If you love the fresh, bold flavor of Greek or Mediterranean salad, you'll love this Greek Orzo Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. It's filled with tender orzo, crisp veggies, fresh parsley, tangy feta and briny olives, all tossed with a 6-ingredient lemon dressing.
We make this one year round, but especially during the summer grilling season. We love to pair it with these jalapeno turkey burgers, but it also goes well with these air fryer chicken cutlets and these breaded air fryer chicken patties served as chicken burgers!
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Quick Look: Greek Orzo Pasta Salad
- ⏱ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 👩🏻🍳 Cook Time: 10 minutes
- 🆒 Chill Time: 2 hours
- ⏳ Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- 🍽 Servings: 8
- ⚡ Calories: 224 per serving
- 🌱 Diet: vegetarian
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: tender orzo and crunchy veggies coated in a fresh and tangy lemon vinaigrette.
- 👌 Difficulty: quick and easy side dish.
- ❤️ Why you'll love: perfect side dish for grilling season; easy to make ahead.
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Why use orzo to make pasta salad?
I always have orzo on hand as we love to add it to soups like this lemon chicken orzo soup. But, it's also a great way to change up traditional pasta salads!
Here's why I love using orzo for pasta salads:
- Stays firm: If you cook it al dente, it will absorb the dressing without getting mushy.
- Maximum flavor: It soaks up all of the dressing, which makes leftovers taste even better.
- Good size: The small shape cooks fast and balances with the mix ins so it doesn't dominate the salad.
If you love orzo salads, you'll also want to try this unique grilled summer vegetable orzo salad. It's light and fresh, and loaded with grilled corn, zucchini and peaches.
This Italian orzo salad with tangy Italian dressing is also a must try! It's full of zesty flavor and packed with veggies, salami and parmesan.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Perfect for summer BBQs, potlucks and picnics, this salad is simple to customize, with recipe substitutions included below.
- Orzo - You'll need 1 cup of uncooked orzo pasta. This is a short-cut, rice-shaped pasta, also known as risoni. It will double in size, so you'll get about 2 cups of cooked pasta.
- Cucumber - I like English cucumber for this recipe, but Persian cucumbers will also work well.
- Bell pepper - I used a small red bell pepper but you can also use orange, yellow or green.
- Baby tomatoes - You can use cherry or grape tomatoes for this salad. While I cut them in half, you can also keep them whole.
- Red onion - This adds a sharp yet slightly sweet flavor to the salad. Shallots are also a great substitute.
- Parsley - For extra flavor, I added some chopped fresh flat leaf parsley. Other fresh herbs will work too, such as thyme or oregano.
- Olives - The recipe calls Kalamata olives. Make sure you buy pitted ones, especially if you intend to keep them whole. You can also slice them yourself or buy sliced ones.
- Feta - While you can buy crumbled feta, I like to buy the block packed in brine and crumble it myself.
- Lemon vinaigrette - You'll just need a few basic ingredients for the vinaigrette including extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, salt and pepper. You can substitute olive oil for a milder flavor vinaigrette.
How to make Greek orzo salad with lemon dressing
Make the vinaigrette. Add the ingredients to a jar and seal it with a lid. Shake until combined and set aside.
Prepare the veggies. Chop up the cucumber, pepper, tomatoes, onion and parsley.
Cook the orzo. Follow the package instructions and drain the pasta. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Set aside to fully cool.
Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, add the cooled orzo, veggies, olives, feta, vinaigrette and toss to combine.
Make ahead option
This salad tastes best when the orzo has a chance to absorb the lemon vinaigrette so I recommend making it at least a few hours in advance.
To prepare the salad the day before, just prep the veggies, cook the orzo and make the vinaigrette. Store separately in the fridge and toss together a few hours before serving.
If you're making the vinaigrette the day before, it will solidify a little in the fridge, so let it come to room temperature and give it a good shake before adding it to the salad.
The salad will last for 2-3 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. As the orzo will absorb the vinaigrette, you may need to drizzle some olive oil over the salad and toss to loosen up the orzo before serving.
Expert tips
- Rinse the orzo with cold water after cooking it. This will cool it down fast and help prevent it from clumping. If it's clumpy, just stir in a little oil to help break it apart.
- Some lemons are juicier than others. You may need more than one lemon to get ¼ cup of lemon juice for the vinaigrette.
- The vinaigrette is tangy thanks to the lemon. If it's too tangy for you, just add a little more honey.
- Taste the salad before adding any more salt. While the vinaigrette doesn't have a lot of salt in it, the olives and feta are salty.
Greek orzo pasta salad FAQs
Be sure to cook the orzo according to package instructions. Different brands may have slightly different cooking times. I usually cook it al dente so it's tender but still firm.
Instead of orzo, you can use another small pasta like pastina or couscous, or even macaroni or fusilli pasta. You can also try using rice or quinoa as a substitute for orzo in this salad.
To make this salad a meal, add some protein like these air fryer chicken bites, air fryer breaded shrimp or breaded salmon bites. You can also add some chopped fresh spinach or arugula and some crispy air fryer chickpeas!
More pasta salad recipes
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📖 Recipe
Greek Orzo Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 cup dry orzo pasta
- 1 ½ cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ English cucumber, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 small red onion, diced (about ½ cup)
- ¾ cup pitted Kalamata olives
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
For the lemon vinaigrette:
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large lemon, juiced (about ¼ cup)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the orzo according to package instructions. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Set aside to fully cool.
- Add the vinaigrette ingredients to a jar with a lid. Seal and shake until combined.
- In a large bowl, add the orzo and remaining salad ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over the top and toss to combine.
- Chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Notes
- Rinse the orzo with cold water after cooking it. This will cool it down fast and help prevent it from clumping. If it's clumpy, just stir in a little olive oil to help break it apart.
- Some lemons are juicier than others. You may need more than one lemon to get ¼ cup of lemon juice for the vinaigrette.
- The vinaigrette is tangy. If it's too tangy for you, just add a little more honey.
- Taste the salad before adding any salt. While the vinaigrette doesn't have a lot of salt in it, the olives and feta are salty.
- For the best flavor, chill the salad in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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