This Italian Orzo Salad is packed with veggies and tangy flavors including juicy tomatoes, crisp red onion, spicy peperoncini and salty salami. My favorite feature, and what I think elevates the flavor of this salad, is the addition of roasted red peppers and castelvetrano olives. Of course, the zesty homemade Italian dressing also kicks up the flavor profile!
The result is a briny, sweet, salty and slightly spicy pasta salad made with bite-sized orzo that’s the perfect side dish for all of your summer BBQs.
Table of contents
This salad was inspired by my Italian Bow Tie Pasta Salad. While the homemade dressing and a few key ingredients are the same, there are a number of differences in the ingredients that make this a standalone recipe worth trying!
Ingredients and substitutions
Most of the ingredients are pretty straightforward but I wanted to go over a few that deserve a deeper dive and highlight my recommended substitutions. The recipe card at the end of this post includes the exact quantities used.
- Orzo – This is a short-cut, rice-shaped pasta. You can use another small pasta like couscous, or I like fusilli pasta as a substitute.
- Roasted red peppers – You can easily substitute some chopped red bell pepper, but roasted red peppers are sweeter with a smoky flavor, so they add a unique flavor to this tangy salad. I used store-bought roasted red peppers (that come in a jar) and chopped them myself, but you can also roast your own peppers if you like.
- Castelvetrano olives – I love the milder flavor and meaty texture of these olives. I ended up buying olives with the pits and pitting them myself because that’s all I could find, but I highly recommend buying pitted. Feel free to substitute with black olives or try a more salty, briny olive like Kalamata olives.
- Cheese – I opted for some freshly shaved parmesan. You can also use finely grated or buy the pack of shreds. Mozzarella or feta would be great too.
- Dressing – The homemade Italian dressing is super easy to make and so flavorful with minimal ingredients. But, if you’re short on time, store-bought Italian dressing works too.
How to make Italian orzo salad with homemade dressing
Below is a brief overview of the steps to make this recipe along with photos. For further details, please see the recipe card at the end of this post.
Key recipe tips
- Cook the orzo al dente to prevent it from getting mushy once it absorbs the dressing.
- Rinse the orzo with cold water after cooking it. This will not only cool it down but help prevent it from clumping.
- Chop the ingredients into bite-sized pieces so they don’t overwhelm the smaller size of the orzo pasta.
- The recipe makes a lot of dressing as the orzo will absorb a lot of it. I usually mix half of the dressing into the salad, let it sit for a few hours in the fridge and then mix the rest through before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! You can prep this salad ahead in two different ways. You can cook the orzo, make the dressing and chop all of the veggies a day in advance. A few hours before serving, just toss everything together with the dressing. (If the dressing solidifies a bit in the fridge, just let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes).
You can also toss everything together the day before, but only use half of the dressing. Then, mix the rest in just before serving. Either way, for maximum flavor, you want the salad to marinate with some or all of the dressing for a few hours.
This one will last for 4-5 days stored covered in the fridge. Just note that the longer it sits in the fridge, the more the orzo will absorb the dressing.
More orzo pasta salad recipes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!
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Italian Orzo Salad with Tangy Italian Dressing
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chill Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop & Toss
- Cuisine: Italian-American
Description
This Italian Orzo Salad with homemade Italian dressing is packed with tomatoes, parmesan cheese, peperoncini, salami, roasted red peppers and castelvetrano olives.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the salad:
- 1 cup dry orzo pasta
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup castelvetrano olives, pitted and halved
- 1 cup chopped roasted red peppers (see notes)
- 1/2 cup chopped genoa salami
- 1/2 cup chopped peperoncini peppers
- 1/2 cup shaved or grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 medium sized red onion, diced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (for topping)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. (I prefer to cook it al dente so it doesn’t get mushy in the salad). Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
- In a large bowl, add the pasta and other salad ingredients (except parsley). Pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
- Cover and chill in the fridge for a few hours. Stir in remaining dressing and top with chopped fresh parsley before serving.
Notes
- The Italian seasoning I use is a mix of just herbs and does not include any salt, sugar, garlic powder or other spices.
- I used store-bought roasted red peppers (that come in a jar) but you can also roast your own. You can also substitute with some raw chopped red bell pepper.
- Be sure to chop the ingredients into bite-sized pieces so it’s in proportion to the smaller size of the orzo pasta.
- Rinse the orzo with cold water after cooking it. This will not only cool it down but help prevent it from getting clumpy.
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