I’ve been busy making all our favorite summer salads the past couple of months and today I’m sharing this delicious Greek Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad. I love anything with lemon flavors over the summer time. It’s such a vibrant, bright, tangy flavor that is just perfect for the hot weather. This pasta salad has a beautiful lemony vinaigrette to coat the orzo, chick peas (aka garbanzo beans), tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and parsley. It’s tastes very light for a pasta salad, and it’s a quick, easy and wonderful accompaniment to all your favorite BBQ, cookout and picnic main dishes!
Orzo is one of the smallest pasta’s you can get. It is shaped like rice, but has that pasta chewiness we all know and love. A whole pound of this pasta fills just a tiny box, but it does expand when cooking! It’s the best pasta for this Greek Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad, so be sure to pick up a package next time you do a shopping trip so you can make this as soon as possible! You are going to love how these flavors meld together to create a summertime salad worthy of your picnic table! Â
A couple of tips for this recipe:
- I would stick with orzo for this salad just because it is the perfect size for a lovely bite and keeps the salad feeling light and fresh.
- Other veggies that could be yummy in this salad include chopped red peppers or sliced black olives if you want to change up the flavor profiles!
- Yes, you can absolutely switch out sweet, yellow or white onion for the red. The color of the red onion just makes the salad even more beautiful in my opinion.
- Garnish the top with fresh lemon slices, additional lemon zest and extra chopped parsley to step up your presentation!
- Crumbled feta or goat cheese or freshly grated Parm make lovely additions on the side for people to add as wanted. I don’t like to add them in to the salad itself, but they are lovely sprinkled over the top.
- If you want to make this in to a main, add grilled chicken or top with these amazing Greek Souvlaki skewers!
Ingredients:
- 16oz dried orzo pasta (I like Barilla)
- 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
- 1-1/2 cups English cucumber, diced
- 1-1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 2/3 cup diced red onion
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed not bottled
- 1 clove pressed garlic
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Stir in 2 tsp salt and the orzo and cook as long as the package recommends for al dente, (9 minutes for Barilla.) When it’s done cooking, drain the pasta.
- While the orzo is cooking, in a large mixing bowl, whisk the olive oil, canola oil, lemon juice, pressed garlic, Dijon mustard, honey, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper together until it starts to emulsify.
- When the pasta is done cooking and after it has been drained, add it to the dressing mixture, mix well, then set aside for at least 15 minutes, giving it a toss every few minutes to help it cool.
- Stir in the drained chickpeas, chopped cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and fresh parsley. Mix everything together and add additional salt and pepper as needed to taste.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.Â
Greek Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
Greek Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad has a lemon vinaigrette that soaks in to the pasta, veggies and herbs to create a vibrant, bright summer salad for your table!
EQUIPMENT (Amazon Associate Links)
Ingredients
- 16 oz dried orzo pasta I like Barilla
- 1 can chick peas drained and rinsed
- 1-1/2 cups English cucumber diced
- 1-1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 2/3 cup diced red onion
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed, not bottled
- 1 clove pressed garlic
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Stir in 2 tsp salt and the orzo and cook as long as the package recommends for al dente, (9 minutes for Barilla.) When it's done cooking, drain the pasta.
- While the orzo is cooking, in a large mixing bowl, whisk the olive oil, canola oil, lemon juice, pressed garlic, Dijon mustard, honey, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper together until it starts to emulsify.
- When the pasta is done cooking and after it has been drained, add it to the dressing mixture, mix well, then set aside for at least 15 minutes, giving it a toss every few minutes to help it cool.
- Stir in the drained chickpeas, chopped cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and fresh parsley. Mix everything together and add additional salt and pepper as needed to taste.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
A couple of tips for this recipe:
- I would stick with orzo for this salad just because it is the perfect size for a lovely bite and keeps the salad feeling light and fresh.
- Other veggies that could be yummy in this salad include chopped red peppers or sliced black olives if you want to change up the flavor profiles!
- Yes, you can absolutely switch out sweet, yellow or white onion for the red. The color of the red onion just makes the salad even more beautiful in my opinion.
- Garnish the top with fresh lemon slices, additional lemon zest and extra chopped parsley to step up your presentation!
- Crumbled feta or goat cheese or freshly grated Parm make lovely additions on the side for people to add as wanted. I don't like to add them in to the salad itself, but they are lovely sprinkled over the top.
- If you want to make this in to a main, add grilled chicken or top with these amazing Greek Souvlaki skewers!
So fresh and light for summer!!! Taking this to my next picnic such a unique switch up on summer picnic salads!
Ah, I’m so glad you like it, thank you! 🙂