Greek Orzo Pasta Salad is a summer pasta salad recipe with orzo, crisp vegetables, feta cheese and a light Greek dressing. You can make this salad in advance and it can be used for up to 4 days after you make it making it a great choice for weekly lunches, parties and your picnics or summer cookouts. 

GREEK ORZO PASTA SALAD

I shared a sneak peak of this Greek Orzo Pasta Salad on Instagram a while back, and people were as excited about it as I am. 

I have a special place in my heart for Greek food and am currently on the lookout for a new go-to Greek restaurant in the Akron/Cleveland area.

I love Greek inspired dishes like this Spiralized Greek Salad, Greek Quinoa Salad, and this Greek Village Salad. 

When I lived in Chicago, my coworkers and I had a favorite Greek restaurant, Mykanos, that we frequented {if you live in Chicago make a trip, it is well worth it}.  

We always started the meal with their amazing avgolemeno soup and warm crusty bread, and ended it with a huge Greek Salad topped with the best creamy feta cheese.

The salad was dripping with Greek salad dressing, in a good way.

I always had a reason to use up that leftover crusty bread to mop up the dressing.

One thing I love about Greek salads is all of the crisp vegetables, along with the chopped peperoncinos and kalamata olives,  mixed with creamy feta cheese and a light dressing.  

It is such a good combination.  

I recently was talking to a friend about summer salads and how much we love them and it got me to thinking about my Summer Orzo Pasta Salad.  

I decided to take that concept and pair the orzo pasta with Greek flavors.  I don’t know about you, but I go crazy for orzo salads, orzo soups, orzo anything.

I love Greek inspired dishes like this Spiralized Greek Salad, Greek Quinoa Salad, and this Greek Village Salad. 

But I also make a lot of other salads in my rotation like this Easy Lebanese Salad, Summer Orzo Pasta Salad and this Mediterranean Bean Salad. 

GREEK ORZO SALAD COOKING TIPS AND MODIFICATIONS:

• If you like beans in your salads try adding white beans or chickpeas to this salad. Both add protein and taste great. 

• Load this salad with vegetables. Some other vegetables I like to add are greens, like arugula, carrots, zucchini, artichokes and roasted red peppers. 

• For additional protein add cooked, chopped chicken, grilled chicken or salmon. 

• If you are making this salad ahead of time I  would suggest adding half the dressing and then adding the remaining dressing when you are ready to serve the salad. 

• Fresh herbs are a great way to dress up this salad and add flavor. Try adding chopped dill, parsley, green onion, mint and basil.

WHAT TO PAIR WITH THIS GREEK ORZO PASTA SALAD?

I love to pair this salad with seafood like this Air Fryer Cod, Black Sea Bass or this Baked Cod with Lemon Sauce. 

Beef is another nice pairing. I often do this Grilled Flank Steak with Dry Rub, Grilled Beef Kofta Kebabs or these Mediterranean Beef Kabobs. 

A few other dishes I like to serve with this salad are these Mediterranean Baked Turkey Meatballs, Moroccan Chicken Thighs or these Grilled Chicken Thighs with Greek Marinade. 

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Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

Yield: 6-8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad is a great summer pasta salad mixing orzo, crisp vegetables, feta cheese and a light Greek dressing. You can make this salad in advance and it can be used for up to 4 days after you make it making it a great choice for weekly lunches, parties and your Memorial Day BBQ.

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Ingredients

For the Greek salad:

• 8 ounces of dry orzo pasta {try whole wheat if you can find it}
• 1/2 medium red pepper, seeds removed, chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 10 pitted kalamata olives, cut in half
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1/4 cup pepperoncini {I use the Mezzetta deli-sliced pepperoncini}
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Cook the orzo according to package. When the orzo is finished cooking run it under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl mix together the red pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, olives, cucumber, pepperoncini and feta cheese.
3. When the pasta has cooled down add the pasta to the salad.
4. In a large mason jar or salad dressing mixer mix together the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, minced garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
5. Pour half the salad dressing over the salad and refrigerate for an hour to help the dressing set into the salad. When you are ready to serve put the remaining salad dressing on the salad and mix together. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

You can add grilled chicken to this salad for extra protein.