Light and fresh Greek Orzo Salad is a delicious lunch or side dish packed with fresh flavors.
I just love a good pasta salad, especially as a side during the summer months when grilling at the BBQ.
I love to serve this up with my Grilled Greek Chicken Skewers or my Lemon Yogurt Greek Chicken.
This Greek Orzo Salad can be served cold or warm but I love it best cold.
And while it is a pasta salad recipe, the abundance of vegetables and spinach make it light and refreshing.
Mix Ins
This Greek Orzo Pasta Salad is inspired by the classic Greek salad and other popular Mediterranean ingredients.
The classic Greek salad is packed with tomatoes, feta, cucumber, and olives.
When I visited Greece, these amazing and simple flavors were everywhere and oh so delicious.
I add some additional Mediterranean flavors here such as artichokes, spinach, and oregano.
Feel free to eliminate anything you do not want, or to increase the ingredients you love! For me, that means extra olives.
Cooking Pasta for a Salad
I am a big believer in not over cooking pasta to the point of it being too mushy.
Al dente pasta, which literally translates to “to the tooth,” means that there is a little bit of bight or firmness left in the pasta. Not crunchy, but texture.
It is especially important to just slightly undercook a pasta when making a pasta salad.
Since the pasta is naturally going to absorb some of the liquid from the dressing, you want to err just shy of how you want it cooked in the end.
And I love orzo pasta for this recipe as it has a great size and shape. If preferred, you can use any shaped pasta or broken angel hair however you may need to adjust the amount of dressing you make and use to get the right ratio.
Making the Pasta Salad in Advance
I love cooking as much of the food as possible before an event or party.
So to make this Greek Orzo Pasta Salad ahead of time, make the pasta, toss it with all of the mix ins, and chill.
Then make the vinaigrette dressing and store it separately in the refrigerator.
When ready to serve, toss the vinaigrette into the pasta salad and you are all set!
Why wait until serving to toss it?
The pasta will absorb the vinaigrette when made in advance and you will end up with a rather dry pasta salad.
Greek Inspired Recipes
Recipes drawing on Greek flavors and favorites!
Greek Orzo Salad
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound orzo pasta (12 ounces)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved or chopped (or grape tomatoes)
- 3/4 cup cucumber chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives (or black olives) sliced
- 1/3 cup artichoke hearts chopped
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled (approx 2 ounces)
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta as per package directions until al dente. Drain and place in a large bowl.
- While the pasta is cooking, dice the mix ins and make the dressing. Cut the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, and artichoke hearts. Cut the spinach roughly so they are not too large
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl combine the oil, vinegar, mustard, oregano, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. Whisk to combine.
- In the large pasta bowl, combine the pasta, vegetables, cheese, and dressing. Toss to coat.
- Chill pasta until ready to serve.
Such a great salad and so delicious! My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe! Can’t wait to make this yummy salad again!
Oh yum! Such amazing flavors packed into this orzo salad. Definitely the perfect addition to summer picnics. Love that crumbled feta too.
This salad was absolutely perfect for lunch!! It was super easy to make, great for meal prep, and I enjoyed it over a few days!
All of my favorite flavors and pasta. Amazing!
This greek salad looks so refreshing and delicious! I love that you used orzo pasta for this recipe, it’s my favorite! I can’t wait to give this a try 🙂
This turned out amazing thank you
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing greek orzo salad recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Yum! I love that you can serve this salad warm or cold. I agree, I would probably prefer it cold too. Love the added colors to it!