Grain + Celery Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette (Costco Copycat!)

Packed over the top grain and celery copycat Costco salad recipe in a Kirkland plastic container with homemade apple cider vinaigrette dressing in background

4.50 from 2 votes

Grain + Celery Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette (Costco Copycat!)

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!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Salads

Cuisine: Vegan

Keyword: apple cider vinaigrette, batch cook, copycat, costco salad, grain celery salad, meal prep, quinoa salad

Servings:

Calories: 312kcal

Author: Abi Cowell

Cost: $12

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

US Customary - Metric

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.

Notes

Use oil instead of aquafaba for a dressing that is closest to the Costco version. Using the aquafaba instead of oil in the dressing reduces the calories and fat content, while increasing slightly the protein.

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 want to make less portions, use the "Servings" button to adjust up or down (for example, if you enter 0.5, the recipe will automatically adjust the numbers so you're making half as much salad).

Makes 8 servings as a light meal and 12 servings as a side salad. Nutritional information calculated using aquafaba + water, not oil, if needed, in the dressing.

Nutrition