Rainbow Orzo Salad
You’ve got to try this Rainbow Orzo Salad. It’s loaded with so many colorful veggies and has the best textures. It’s an easy pasta salad to serve as a side dish during those hot summer days.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There’s a reason this orzo salad recipe has a 5-star rating! It’s not just a favorite with all of you, but also with my family and friends. They always ask me to bring it to every BBQ or cookout throughout the summer.
Rainbow Orzo Salad is quick and easy to make in less than 30 minutes. It features lots of fresh summer produce, so pop by your local farmer’s market ASAP.
This pasta salad is perfect for picnics, potlucks, and BBQs. It’s an excellent weeknight dinner side dish and great for meal prepping lunch for the week. It’s so good, I could eat it every single day.
You’ll love how customizable it is too! Swap out the pasta, veggies, or dressing for your favorites. It’s vegetarian, easy to make vegan or dairy-free, and can be a complete meal if you add a protein.
There are plenty more summer recipes to choose from. Try this Pesto Orzo Salad or Zesty Italian Pasta Salad.
Ingredients
- Orzo: I like to use orzo in this salad, however you can use whatever small pasta shape you prefer. Regular, whole wheat, or gluten-free all work in this recipe.
- Tomatoes: Quartered cherry tomatoes or diced roma tomatoes.
- Peppers: Diced yellow and orange bell pepper. I used half of each for the different pops of color. You can choose whatever color bell pepper you have available.
- Cucumber: Diced cucumber. I used english cucumber, but you can use any cucumber variety. Garden or Persian cucumbers would also be great in this salad. I left the peels on for an added pop of color, but you can peel them if you’d like.
- Red Onion: Diced red onion (optional).
- Feta: Crumbled feta cheese.
- Basil: Fresh basil, sliced.
- Salt and Pepper: Sea salt and black pepper to round out all the flavors.
- Red Wine Vinaigrette: Extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, honey, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
*The full ingredient list with amounts is in the recipe card below.
How to Make Orzo Salad
Follow these simple steps to make Rainbow Orzo Salad.
- Make the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook orzo until al dente, according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the dressing by whisking all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until combined (or shake together in a jar). Set aside.
- Drain and rinse the orzo with cold water, about 1 minute, or until cooled. Place in a large bowl.
- Add in the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, red onion (optional), feta cheese, and basil. Toss to combine. Drizzle with the dressing and toss again to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Pro Tip: To store, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Orzo salad may dry out a little after refrigerating. Just drizzle a little bit of olive oil over it and toss to combine.
Variations
I love this salad as it is, however it’s so versatile that you can customize it to your liking!
- Swap out the vegetables and herbs. You can swap out the vegetables or add in any others you prefer. Great options are spinach, pitted olives, and artichoke hearts.
- Add a protein. Make it into a meal by adding chopped pepperoni or salami, cooked shrimp, or chickpeas. You can also top it with halved or chopped hard boiled eggs.
- Use different cheese. Don’t like feta? No problem! You can use crumbled goat cheese, shredded parmesan, or even chopped mozzarella balls. Make it dairy-free by leaving the cheese out entirely.
- Give it an added depth of flavor. Roast the tomatoes and peppers for even more flavor!
- Make it vegan. Leave out the cheese, and swap out the honey for some maple syrup in the dressing to make it a vegan orzo salad.
- Make a different dressing. Lemon vinaigrette, Italian dressing or greek dressing are all great options.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Orzo is a small rice-shaped pasta. It is typically made from semolina flour, but can also be made from whole grains.
It typically takes orzo pasta 7-10 minutes to cook, depending on the brand. Cook according to package directions for best results. Orzo pasta is typically boiled in salted water until al dente.
More Recipes
If you like this Rainbow Orzo Salad Recipe, then you’ll love these other simple recipes.
- Crunchy Chickpea Mediterranean Salad
- Lemon Orzo with Spinach
- Chickpea Avocado Salad
- Black Eyed Pea Salad
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Print
Rainbow Orzo Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Boil
- Cuisine: American
Description
Rainbow Orzo Salad is a bright and colorful salad that’s perfect for warmer weather. It’s crunchy, light and fresh. This easy pasta salad is the perfect side dish or light lunch.
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the Salad
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion (optional)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Make the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook orzo until al dente, according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the dressing by whisking all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until combined (or shake together in a jar). Set aside.
- Drain and rinse the orzo with cold water, about 1 minute, or until cooled. Place in a large bowl.
- Add in the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, red onion (optional), feta cheese, and basil. Toss to combine. Drizzle with the dressing and toss again to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Notes
In place of the cherry tomatoes, you can use diced roma tomatoes.
To store, refrigerate in an air tight container for up to 3 days.
Orzo salad may dry out a little after refrigerating. Just drizzle a little bit of olive oil over it and toss to combine.
Nutritional values (per serving) are approximates only.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 205
- Sugar: 3.7 g
- Sodium: 160.3 mg
- Fat: 11.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.6 g
- Fiber: 1.7 g
- Protein: 4.6 g
- Cholesterol: 5.6 mg
Lovely 😊 I used Simply Nature Chickpea and Lentil Rice (very similar to orzo) and it was very tasty. Thank you!