I love this easy orzo pasta salad recipe with a simple lemon dressing, tomatoes, cucumber, and fresh herbs. It’s quick and always a hit with everyone I share it with!
I know it’s a bold claim to call this the best orzo pasta salad, but it’s always the first dish to disappear whenever I serve it. The homemade dressing is so light and refreshing, making this the perfect salad for summer!
I often enjoy it as a side dish during the warmer months or turn it into my main meal (especially on hot days). It’s a real keeper of a recipe since it can be ready in just 20 minutes! I also recommend trying my orzo pasta with tomatoes and parmesan.
Key Ingredients
- Orzo: I prefer orzo pasta for this recipe, but you can use any small dried pasta like ditalini or small shells. This recipe is also delicious when made with couscous or quinoa. If you need it, here’s our recipe for how to cook quinoa.
- Veggies: I love the combination of fresh cucumber and tomato in this salad. You can also try other fresh veggies, like bell peppers, radishes, or even zucchini (similar to what I use in my easy pasta salad).
- Olives and Artichokes: I add sliced olives and drained marinated hearts for a Mediterranean or Greek twist.
- Fresh herbs: I always add plenty of fresh herbs to my summer salads. I especially love fresh mint, parsley, cilantro, basil, and dill. Use whatever you have on hand or prefer.
- Lemon salad dressing: My homemade dressing is dairy-free, making this recipe perfect for picnics or warm weather. It features a delightful combination of olive oil, mustard, fresh lemon, and a touch of honey (or maple syrup) for balance. I use a similar dressing in this easy couscous salad.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Orzo Pasta Salad
Tip 1: Make the salad while the orzo cooks. Orzo cooks quickly, usually in under 10 minutes, so it’s the perfect time to prep the rest of the salad. I like to make the lemon dressing right in the bottom of a large bowl, then build the salad on top for easy mixing later.
Tip 2: Add the warm orzo to the dressing. Once the orzo is cooked and drained, add it directly to the dressing while it’s still warm. The warm pasta absorbs the bright, lemony flavors and makes the salad extra delicious.
Tip 3: Finish with veggies and herbs. We love cucumber and tomato in this salad, but the real secret is using plenty of fresh herbs. Here we used chopped mint, but parsley, cilantro, dill, or basil all work beautifully. You’ll also see olives and artichoke hearts in the photos, which are both excellent.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve the salad as a side or a main meal. It’s amazing to take as a pot luck dish or side for cookouts. Sometimes, I toss on a bit of extra protein and especially love our grilled chicken, poached salmon, poached shrimp, or this easy baked tofu.
This goes really well next to other light, summery dishes like Caprese salad, shrimp cocktail, red pepper hummus, creamy cucumber salad, garlic basil baked chicken, and marinated steak.
More Orzo Recipes
Easy Orzo Pasta Salad
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We love this light orzo salad! Use your favorite fresh herbs (we love mint, dill, basil, parsley, or cilantro).
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 ½ cups dried orzo pasta (226g)
1 medium English cucumber, diced
1 large tomato, diced or 8 ounces halved cherry tomatoes
½ cup coarsely chopped fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil, dill, or mint
½ cup pitted olives, halved
1 cup canned or jarred artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (60ml)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 to 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, depending on taste
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Cook pasta: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook until tender, 6 to 10 minutes (check the box for the recommended cooking time). Drain.
2Make dressing: While the orzo cooks, whisk the oil, mustard, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.
3Make salad: Add the drained orzo to the lemon dressing and mix well. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool down a bit. Stir in the cucumber, tomato, herbs, olives, and artichokes. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy warm or cover, then refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Make ahead: This salad is delicious when eaten straight away, but you can also make it, cover it, and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. This way, all the flavors marry and mingle, making for an even more delicious salad. If you plan to make it a day or two ahead, keep the tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs separate until you’re ready to serve. This way, they will remain crisp, and the herbs will stay bright green.
- Artichokes: If you use marinated artichokes sold in oil, you can substitute some of the olive oil called for in the recipe above with the oil in the jar.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This was absolutely delish! I pairee it with ground turkey mixed w garbanzo shredded zucchini and mediteranean spices like cavenders etc. topped the orzo woth slices og avocado and a dollop of toum garlic sauce and tazitki. So so good!
My family loves this salad! It makes a great side dish or lunch. I add chicken peas for extra protein if served alone as a main dish.
Absolutely delighted to see this recipe
It’a another hot, humid New England summer day, and I wanted to make a big salad for dinner. I came across this recipe and loved the sound of the dressing and the possibilities. I chopped celery, carrots, radishes, tomato,green onion and castelvetrano olives. We love Orzo, but I chose to use Ditalini. Added a drained jar of Italian tuna, flaked, and it was fantastic! The dressing is perfection! Thank you.
Made this and tweaked it with honey mustard sauce from Chik Fillet. Added black olives, radishes. Green pepper, green onion, citrus pepper; fresh parsley, spearmint and pepper mint, dill. I love the taste, but I added a tbsp of banana pepper pickled juice. Married well with all flavors!! Thanks!