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Bring the Wildflower Chopped Salad right to your kitchen! My copycat recipe is packed with arugula, quinoa (a protein-rich swap for couscous), dried cranberries, roasted red peppers, feta, sunflower seeds, and black beans for an extra protein boost—all drizzled with a simple pesto vinaigrette. You’ll love this recipe—it’s perfect for a quick, healthy lunch or a simple, satisfying dinner!

wildflower chopped salad recipe

If you’ve never been to Wildflower Bread Company, it’s a fantastic Arizona-based café chain with creative salads and sandwiches, kind of like Panera, but with even more inventive options. Since I now live in New England—far from any Wildflower locations—I recreate my favorites at home with easy fakeaway recipes! 

🥗 Wildflower Chopped Salad Recipe 

Here’s a look at all the ingredients for this delicious copycat salad: 

  • 5 ounces baby arugula (142 grams) 
  • ½ cup dry quinoa 
  • 1 cup vegetable broth 
  • 3.5 ounces dried cranberries (100 grams) 
  • 15 ounces canned black beans, drained (425 grams) 
  • 1 cup frozen roasted corn, thawed 
  • 6 ounces roasted red peppers (170 grams) 
  • ½ cup shelled sunflower seeds 
  • 4 ounces feta, crumbled (113 grams) 
  • 6 tablespoons pesto (storebought or try this carrot leaves pesto recipe
  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 
wildflower chopped salad ingredients

Quick Tip

If you love chopped salads, investing in a salad chopper makes prep so much easier. But honestly, this might be the easiest chopped salad ever—just gather, chop the arugula, and stir! The roasted red pepper is soft enough to cut with a regular knife, and everything else is ready to go.

Put the quinoa and broth in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it comes to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and finish cooking the quinoa. It will take about 15 minutes and all of the broth will be absorbed. 

quinoa

Finely chop the arugula using a salad chopper. Chop the roasted red pepper finely as well. 

chopped salad wildflower

When the quinoa is finished cooking, divide all ingredients except the pesto and vinegar between four salad bowls or meal prep containers.  

Stir the pesto and white wine vinegar together to make the Wildflower pesto vinaigrette. Drizzle on the pesto vinaigrette and serve. 

wildflower chopped salad

If you are using this salad recipe as a meal prep, I recommend waiting to chop the arugula until you are ready to have the meal. The pesto vinaigrette should be kept separate until serving time. 

🌱 Wildflower Pesto Vinaigrette Recipe 

Instead of complicating things, I kept the dressing simple: just prepared pesto and white wine vinegar. Pesto already has oil, garlic, and herbs—so all it needs to become a tangy vinaigrette is a splash of vinegar or citrus juice.

wildflower pesto vinaigrette

Watch How to Make It!

wildflower chopped salad recipe

Wildflower Chopped Salad with Wildflower Pesto Vinaigrette Recipe

Summer Yule
Try my delicious copycat of the Wildflower Bread chopped salad! Arugula, quinoa, dried cranberries, roasted red peppers, feta, and sunflower seeds are drizzled with pesto vinaigrette.
5 from 4 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 4
Calories 604 kcal

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces baby arugula (142 grams)
  • ½ cup dry quinoa
  • 1 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
  • 3.5 ounces dried cranberries (100 grams)
  • 15 ounces canned black beans, drained (425 grams)
  • 1 cup frozen roasted corn, thawed
  • 6 ounces roasted red peppers (170 grams)
  • ½ cup shelled sunflower seeds
  • 4 ounces feta, crumbled (113 grams)
  • 6 tablespoons pesto
  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Love this recipe? Please leave a comment below 😊

Instructions

  • Put the quinoa and broth in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it comes to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and finish cooking the quinoa. It will take about 15 minutes and all of the broth will be absorbed.
  • Finely chop the arugula using a salad chopper. Chop the roasted red pepper finely as well.
  • Stir the pesto and white wine vinegar together to make the WIldflower pesto vinaigrette.
  • When the quinoa is finished cooking, divide all ingredients except the pesto vinaigrette between four salad bowls or meal prep containers. Drizzle on the pesto vinaigrette and serve.

Notes

💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule 

This is a level 2 recipe (transition or weight maintenance). This is a nutritious moderate-calorie meal offering a range of nutrients from a variety of food groups.  
I made a few tweaks to Wildflower Bread’s original recipe: 
  • Swapped couscous for quinoa to make it gluten-free and higher in protein
  • Added black beans for extra plant-based protein
  • Used roasted corn instead of dried sweet corn (mostly due to availability) 
If you have a fat loss goal, there are many ways to increase the volume and protein of this dish while decreasing the calories. Here are some things I might do: 
  • Swap the dried cranberries for one cup of fresh sliced strawberries. 
  • Use a no- or low-oil salad dressing rather than the pesto vinaigrette. 
  • Substitute one pound of grilled chicken breast for the black beans and corn. 
  • Add more arugula to each salad.
 
Nutrition information is for one serving of the recipe. 

 

nutrition info disclaimer

 

All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.

 

The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.

 

“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x

Nutrition

Calories: 604kcalCarbohydrates: 71.2gProtein: 22.3gFat: 24.2gSaturated Fat: 4.3gSodium: 1321.6mgFiber: 12.5gVitamin A: 14.8% DVVitamin C: 61.2% DVCalcium: 21.5% DVIron: 27.6% DV
Keywords Wildflower chopped salad recipe, Wildflower pesto vinaigrette recipe
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2 Comments

  1. Nice job, Summer, bringing the Wildflower Bread experience to those of us east of the Mississippi. The substitutions are improvements. Good choices, all of them.

    The ingredient where you really didn’t have a choice (the corn) is completely understandable. Obviously, a restaurant hailing from the land of the Zuni and Apache would know a thing or two about corn. Obviously, they’ve had a millennia-long head start perfecting all the varieties.

    Oh, totally off-subject, but are the radish flowers edible? Most aren’t, but more than a few blooms still are eater-friendly, even delectable. In my opinion, chive flowers are particularly nice.

5 from 4 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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