.

Add any of the optional ingredients to the jar: 2 tablespoons (10g) nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon (1g) oregano, 1 teaspoon (1g) thyme, ¼ teaspoon (1g) garlic powder, and/or ¼ teaspoon (1g) onion powder. Save the salt and pepper until after you taste the salad and decide if it needs it.

Put the lid on the jar and shake it up well.

Assemble and Decorate your Millet Salad

prep time: 5 min

Fluff the cooked grains with a fork. You want them to be light and fluffy and not stuck together.

Transfer the cooked millet from the pot to the salad bowl.

Pour your dressing you made over the salad, and mix it all together well.

Taste it, and decide if you want to add any salt and pepper.

Decorate the salad if you are taking it to a picnic or sharing it with friends. I used mini fondant cutters to cut star shapes out of slices of daikon radish. I sprinkled the veggie stars on top of the salad before serving. This is of course optional.

Tips and Questions and Answers

Storage Tip

Make this up to 3 days ahead of time and chill it in an airtight container in the fridge.

Is millet salad whole30 friendly?

This millet salad is safe for those on a Whole30 diet, according to Whole30.com.

Where did you get the cute pink le creuset?

This pink heart-shaped dutch oven is still available on amazon if you want one. I got it as an impulse purchase during the last prime sale, but it’s the perfect size for my easy rainbow bread recipe.

Ingredient Substitutions for this Easy Millet Salad

• Millet: I buy my millet in the bulk section of my local co-op. If you can’t find millet at your store, replace the millet in this recipe with more quinoa. Or sub whatever grain you prefer. If you avoid gluten or if you have friends or family who are gluten free, don’t replace the millet with a glutinous grain. One cup of dried millet and quinoa makes about 3 ½ cups of cooked millet and quinoa. With whatever grain you choose, aim for 3 ½ cups cooked grains for this salad. I’ve made this recipe as a farro salad and a brown rice salad, and it’s always delicious. I bet it would be good with buckwheat too.
• Salt: I always use pink sea salt because I need all those trace minerals it has in it. You can use whatever salt you have in its place.
• Veggies: The veggies listed here are just suggestions. Feel free to replace them with whatever you have on hand. To add a pop of pink, replace the purple daikon radish with watermelon radish.
• Kidney Beans: 1 ⅔ cups (250g) beans is the equivalent of 1 can of beans after draining and rinsing. It’s important to rinse beans (both canned and homemade). This removes the phytates, tannins, and polyphenols that inhibit our bodies from absorbing all the nutrients. If you don’t have kidney beans, you can use any kind of bean you like. I’ve used navy, kidney, and black beans, and it always tastes delicious. Millet salad with chickpeas would be good too I bet. 1 ⅔ cups (250g) of beans is the minimum you should use, but I’ve used 3 cups before and it was still super good.
• Olive oil: Always look for first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil in a dark colored bottle. That will be the healthiest olive oil, and likely best tasting. If you can’t find first cold-pressed, the next best is cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. If you don’t have olive oil, you can replace it with other oils. Almond oil, avocado oil, safflower oil, or sunflower oil are good choices. Canola and vegetable oil are less healthy, but those are fine substitutions as well.
• Vinegar: If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can use rice vinegar or white distilled vinegar. You could use red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, but it will change the color of the salad if you use one of those. Another option is to replace the vinegar with lemon juice or lime juice.
• Spices: All of the spices are optional, and you can mix them up if you prefer other spices.

Nutrition Facts

This nutritional information is for one serving. I’m assuming that a serving is a quarter of this entire recipe (~260g).

• Servings: 4
• Calories: 445
• Calcium: 80mg
• Cholesterol: 0g
• Fiber: 11g
• Folate: 195mcg
• Iron: 4mg
• Potassium: 667mg
• Protein: 12g
• Saturated fat: 3g
• Sodium: 483mg
• Sugars: 6g
• Total Carbohydrates: 52g
• Total fat: 21g
• Vitamin A: 328mcg
• Vitamin B1: 2mg
• Vitamin B2: 2mg
• Vitamin B3: 11mg
• Vitamin B5: 1mg
• Vitamin B6: 2mg
• Vitamin B12: 4mcg
• Vitamin C: 15mg
• Vitamin K: 10mcg

Comments or Questions?

If you make this millet salad recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

Similar Recipes

If you’re into cold salads, I have other salad recipes in my salads category.

If you’re looking for other recipes using millet, check out my veggie millet tots.

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