This Orzo Pasta Salad is fresh, healthy, and flavorful, easy to put together, and perfect for making ahead. It is a great side dish for last-minute parties, small gatherings, or BBQs and the leftovers are perfect for picnics and packed lunches.
And the best part is that this Mediterranean salad is made with easy-to-find fresh ingredients and is ready in just 20 minutes!
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Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad bursts with Mediterranean flavors and makes a nutritious side dish. If you love fresh and healthy salads, you might also want to try my Lebanese Fattoush Salad and Turkish Shepherd Salad (Coban Salatasi) recipes.
What Is Orzo?
Orzo (or risoni) is rice-shaped small pasta and is widely used in Turkish / Mediterranean cuisine to add to soup, salad, and pilaf dishes. You can find them at most big grocery shops, Turkish food markets, or online on Amazon.
It is often mistaken for rice because of its shape. Keep in mind that orzo is not gluten-free as it is made with wheat flour!
Check my Bulgur Pilavi (Turkish Bulgur Pilaf) and Turkish Rice (Sehriyeli Pilav) recipes for more dishes that use orzo.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- Orzo - It is the star ingredient of this pasta salad. It is also known as risoni or risi. You can substitute it with any small pasta type such as ditalini and acini di pepe.
- Red onion - I love using red onions in my salad recipes as they are milder, have just the right amount of sharpness, and add beautiful color to salads.
- Peppers - I use red and yellow peppers for adding some color to this delicious summer salad but you can use any pepper you have in your fridge.
- Pine nuts - Adds extra crunchiness to the pasta as well as a nutty flavor. You can substitute it with pistachio nuts.
- Capers - They add a nice tanginess to the salad. you can substitute it with pitted and sliced olives if you don't like capers.
- Sun-dried tomatoes - I prefer using the ones that are in oil (in a jar) as they are plump and juicy. You can use fresh cherry tomatoes instead.
- Sultana - You can use raisins or currants if tats what you have in hand. Blueberries also work great with this salad.
- Radishes - They give a bright red color and a nice crunch to the salad. You can use cucumbers instead if you don't have radishes and you want to add some crunch to your orzo pasta salad.
- Pesto - I recommend using my homemade Wild Garlic Pesto for this recipe but you can use any pesto you have in hand.
For the Dressing
- Lemon - I zest a whole lemon and use its juice. Adjust it to your taste. Orange also works great with this recipe.
- Olive oil - I use good quality extra virgin olive oil for my salads as it makes a huge difference in taste.
- Herbs - I use a mixture of fresh dill and parsley. You can substitute them with mint, chervil, basil, or chives.
- Salt and Pepper - Adjust the amount to your taste. I use ½ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of freshly ground pepper for this recipe.
How to Make Orzo Pasta Salad?
This is a very easy recipe with a minimum of effort required. However, you need to follow a few simple steps to achieve the best results:
Cook The Orzo
Place a pan filled with water + salt on medium heat and bring it to a boil. Add your orzo pasta and cook it for nine minutes (or as long as it is stated on the packaging). You can cook a couple of more minutes if you don't like your orzo al dente.
Drain the orzo and cool it down under running cold water to stop it from cooking any further. This step is necessary to prevent the orzo from getting too soft and soggy. Set it aside to drain any extra moisture, stirring occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
Prepare the Vegetables
While the pasta is cooking, you can prepare your vegetables. Simply peel and dice the red onion. Deseed and dice the peppers the same size as the onions.
Lightly toast the pine nuts for intensifying the flavor. Trim the tops and tips of the radishes and slice them finely.
Roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes and capers. Wash, dry, and finely chop the herbs. Zest and juice one lemon.
Build the Salad
Place the cooked & cooled orzo pasta in a large bowl. Toss in the pesto and seasoning, and mix well until all combined.
Add the diced peppers, onions, sliced radishes, chopped capers, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs, lemon juice&zest, olive oil, pine nuts, and sultanas to the orzo.
