Jennifer Aniston Salad – Chelsea’s Messy Apron

The mega-trendy Jennifer Aniston Salad is a powerhouse salad combining quinoa (or barley) with chickpeas, herbs, veggies, pistachios, feta cheese, and a simple lemon vinaigrette. You’ve gotta try it!

What Is The Jennifer Aniston Salad?

In collaboration with a company on Instagram, Jennifer Aniston created and shared a salad recipe that she proclaimed to be her ideal salad combining barley, chickpeas, herbs, pistachios, and feta. Versions of this salad have gone viral all over TikTok.

What Did Jennifer Aniston Eat Every Day On The Set of Friends?

(And did Jennifer Aniston eat the same salad every day?!)

Even though this is described as her ideal salad, it’s actually not the legendary salad she ate every single day during the filming of the Friends TV series. Jennifer’s co-star, Courtney Cox, shared with the LA times that she, Lisa Kudrow (another co-star), and Jennifer enjoyed a Cobb Salad together for lunch every single day.

(More on this: read the Jennifer Aniston salad interview confiding that the viral Tiktok salad isn’t actually the one she ate daily.)

So, while this salad recipe is not the salad she ate every day for nearly 10 years, it is her dream salad recipe NOW, and the recipe that has taken the internet by storm. We, of course, added a few of our own tweaks and might just eat this daily for the next few months. 😉 

The Jennifer Aniston Salad TikTok Trend

A lot of viral Tiktok recipes can be, well, hit or miss. But not this one! Not only can I get behind it, but I’m also pretty obsessed with it!

It’s fresh, flavorful, textural, and packed with good nutritious ingredients. No wonder Jennifer loves it!

Is The Jennifer Aniston Salad Healthy?

This salad is a powerhouse of great ingredients. Not only do I think quinoa tastes amazing, but it’s also considered a superfood – meaning it’s exceptionally nutritious for you. It is high in fiber and protein and one of the most nutrient-dense carbohydrate sources. Chickpeas are a great source of plant-based protein and fiber, making them very satiating. There are loads of other benefits from the ingredients in this recipe.

What Is In The Jennifer Aniston Salad?

This salad combines cooked quinoa, chickpeas, veggies, herbs, pistachios, and feta. More details on the ingredients are shown below and we’ll chat about the dressing further down in this post.

• Cooked quinoa: (Here’s how to cook quinoa.) We love tri-colored quinoa best and for a nice shortcut, you can use Microwaveable Packaged Quinoa. Microwaveable quinoa is already cooked and just needs to be heated.
• Chickpeas: Also known as garbanzo beans (they’re one and the same). If you don’t love chickpeas, try white beans instead.
• Fresh herbs: We love parsley and mint, but you could use just one herb if preferred. Another nice option here is fresh basil.
• Red onion: If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw red onion, soak the diced onions in salted ice water for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly before adding.
• Pistachios: Dry-roasted and salted is our favorite here — tons more flavor without extra work on your end. If you are using raw nuts, we recommend roasting them first for better texture and flavor in this Jennifer Aniston Salad.
• Cucumber: We recommend Persian (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) or English cucumbers. These cucumbers are nearly seedless and very crisp (instead of watery) with a sweeter flavor.
• Feta: Feel free to leave this out if you wish. Goat cheese is another really nice and flavorful option in this salad.

QUICK TIP

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is an ancient seed that’s often called a grain because of the way it cooks. It’s higher in protein than regular grains, and that’s what makes it such a great vegetarian addition to this salad!

Jennifer Aniston Salad Dressing

This is where we changed things up a bit and added a few more ingredients to inject some pizzazz. Instead of just combining lemon juice and olive oil, we add a few more things:

• Dijon mustard. We love Grey Poupon® Dijon best. Make sure to use Dijon, not yellow mustard. 
• Red wine vinegar. This adds a nice punch of flavor to the salad.
• Garlic. If you don’t have garlic on hand, add 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
• Olive oil. We recommend extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. Better oil = better flavor.
• Honey. Add less for a tangier dressing, and more for a sweeter one.
• Lemons. We use fresh lemon juice because bottled lemon juice doesn’t pack the same flavor as fresh, and we need the lemon zest, too.  
• Salt & pepper. No dressing is complete without salt and pepper, and this vinaigrette is no exception. Add to taste preference, remembering that an extra pinch can be the difference between a good and a stellar dressing!

More Delicious Salads:

Jennifer Aniston Salad

This Jennifer Aniston Salad is a powerhouse salad combining quinoa (or barley) with chickpeas, herbs, veggies, pistachios, feta cheese, and a simple lemon vinaigrette!

Jennifer Aniston Salad

This Jennifer Aniston Salad is a powerhouse salad combining quinoa (or barley) with chickpeas, herbs, veggies, pistachios, feta cheese, and a simple lemon vinaigrette!

Instructions

• QUINOA: Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve in cold water for about 30 seconds. In a small saucepan, combine rinsed quinoa with 2 cups water. Season with salt (I add 1/2 tsp). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover the pan with a lid. Turn heat to the lowest setting, cover, and cook for 15 minutes or until the water has completely absorbed in the quinoa. Turn off the heat and let stand covered for 5-10 minutes. After it’s finished steaming, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa gently with a fork. Set aside to cool to room temperature. In a hurry? Spread it on a sheet pan and slide it into the freezer for 15 minutes.

• DRESSING: In a small mason jar, combine all the dressing ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper (we add 1/2 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp salt). Shake to combine and emulsify. Refrigerate while you finish the salad.

• SALAD: Combine the cooked and cooled quinoa with the rest of the salad ingredients except the feta. Drizzle on dressing and toss everything together. Top with feta and gently mix through. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Cooked quinoa: (Here’s how to cook quinoa.) We love tri-colored quinoa– and for a nice shortcut, you can use Microwaveable Packaged Quinoa. Microwaveable quinoa is already cooked and just needs to be heated.
Note 2: Cucumber: We recommend Persian (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) or English cucumbers. These cucumbers are nearly seedless and very crisp (instead of watery) with a sweeter flavor.
Note 3: Red onion: If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw red onion, soak the diced onions in salted ice water for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly before adding.
Note 4: Fresh herbs: We love parsley and mint in this recipe, but you could use just one herb if preferred. Another nice option here is fresh basil.
Note 5: Pistachios: Dry-roasted and salted is our favorite here — tons more flavor without extra work on your end. If you are using raw nuts, we recommend roasting them first for better texture and flavor.
Note 6: Feta: feel free to leave this out if you wish. Goat cheese is another really nice and flavorful option in this salad. If you want some vegan creaminess, consider adding a ripe diced avocado! Without the cheese, this recipe is vegan.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 24.9g | Protein: 9.5g | Fat: 18.8g | Cholesterol: 11.1mg | Sodium: 394.3mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4.1g

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.