Jennifer Aniston Salad

The Jennifer Aniston Salad is an internet sensation, and for good reason. It’s healthy, delicious, and easy to make. It’s a perfect summer salad for hot days, for entertaining, picnics, and meal prep.

I must be behind the times, or at least when it comes to salads, I’m behind the times. Because this grain salad was a viral sensation in 2022. Aniston apparently originally shared this salad in 2020 on Living Proof on Instagram. But it took Simply Vegetarian 777 to share it earlier this year for me to find it.

I wasn’t originally going to share this salad on my blog, but I’ve made it so many times now that I figured some of you would love it as well, and maybe you hadn’t heard of it either.

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Great for entertaining

Besides, it fits so well with my other salads. And you know I’m a big fan of salads for entertaining.

Serving cold salads at a baby shower or bridal shower makes it so easy on the host. Many salads can be made days in advance and simply pulled out of the fridge when guests arrive.

This salad would also be perfect for summer cookouts and BBQs. It can be a main dish for vegetarians or a side dish for meat eaters.

Reasons you’ll love it

It’s filled with fresh herbs and vegetables. This salad is nice and healthy and quick to toss together!

Here are some other reasons to give salad a try:

• It’s nice & filling: using grains as a base, this salad will keep you satisfied for hours.
• Easy to customize: I’ve played around with the ingredients many times. Sometimes because I’m out of something. Or, maybe you have leftovers to use up. Feel free to customize this salad and swap out ingredients to make it your own! We’ll talk about playing with the ingredients in a bit. 
• Perfect for meal prep: This wholesome recipe is the perfect salad for meal prep. It keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, so you can make a big batch and enjoy it for lunch all week. I’ve even taken it on car rides to eat while traveling.

Variety is the spice of life

Like I said, I’ve made this so many times. And, the nice thing about it is you can make it a little differently each time if you want.

Let’s look at the ingredients and get some ideas going.

Grains

Jen’s original Instagram share was for a wheat bulgur salad. The more recent shares of the salad use quinoa or bulgur.

Really any whole grains will be great here; they’ll provide a hearty and filling base for the salad. Try farro, barley, black rice, brown rice, bulgur, or quinoa.

Cook the grains according to the package directions.

And, just so the internet trolls don’t come down on me, quinoa is technically a seed and not a grain. But most people use at as a grain, so that’s what I’m going with here.

For added flavor, cook the grains in low-sodium broth like my Vegetarian Vegetable Broth.

Vegetables

The recipe calls for 1 cup cucumber. I always just chop up the whole cuke and toss all of it in.

Use a large English cucumber, which won’t need to be peeled or seeded.

There are lots of kinds of cucumbers, even at the grocery stores. Garden (regular) cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, mini cucumbers, and Kirby cucumbers are all fairly common. Some may need to be peeled if they have a waxy coating on them. And you may want to remove the seeds as well. Feel free to use any kind of cuke here.

The recipe also calls for 1/3 cup chopped red onion. The onion adds a nice crunch and flavor to the salad, but if you find raw onion too strong there are a few solutions.

Run the chopped onion under cool tap water for a bit. The water will rinse off some of the pungency and soften the flavor. Be sure to drain the onion well.

Or use chopped green onion in place of the red onion. Green onions (or scallions) are softer in flavor.

Add extra veggies if you want. I love the color and crunch of a chopped red pepper, so I’ve added it to the recipe.

Chopped avocado would be lovely in the salad as well. Of course, I think avocado would be lovely in almost every salad.

Serve it over fresh spinach for even more veggies!

Herbs

The combination of parsley and mint are fresh and vibrant in this salad. And you know I love fresh mint; read All About Fresh Mint.

Feel free to mix up the herbs based on what’s in your garden or your favorite.

Basil is a lovely addition, or a good swap for the mint if you prefer.

Fresh dill, tarragon, chives, and cilantro are all good options for this salad.

Nuts

The salad was originally shared with pistachios. I have made it several times with other nuts depending on what I have, and it’s always delicious.

Since pistachios are fairly expensive, almonds are a great option, and you’ll see almonds in my salad in the pictures.

If you need this salad to be nut-free, you can swap the nuts for roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) or sunflower seeds and still have a nice crunch.

Walnuts, peanuts, or cashews would all be great alternatives.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans are a high fiber source of vegan protein, and they’re budget friendly.

Grab a can of low-sodium or no salt beans to make it even healthier.

Sometimes I’ll add in two cans of beans if I want more protein.

You can also add more protein with tofu, shrimp, shredded chicken, or bacon.

Make it a nice dinner salad by topping it with Air Fryer Salmon or roasted chicken.

Dressing

The dressing is nice and light and simple. Just some lemon juice, oil, and salt and pepper.

Feel free to use any citrus that you like.

Lime would be fantastic. You could make it a cilantro lime styled salad and add cotija cheese as well.

Also, feel free to use your favorite oil here.

Also, the salad recipe doesn’t give amounts for the salt and pepper. Some cheeses will be saltier than others, and tastes differ, so you may want more or less S & P than I do.

Cheese

The recipe calls for feta cheese, but again, this is easily changed. Use your favorite or whatever you have in the fridge.

I usually use queso fresco in place of feta because it’s my favorite white crumbly cheese.

Or, you can simply leave the cheese out, and the famous salad is vegan.

How to store

Just pop this salad into an airtight container, or into several smaller containers, and into the fridge for up to 5 days.

It makes lunchtime so easy! And I’ve found that the flavors all meld and the salad tastes even better as it sits.

More great grains recipes

Grain recipes are so good, filling, and nutritious. Check out some of my quinoa recipes: Shrimp with fresh tomato sauce and cilantro lime quinoa, Spinach quinoa muffins, and Breakfast quinoa.

You’ll also love these grain recipes: Baked barley with mushrooms, and Winter grain bowl, and Wild rice salad.

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The Jennifer Aniston Salad Recipe