This healthy orzo salad recipe is FULL of bright, fresh, summery flavor… Gorgeous red and yellow cherry tomatoes, bright parsley, and vibrant basil, along with a dose of fresh lemon zest and juice marry together to make the perfect side dish to share at your next gathering!
Orzo Salad for A Crowd
If you make just one recipe for your next cookout, it has to be this orzo salad! It’s one of those go-to, back pocket recipes that you can always count on in a pinch. Just a few reasons why it’s one of my faves:
1| It makes a BIG batch, which is perfect for a crowd. But if you’re not feeding a crowd? It refrigerates well for several days. And trust me, you will have NO problem finishing it all off.
2| It’s packed full of fresh vibrant flavors that make it an ideal easy side dish or salad year round. But it’s especially delicious in summer when those juicy little cherry tomatoes are in peak season.
3| And finally, it can really stand up to the heat. When potato salads and macaroni salads filled with mayo are starting to appear a little suspect, this refreshing orzo salad is still hanging tough.
Don’t be surprised when you see guests heading back for seconds… and then even thirds. It’s THAT good! I certainly wouldn’t count on having any leftovers to take home.
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Summery Orzo Pasta Salad
This lemony basil orzo pasta salad is perfect this time of year. It highlights all of the great summery flavors that you can buy fresh right now — gorgeous red and yellow cherry tomatoes, bright parsley, and vibrant basil, along with a healthy dose of fresh lemon zest and juice.
It’s the type of summer salad that only gets better as the flavors marry together while it chills. So it’s the perfect side to make earlier in the day for an evening gathering.
Not familiar with orzo? It looks very similar to rice, but it’s actually a rice-shaped pasta. Orzo means “barley” in Italian, referring to the small, barley-like shape. I’ve tried several kinds of orzo, and I always come back to the DeLallo brand. I can count on it to cook up perfectly al dente, without a trace of the mushiness I’ve found with some other brands. Kroger and Walmart carry it around here, and I always grab several packages when I see it on sale to keep on hand.
Speaking of cooking orzo pasta, I always follow the cooking instructions from the DeLallo package, which I’ve outlined in the recipe directions. I know a quarter cup of salt sounds like a ton, but it gives the orzo massive flavor, and most of the salt stays behind in the water. When you use this method, you really shouldn’t have to add much additional seasoning to the finished orzo salad.
Orzo Salad Recipe
While I adore this orzo salad as is, you can also add a 4-oz. container of crumbled feta cheese for more of a Mediterranean orzo salad. Or even turn it into a main dish by adding some sliced grilled chicken breast on top, which would also make this a fabulous meal prep recipe. Either way, just make it ASAP — I promise you won’t be sorry you did!
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Lemony Basil Orzo Salad
This healthy orzo salad recipe is FULL of bright, fresh, summery flavor… Gorgeous red and yellow cherry tomatoes, bright parsley, and vibrant basil, along with a dose of fresh lemon zest and juice marry together to make the perfect side dish to share at your next gathering!
Ingredients
- 1-lb. orzo pasta
- 1/4 cup salt
- zest of 2 large lemons
- juice of 2 large lemons (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
- 2 cups red and yellow grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup green onions, greens only sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 pkg. (0.66-oz.) fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- Bring 5 quarts of water to a rolling boil and add 1/4 cup salt. Add the orzo pasta to the water and stir. Bring the water back up to a boil. Stirring occasionally, cook for 9 minutes.
- While the orzo is cooking, zest and juice the lemons into a large mixing bowl, and whisk in the olive oil.
- When the orzo is done cooking, drain it (do not rinse), and toss it with the dressing while still hot.
- Allow the pasta and dressing to cool while you chop the rest of the ingredients.
- Fold in the red peppers, grape tomatoes, green onions, parsley and basil.
- Refrigerate for at least two hours. Serve cold.
Greek Orzo Salad
If you love orzo salad recipes, I think you’ll also adore this Greek orzo salad! Dressed in the same lemony vinaigrette, it’s filled with cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cucumber, feta cheese, and Kalamata olives with a punch of fresh parsley and mint.
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If you like this easy orzo for a crowd, you might also like these other cookout side dish recipes:
- Classic Macaroni Salad With Egg
- German Hot Potato Salad
- Slow Cooker Baked Beans
- Easy Orzo Basil Salad
Alex Walters
Sunday 21st of June 2020
Approximately many basil leaves make up the package you use?
Tara Kuczykowski
Monday 22nd of June 2020
Hi Alex! I'd say around 10-12 medium to large size leaves. It probably works out to about 1/2 cup chopped, same as the parsley.
Jourdan
Saturday 6th of June 2020
This looks amazing! Any ideas for substituting to make it gluten free?
Tara Kuczykowski
Monday 8th of June 2020
Hi Jourdan! I'm not super well versed in what makes a recipe gluten free, but I do know that Delallo makes a gluten-free orzo pasta that would be perfect for this. Here's the link to it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2APMjzX or I'm sure they have a product locator on their website.
Laurie Rigdon
Tuesday 16th of April 2019
I'm making this for our Teacher "Salad" Luncheon and wondered if you can prepare the night before? Just worried that it might get soggy. Thanks!
Tara Kuczykowski
Tuesday 16th of April 2019
Oh, how fun! You can definitely prepare this orzo salad the night before. If you decide to add feta cheese, like I mentioned in the post, I would probably wait and stir that in the next morning before you leave. But everything else will still be delicious!
Dominique
Friday 17th of August 2018
This was crazy delicious! Next time I’ll make double so I can keep some for myself! It was gone in a flash! Thank you for sharing!
Tara @ Unsophisticook
Saturday 18th of August 2018
Thanks for coming back to share a review, Dominique -- so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Megan
Thursday 2nd of August 2018
This salad is so delicious! The first time I made it with the 1/4 cup of salt but stupidly made it in a smaller pot so there was less water. The pasta came out tasting pretty salty so I rinsed it a bit but there was nothing I could do since I was serving it that night so I added in the rest of the ingredients and hoped for the best. It was SO good! The rest of the ingredients really balanced it out and it was the perfect amount of seasoning for a really flavourful pasta salad. Second time around I used a bigger pot and slightly less than 1/4 cup of salt (just because I feel guilty if I don't at least attempt to lighten things up a bit) and it's still fantastic! So I now make it that way all the time and I've made this recipe at least 5 times in the last couple months. It's great to keep in the fridge for a few days and use it as a last minute side dish, especially in the summer when cold salads are so great. I also sprinkle about 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup over my garden salads that I take for lunch and it makes the salad more enjoyable and I don't need dressing. Delicious! Thanks so much for a great recipe :)
Tara @ Unsophisticook
Thursday 2nd of August 2018
I'm SO happy to hear how much you love it, Megan! And I think your comments on the salt are spot on. It sounds like a ton, but when you use the proper amount of salt and water, it really just flavors the pasta perfectly -- and the majority of the salt stays in the water. Thanks so much for weighing in!