Mix all together gently with two forks until all are nicely combined. Garnish your cold orzo salad with sliced lemons and freshly cut cress.
Top Tips From the Chef
- Let your orzo pasta cool down before adding the vegetables and herbs. If you toss the hot orzo with the peppers, radishes, herbs, and onion, they’ll begin to wilt.
- Same as when you cook any type of pasta, season the cooking water with a generous amount of salt to avoid blend-tasting salad.
- Don't forget to rinse the pasta under running cold water immediately after cooking it to avoid it getting sticky and lopsided.
- As with any fresh salad, use the best and freshest ingredients you can possibly get. Always use extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the dressing.
Serving Suggestions
This simple Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad is a great side dish to many dishes such as Air Fryer Sausage, Tantuni, Karadeniz Pidesi, Calamari Fritti, Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs, Boneless Leg of Lamb, Baked Sea Bass in Foil - Firinda Levrek, and Et Sote.
Alternatively, you can add some cooked / leftover chicken pieces or shrimp to your salad and turn it into a more substantial meal on its own!
Recipe FAQs
You can cook the pasta and prepare the vegetables a couple of days in advance and keep them separate in airtight containers. When ready to serve, simply mix them all together, and then add the lemon juice, zest, and olive oil before serving.
The leftovers of this delicious summer salad would keep refrigerated for up to three days in an airtight container. Add a few drops of olive oil/lemon juice and give the salad a good mix before serving the leftovers.
I don't recommend freezing the leftovers as the fresh vegetables would lose their texture and become mushy!
Yes, this recipe works well with other small types of pasta such as ditalini and acini di pepe. Alternatively, you can use cooked whole-grain rice if you want to make this salad gluten-free.
Related Recipes
For more delicious Mediterranean Salad recipes why not try:
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this fresh and healthy Lemon Orzo Salad as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
Orzo Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 200 g orzo
- 30 g pine nuts (lightly toasted)
- 30 g sultanas
- 25 g capers (roughly chopped)
- 80 g sun dried tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 100 g peppers (diced)
- 1 small red onion (diced)
- 70 g radishes (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon wild garlic pesto
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Dressing
- 1 juice and zest of lemon
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon dill (finely chopped)
Instructions
Prepare the Orzo Pasta
- Place a pan filled with water + salt on medium heat and bring it to a boil.
- Add your orzo pasta and cook it for nine minutes (or as long as it is stated on the packaging). You can cook a couple of more minutes if you don't like your orzo al dente.
- Drain the orzo and cool it down under running cold water to stop it from cooking any further. This step is necessary to prevent orzo from getting too soft and soggy.
- Set it aside to drain any extra moisture, stirring occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Peel and dice the red onion.
- Deseed and dice the peppers the same size as the onions.
- Trim the tops and tips of the radishes and slice them finely.
- Roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes and capers.
- Lightly toast the pine nuts for intensifying the flavor.
- Wash, dry, and finely chop the herbs.
- Zest and juice one lemon.
Build the Salad
- Place the cooked & cooled orzo pasta in a large bowl.
- Toss in the pesto and seasoning, and mix well until all combined.
- Add the diced peppers, onions, sliced radishes, chopped capers, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs, lemon juice&zest, olive oil, pine nuts, and sultanas to the orzo.
- Mix all together gently with two forks until all nicely combined.
Notes
- You can use cooked whole grain rice if you want to make this salad gluten-free.
- Let your orzo pasta cool down before adding the vegetables and herbs.
- Season the cooking water with a generous amount of salt to avoid blend-tasting salad.
- Don't forget to rinse the pasta under running cold water immediately after cooking it to avoid it getting sticky and lopsided.
- Use the best and freshest ingredients you can possibly get.
- Always use extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the dressing.
Nutrition
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Sanem
Absolutely delicious. I thought lemon zest would be over power the dish but it was perfect. Thanks for sharing