This is a copycat Costco grain + celery salad recipe you can make at home for meal prep for less money. You can get twice or three times as many servings for the same price you'd pay at Costco for one tub. Let's get to it!
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Costco's Grain + Celery Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette is a delicious and filling plant-based salad they carry in the deli section. We've bought it several times and it's great for a quick dinner. It packs well, too, for picnics or food on the go.
Occasionally, we'll break into the container in the food court if we're hungry as a side or a main.
With four adults at home, that tub of salad is only good for one meal, usually. Possibly two, if it's served as a small side.
So, I set off to recreate it so we can could make more servings for less money.
This recipe makes about 3 pounds of salad, not counting the weight of the dressing. A Costco plastic container of salad (WITH the dressing) is usually about 2 ½ pounds. So, this recipe makes 1 ½-2 times more salad than you get out of one Costco container.
If you've got a big family, you could easily make 3-4 times as many servings as the original salad has if you want (you just need a really big bowl to mix it all up in!)
Make this salad as meal prep for the week. Everything in it keeps really well, just store the dressing separately.
🧄 Very useful ingredient notes
- Quinoa - The grain mixture is half quinoa, a high-protein grain. Be sure to rinse your quinoa well before cooking it, to remove bitterness.
- Bulgur cracked wheat - The other half of the grain mixture is cracked wheat, aka bulgur. I'm using a #2 bulgur, which is a medium size. You can get bulgur in little tiny pieces and also in larger pieces. Medium #2 is a good size for this salad. Bulgur only requires soaking in hot water.
- Kale - For less work, buy already shredded or cut kale. You may still need to cut it a little bit, but it'll already be washed and mostly broken down into bite-sized pieces. I used the chopped kale from Aldi for this recipe.
- Aquafaba - Okay, so for the dressing, you can use oil (like olive oil, grapeseed or canola oil), but if you want to reduce the fat, you can substitute all or some of the oil in the dressing for aquafaba (the juice from cooked chickpeas). This liquid is neutral-tasting and a little thicker than water. Great oil substitute for salad dressing! It's also low-waste, since you're already using chickpeas in the salad.
- Dijon mustard - Dijon mustard is light tan in color, is tangy and a bit spicy in flavor and helps the dressing to emulsify. My favorite brand is 365 from Whole Foods.
Expert Tips
- Don't make the mistake I did: I used an extra virgin olive oil that had a very strong olive flavor the first time. So, it overpowered the other flavors in the dressing and salad. Use a more neutral olive oil (or other oil) when you make the dressing.
- If you want the richness of the oil in the dressing, but lower fat, substitute just half the oil for aquafaba. Best of both worlds.
- If you don't like sweet dressings, start with HALF the maple syrup, then increase from there to your liking.
🥡 Make ahead and storage tips
Batch cook this salad, mix it all together (keep the dressing separate) and then store it either in a big plastic container or divide it into servings.
Store the dressing separately from the mixed salad in the fridge, and recombine when ready. Good for 4-5 days.
Love this recipe?
Please rate it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a comment below, so I know which recipes you like the best. This helps me know what to make more of!
📖 Recipe
Grain + Celery Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette (Costco Copycat!)
Ingredients
Grains
- 2 cups vegetable broth divided
- ½ cup quinoa
- ½ cup cracked wheat #2 bulgur
Salad Mix
- 6 cups kale finely chopped into bite-sized roughly 1-inch pieces (6 oz.)
- 1 ½ cups celery 3 stalks, cut lengthwise, then diced
- 15 ounces chickpeas canned, drain and RESERVE liquid, then rinse the chickpeas (1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas)
- 1 cup red cabbage shredded
- 1 cup carrot shredded
- ¾ cup red onion minced (about ¼ large red onion)
- ⅔ cup dried cranberries (3 oz.)
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Apple Cider Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing
- ¾ cup aquafaba (the reserved chickpea water) or oil - if you don't have enough aquafaba for the dressing, add oil or water until you have ¾ cup total
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper ground
Instructions
Prep the grains and vegetables
- Place bulgur cracked wheat in a medium heat-proof bowl. Rinse quinoa well in a fine-mesh strainer.½ cup cracked wheat
- Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a small pot on the stove. When it starts to boil, turn off heat and pour half the broth into the bowl with the cracked wheat. Return the pot to the stove. Stir cracked wheat and cover loosely with a plate big enough to cover the bowl. Allow bulgur to soak for 20 minutes.2 cups vegetable broth
- In the pot with the remaining broth, add rinsed quinoa and stir. Turn heat back on medium-high and bring back to a boil. Then, turn heat to low, cover and allow quinoa to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid has been absorbed.½ cup quinoa
- Once grains are cooked, stir and remove covers, so they can start to cool.
- While the grains are cooking, prep your veggies and make your dressing.
Make the dressing
- Add maple syrup, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and white pepper to a large glass measuring cup or medium bowl. Whisk to combine.½ cup maple syrup, 2 tablespoons dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon sea salt, ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- Measure out ¾ cup aquafaba (the reserved chickpea water) into a glass measuring cup or small bowl. If you don't have enough aquafaba, add oil or water until you have ¾ cup total. If using oil, just measure out ¾ cup.¾ cup aquafaba (the reserved chickpea water)
- To the dressing, slowly pour in oil (or aquafaba) while whisking until you have a smooth emulsified dressing.
Assemble the salad
- To a large salad bowl, add the bulgur cracked wheat, quinoa, kale, celery, chickpeas, red cabbage, carrot, red onion, cranberries and almonds. Toss to combine.6 cups kale, 1 ½ cups celery, 15 ounces chickpeas, 1 cup red cabbage, 1 cup carrot, ¾ cup red onion, ⅔ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup sliced almonds
- Serve right away with the dressing. Or, if the salad will be eaten later, store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Store salad separately from dressing.
Shirley Leger says
Thanks for this recipe. I find the Costco salad way too sweet since i dislike sweet salads. This way I can control the sweetness.
Abi Cowell says
Yes! You have total control over the ingredients. If you find the Costco salad dressing too sweet, then you'll definitely want to cut the maple syrup in half (at least), since I made this recipe as close to a copycat as I could. Hope you enjoy it, Shirley!
- Abi
Tanya D. says
I love all the healthy colorful ingredients. I have tried to wean myself from sweet ingredients. So l found the dressing a bit sweet. I will try next time to half the Maple syrup. If you love sweet salads you will love this!
Abi Cowell says
So happy you liked it, Tanya! Love that feedback, thank you so much.
- Abi
Beeej says
This was wonderful. Thank you for the oil substitute suggestion. I learned something new!
Abi Cowell says
I'm so glad!!
Jessie Y says
I'm so thankful to find this recipe. While I love the convenience of the Costco salad, it is expensive and the dressing is too high in calories for my comfort. Costo also doesn't do a very good job of chopping the kale with many large, woody pieces in the mix. The dressing with aquafaba is a game changer for sure! What a great tip. I used wheat berries instead of bulgar but the outcome was the same.
Abby says
This turned out great! Will make it again. Love that I can make this myself and control the amount of each ingredient as the one from Costco was a bit too sweet for me.
Abi Cowell says
So happy to hear it, Abby! Great name, there. 😉
- Abi