Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Mediterranean Orzo Salad is an easy, flavor-packed side dish salad filled with Mediterranean Flavors. It has cucumbers, red onion, red bell peppers, salami, olives, and parsley, is all tossed in a lemon and oregano dressing, and topped with feta cheese!
I absolutely love making pasta salads this time of year! They're so great for having all week for lunch, as a side dish to a grilled main dish, or for bringing to a picnic or potluck. I actually really do love the traditional pasta salad, mayo and all, but I like to mix things up a bit. Today I'm sharing my newest favorite pasta salad that is JAM PACKED with so much flavor and all of the flavors of the Mediterranean with my Mediterranean Orzo Salad!
Ingredients in Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Red Bell Pepper
Red Onion
Cucumbers - I used the little baby cucumbers for this, which I love because they don't have big seeds in them. You could use a regular cucumber or an English cucumber, too!
Kalamata Olives
Baby Spinach
Salami - I loved the flavor that this adds to the salad! If you'd prefer to keep this orzo salad vegetarian, feel free to omit it.
Feta Cheese - Absolutely essential to this pasta salad! It adds a saltiness that is so delicious.
Lemon - this recipe uses the zest and juice in the dressing.
Olive Oil
Dried Oregano
Red Wine Vinegar
Garlic
Salt and Pepper
Fresh Parsley
How to Make Mediterranean Orzo Salad
This orzo salad is really quite easy to make. There's some chopping involved, but nothing you can't handle!
First, I'd get the orzo pasta water heated up and the orzo cooking. While you're waiting for the water to heat up and the orzo to cook, you can prep the veggies. Simply chop up a red bell pepper, a red onion, and cucumbers, along with some salami.
Once those are prepped, make the dressing. In a small bowl or a mason jar, combine olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Stir with a whisk or shake in a mason jar to combine it into a dressing.
Once the orzo is cooked, combine it in a large bowl with the chopped veggies, salami, and dressing. One tip here: if your orzo is done before the rest of the prep and you find it has clumped in the strainer, simply run cold water through it and break it up with your fingers. Then add the feta cheese and parsley and toss gently to combine. Serve, and enjoy!
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Grilled Zucchini and Corn Orzo Salad
Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces orzo pasta
- 1 red bell pepper seeds and stem removed, diced
- 1 red onion diced
- 2 cups chopped baby spinach
- 1 cup kalamata olives halved
- 6 baby cucumbers or one large cucumber diced
- 1 ½ cups chopped salami
- 8 ounces feta cheese crumbled
Dressing:
- juice from 1 lemon
- zest from ½ a lemon
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook orzo according to package directions. Strain.
- Prep the remaining ingredients - chop the bell pepper, onion, spinach, olives, and cucumber.
- Make the dressing by combining lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper and whisk well to combine. Alternately, you can put all of the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake it up to combine.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked orzo, veggies, salami, and dressing and stir well to combine. Note: if your orzo sits in the strainer for awhile and clumps together, just run it under cold water and break it up with your fingers.
- Add feta cheese and parsley and toss gently to combine.
- Enjoy!
