This Greek Orzo Salad recipe is an incredible vegetarian potluck side dish. Skip the cheese and it’s vegan too.
For more ideas of what to eat tonight, check out all of our recipes.
We host a few big barbecues every summer, and I always make sure to say I’m making potato salad and pasta salad. It’s not that those are my favorite barbecue foods. But, they’re the foods that if I make them, I really enjoy them. But, if it’s something plain and generic that comes pre-packaged, no one touches it and we are stuck with leftovers.
One of my most popular pasta salads is my Greek Orzo Salad.
It has the flavors of Horiatiki (Traditional Greek Salad), but with orzo added.
This salad is really easy to make. The only thing is you want to give yourself enough time to make it. While you can eat it right away, it’s best if you make it the night before and allow the homemade salad dressing to absorb into the pasta. It’s really good the next day. The second reason you want to give yourself some time is because you want the pasta to cool for at least an hour in the fridge before you add the vegetables. If not, the hot orzo can wilt the vegetables.
This easy Greek Orzo Salad is just one of the recipes for pasta salad on Drugstore Divas. For more ideas, check out all of our Pasta Salad Recipes.
Greek Orzo Salad Recipe
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Greek Orzo Salad Ingredients:
For the salad:
- 16 oz. box of orzo
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- 1 small red onion
- 1 large cucumber
- 6 oz. cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz. tomato and basil feta cheese block
- 1.25 oz. baby spinach and arugula
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill
- 2.5 tablespoons olive brine
How To Make Greek Orzo Salad:
Make the orzo according to the package in a large pot of salted water.
While the orzo cooks, make the dressing.
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, oregano, fresh dill, and olive brine in a small bowl.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Set it aside.
When the pasta is done, drain it.
Put the cooked orzo in a large bowl.
Add half of the dressing. Stir to combine.
Put the bowl in the fridge and let the pasta cool for at least an hour.
Quick note: Adding half of the dressing now allows the pasta to absorb more of the flavor than it would after the pasta cools.
When the pasta has cooled to at least room temperature, chop the olives, red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and spinach and arugula.
Add the vegetables to the bowl with the orzo. Stir until combined.
Add the feta cheese and stir gently.
Quick note: This salad is a little bit more visually appealing if you gritty up the feta a little bit. Instead of leaving the perfect fresh cuts, rub the edges a little (either between your fingers or with a spoon) to roughen the edges. That’s such a little effort but something about that makes the salad look so much better to me.
Add the rest of the dressing and stir again.
Keep it cool in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Greek Orzo Salad: Frequently Asked Questions
Orzo is rice-shaped pasta, so it’s easily confused. But orzo is pasta, not rice. That’s why this is a Greek pasta salad and not a Greek rice salad.
Orzo originated in Italy, but it is been used frequently in Mediterranean dishes. You can read about the history of orzo, if you’re interested, here.
Don’t rinse orzo after you cook it, if you’re going to be using it in pasta salad. The starches that are released when pasta is cooked help the dressing stick to the pasta. If you rinse the pasta, you’ll lose that starch and less of your lemony dressing will stick to the orzo, making this pasta salad a little bland.
If you don’t want to make the dressing yourself, you can purchase a Greek lemon vinaigrette instead. You’d want to use about 1/3 cup of dressing.
If you have a lemon that you need to use, you can use that in this dressing. If not, bottled lemon juice is totally fine (and actually what I use since it’s more frugal).
Many Greek salad recipes use English cucumbers. That’s fine. You can use that. You just want to make sure you’re using a crisp cucumber to add some texture because the rest of the ingredients are pretty soft.
Personally, I make this in the summer when we have an abundance of garden cucumbers and fresh tomatoes. But use what you have at home in your garden or can find at the grocery store. If you can’t find cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes will be just as good.
If you wanted, you could add a green pepper to this recipe. You’ll find those a lot in Greek recipes, like in our Greek salad (which is a great recipe to try if you’re looking for a salad filled with fresh veggies).
Personally, I don’t add it because I think the crunch of the green pepper is a little distracting and you already have the crunchy cucumbers for texture. But, when you make this, change it up and make it your way.
If you wanted to serve this for dinner, you could grill some chicken breast or shrimp and serve them along with the Greek orzo pasta salad to make it more filling.
If you made too much orzo salad and you need to store leftovers, put them in an airtight container in the fridge. They’ll last about a week that way.
Since you serve this cold, you don’t have to worry about reheating it.
Greek Orzo Salad
This Orzo Greek Salad recipe is an incredible vegetarian potluck side dish. Skip the cheese and it’s vegan too.
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 16 oz. box of orzo
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- 1 small red onion
- 1 large cucumber
- 6 oz. cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz. tomato and basil feta cheese block
- 1.25 oz. baby spinach and arugula
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill
- 2.5 tablespoons olive brine
Instructions
- Make the orzo according to the package in a large pot of salted water.
- While the orzo cooks, make the dressing. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, oregano, fresh dill, and olive brine in a small bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Set it aside.
- When the pasta is done, drain it.
- Put the cooked orzo in a large bowl. Add half of the dressing. Stir to combine.
- Put the bowl in the fridge and let the pasta cool for at least an hour.
- When the pasta has cooled to at least room temperature, chop the olives, red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta, and spinach and arugula.
- Add the vegetables and cheese to the bowl with the orzo. Stir until combined.
- Add the rest of the dressing and stir again.
Notes
Keep it cool in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 189Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 3mgSodium 198mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 5g
Did you make this Greek Orzo Salad recipe? Comment below and let us know your thoughts.
Enriqueta E Lemoine
Tuesday 7th of May 2019
You have no idea about how much I love orzo. Yum!
Sundeep
Monday 6th of May 2019
Looks like great recipe. I love greek salads. I will try this too. Thanks for the recipe
Devyani
Monday 6th of May 2019
I made this for dinner and I loved it
drugstore diva lisa
Monday 6th of May 2019
I'm so glad!
Melanie Walsh
Friday 3rd of May 2019
My husband eats meat, but I'm a vegetarian. It works out pretty well for us but having dishes I know we are both going to love is always appreciated. This salad sounds delightful!
Alexandra Cook
Thursday 2nd of May 2019
Greek recipes are so amazing. They have an unmatchable zing to their dressings.