This Orzo Pasta Salad is THE final pasta salad for the nice and cozy climate! Filled with Mediterranean flavors, this tender orzo pasta is tossed with recent veggies, creamy white cheddar, and recent herbs and drizzled in a vivid, lemony dressing that’s significantly TO DIE FOR.
Good luck discovering a straightforward pasta salad as scrumptious as this one! I lately made this orzo pasta salad for my household dinner (we get collectively weekly with the siblings), and everybody completely cherished it. It’s excellent for a summer season BBQ, picnic, potluck, or an incredible facet dish for any meal.
To make this scrumptious pasta salad, you simply must cook dinner the orzo pasta, roast your veggies, make your hummus dressing, and mix. You and the fam are going to be obsessed after the primary chunk!
What You Want for this Orzo Pasta Salad
- Orzo pasta: We love the distinctive form and texture of orzo pasta! It’s like a mix of rice and pasta, which makes it excellent for salads.
- Veggies: We roasted broccoli, crimson onion, and garlic for this recent orzo salad.Â
- Olive oil: Additional virgin olive oil is a should for roasting the veggies and making the salad dressing.
- Cherry tomatoes: Juicy tomatoes are additionally roasted, bringing out their pure sweetness.
- Aged white cheddar cheese: Cheese is all the time an incredible addition to any recent pasta salad!
- Pine nuts: Add a pleasant crunch and nutty taste to the salad.
- Recent parsley: Offers this easy salad a kick of recent taste that brightens the whole lot up.
- Lemon: We used recent lemon juice and lemon zest for the lemon French dressing.
- Hummus: This may occasionally look like an unconventional ingredient, however belief us, it provides a creamy and flavorful component to the dressing.
Scrumptious Swaps & Combine-Ins
- Veggies: Be at liberty to combine up what sort of recent greens you roasted for this salad. Bell peppers or artichoke hearts could be scrumptious additions.
- Cheese: You may additionally swap out the aged white cheddar for tangy feta or goat cheese.
- Herbs: Recent basil, mint, or chopped chives are nice substitutes for the parsley.
- Nuts: And in the event you’re not a fan of pine nuts, strive chopped almonds or sunflower seeds as an alternative.
#1 Tip for this Orzo Pasta Salad
This pasta salad is greatest the subsequent day. If getting ready forward of time, retailer the salad and dressing individually. Simply earlier than serving, combine within the dressing to stop the pasta from changing into soggy.
How you can Cool Orzo Shortly
To hurry up the pasta’s cooling course of, switch the strained pasta to a big bowl and canopy it with chilly water. Add just a few ice cubes and let the pasta sit. Pressure and take away the ice cubes from the pasta earlier than mixing the salad.Â
Love Dressing?
If you need the pasta salad to be a bit extra creamy, add just a few further tablespoons of hummus straight into the salad in step 7. It’s also possible to double the dressing recipe if that’s your jam!
Storage Instructions
Retailer any leftover orzo pasta salad in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Make certain to present it a superb stir earlier than serving, because the dressing could have settled on the backside.
What to Serve with Orzo Pasta Salad
This vibrant and flavorful salad is an ideal facet dish for any summer season BBQ or potluck. It additionally makes an incredible lunch by itself or served alongside some grilled hen or fish. Strive pairing it with our Juicy Grilled Rooster or Grilled Salmon in Foil for further protein.
We additionally suggest serving this salad with this Jalapeño Corn Pudding for a scrumptious and flavorful summer season meal. And for dessert, strive our Triple Berry Crumble Bars for a candy and indulgent end.
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Orzo Pasta Salad Recipe
This orzo pasta salad is full of scrumptious taste and texture! It is the right summer season facet dish full of recent greens, white cheddar cheese, and a zesty hummus dressing.
Yield: 6
Energy:
Supplies
Salad Elements
- 8 oz. orzo pasta
- 12 oz. broccoli chopped into bite-size items
- ½ crimson onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 10 oz. cherry tomatoes quartered
- 4-5 oz aged white cheddar cheese roughly chopped or chunked
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon recent parsley chopped
Directions
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Convey a big pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook dinner till al dente, about 5-7 minutes. Pressure and set the orzo apart to chill.
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Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Unfold the broccoli, onion, and garlic evenly on a baking sheet. Add olive oil and salt, and toss to coat. Roast the greens for Quarter-hour.
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After Quarter-hour, add the tomatoes to the pan and roast for a further 10-Quarter-hour or till the broccoli begins to brown. Take away from the oven and put aside to chill for Quarter-hour.
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Whereas the greens are roasting warmth a small skillet over medium warmth and toast the pinenuts till golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.
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Put together the dressing. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, hummus, salt, and pepper to a bowl and whisk to mix.
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Add the orzo to a bowl with half of the dressing. Toss to coat.
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Add the roasted greens, cheddar cheese, pine nuts, salt, and remaining dressing to the orzo. Toss to mix.*
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High with recent parsley and serve instantly or switch to the fridge to chill and develop into extra flavorful.
Notes
- To hurry up the pasta’s cooling course of, switch the strained pasta to a big bowl and canopy it with chilly water. Add just a few ice cubes and let the pasta sit. Pressure and take away the ice cubes from the pasta earlier than mixing the salad.
- If you need the pasta salad to be a bit extra creamy, add just a few further tablespoons of hummus straight into the salad in step 7.
- Be at liberty to combine up what sort of greens you roasted for this salad.
- Basil, mint, or chopped chives would all be nice herb additions to this salad.
- This pasta salad is greatest the subsequent day.