Easy Greek Orzo Salad Recipe

5 from 7 votes

This Greek Orzo Pasta Salad is super yummy! So easy to make and perfect for picnics, kids' lunch boxes, get togethers. It is a perfect Make Ahead Meal.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Resting Time10

Course: Appetizer / Light Meal, Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Greek Orzo Salad

Servings: people

Calories: 684kcal

Author: simplyvegetarian777

Equipment

Measuring Spoons, Measuring Cups, Stirring Spoon,
Chopping board and knife
Kitchen Colander
mixing bowl
Instant Pot 6 quart or Mealthy Multipot
Kitchen Tongs

Ingredients

Orzo Ingredients

1&1/2 cups Orzo Pasta
3 cups Water
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salad Dressing Ingredients

1/3` cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1&1/2 tsp Oregano, dry
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper powder

Other Salad Ingredients

1 cup Sweet Bell Peppers (combination of yellow, orange, green or pick any 1 kind) finely chopped
1/2 cup Red Onions finely chopped
10 Cherry Tomatoes finely chopped
1 cup Cucumbers, seedless chopped fine
14 Olives (mix of black and green if possible) chopped roughly
2 pcs Artichoke (from the jar) chopped roughly
1/2 cup Feta Cheese cubed or crumbled
6-7 Leaves fresh basil
6-7 Leaves fresh mint

Instructions

Cook Orzo Pasta

Instant Pot Instructions
Add 1&1/2 cups of Orzo Pasta to the inner pot of Instant Pot with 1 tbsp Olive Oil and 3 cups water. Place the lid and secure it to SEALING position. Press the PRESSURE COOK button set it on HIGH and cook for 5 minutes. Once the timer goes off, quickly release the pressure manually. Drain the pasta in a fine sieve and run it under tap water to cool it down. Set aside. Now prep for the salad.
The best part is that you can cook couscous ahead of time and refrigerate till you need it.
Gas Top Instructions
Simply follow the instructions given at the back of the pasta package and cook accordingly. Once cooked, drain the water and wash it under the cold water. Once cooled completely, use it in salad.

Make Salad Dressing for Greek Orzo Salad

Take a mixing bowl. Further add Olive Oil, Oregano dry, Salt & Black Pepper, and Lemon Juice to it. Mix well with a small whisk. Set aside.

Prep the Vegetables & other Ingredients

Vegetables – Wash Bell Peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onion in a Kitchen Colander and pat these dry. Further chop all the vegetables fine to match the size of the orzo (not literally but keep the size as small as possible).
Herbs – Although I used basil and mint in this salad, but you can use whatever you have. You can use both kinds or only 1 kind. Now wash the fresh herbs and chop these fine.
Canned Products - Since the flavor of deli Olives is amazing, I use those. But you can use the canned ones. I like to keep the olives little chunkier than the finer chop. You can either keep them chunky or chop them fine. If you are using brined artichokes, then take out and chop them roughly.

Put the Greek Orzo Salad Together

This is the easiest part. Take a large Mixing Bowl and add cooked Orzo Pasta, chopped Black Olives and Green Olives, chopped vegetables & herbs, feta cheese to the bowl.
Further add the SALAD DRESSING to the bowl. Use the Salad Tongs and mix all the ingredients well.
For the best results refrigerate this salad. It tastes better the next day and makes it a perfect MAKE-AHEAD MEAL.

What can I serve with this salad?

This salad will go very well with Grilled Corn, Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Baked Potatoes, Roasted Mushrooms, Grilled Asparagus and much more.

Video

Notes

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Salad Recipe Tips

Cook the Pasta with some olive oil so that it does not stick to each other and easy to seprate the grains.

Choice of Vegetables – It is a very versatile salad. You can add any vegetables of your choice in this salad. Finely chopped broccoli, baby spinach, chopped carrots are some othe vegetables that will go very well in this salad.

Herbs – Although I have used a mix of herbs, you can choose either one or all of the herbs for this salad.

Cheese – Since Feta is creamy and salty in taste, it is my favorite cheese for salalds. But gorgonzola or goat cheese will be great in this salad.

Make Ahead Tip – This Salad is great when you make ahead and refrigerate over night. It deepens the flavors. When you plan to make this salad ahead then toss the couscous in dressing and herbs. Refrigerate in an air tight container. When ready to serve, add chopped vegetables, nuts and feta. Mix and serve.

Storage – This salad can sit in the refrigerator for 3-4 days easily without loosing the flavors.

What are the ingredients of Greek Orzo Salad?

Although my recipe some basic handy inngredients for this recipe, please feel free to adapt the recipe to your liking. Now here is the list of ingredients -

Orzo Pasta - Since it is Orzo Salad, I would recommend to use Orzo pasta only. It looks like the grain of rice but much chewy in texture. It is absolutely delightful. You can cook it either on gas top or in instant pot. You can find the instant pot instructions in the recipe card.

Fresh Vegetables - Although I have used an array of vegetables but you can use either all or few. Make it colorful by using Colored Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, and Red Onions.

Canned products - Now I love using both kinds of OLIVES - Black Olives and Green Olives. But you can use either both or just one kind. I normally get mine from the local grocery store's deli bar. Further, I have used canned Artichokes in this recipe since I had it. You can skip it if you want.

Cheese - Although FETA CHEESE is my default choice, but fresh mozzarella or goat cheese would be nice too.

Fresh Herbs - I love using fresh herbs like Mint and Basil in my salads. Parsley would be a good addition too.

Salad Dressing - This is the simplest abd easiest salad dressing ever. All you need is - Olive Oil, Oregano dry, Salt & Black Pepper, and Lemon Juice.

Recipe Kitchen Gadgets

Kitchen Colander

Chopping board and Knife

Measuring Cups & Spoon

Mixing Bowls

Salad Tongs

Instant Pot

Nutrition