Lemon Orzo Salad
on Feb 08, 2025
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With sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives, this easy lemon orzo salad is zesty and full of fantastic flavors. It also has white beans, baby spinach and red onions. You stir lemon zest into a mix of toasted breadcrumbs and chopped almonds to give this vegetarian pasta salad citrusy and nutty crunch. Tossed in lemon vinaigrette, you can serve the salad as a side or a main dish.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This is a no-season salad. Too often salads are reserved for the warm months, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Sun-dried tomatoes, olives and lemon are year-round ingredients that have tons of bright and bold flavor. They get me through the long winter.
A great pasta salad has an interesting mix of ingredients with lots of personality and texture. Orzo and white beans are the starting point of this recipe. Then you layer in nutty toasted breadcrumbs, tomatoes, kalamata olives, red onions and parmesan. I throw in baby spinach for greens before tossing it in lemon vinaigrette. These are classic ingredients that all work beautifully together.
There are countless ways/occasions to serve orzo salads. As a main or a side dish, they are great for potlucks, holidays and meal prep for workweek lunches. Because the noodles are smaller than rotini, penne, or fusilli, they are a lighter way to do a pasta salad. Also, each bite has something different in it.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Orzo is small rice-shaped pasta. You cook it in salted boiling water until al dente like you would with bigger noodles. To make it gluten free, you can substitute with long grain brown rice, but keep in mind that it will take longer to cook than orzo pasta. You would also have to use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
- Lemon: Nothing goes to waste. You use the lemon zest with the toasted breadcrumbs and the lemon juice in the dressing.
- White beans: Navy beans are my go-to kind of white bean for this salad because they are small, so they work perfectly with the orzo. You can substitute with great northern beans or cannellini beans.
- Olives: The salad has pitted Kalamata olives cut in half.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: You can find tomatoes that are jarred and packed in oil in the Italian food section at the grocery with the rest of the antipasti. It’s ok to substitute with roasted red peppers or use a combination of both. If you make this during tomato season, use halved ripe cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes.
- Spinach: For greens in this orzo salad, I stir in baby spinach. Baby arugula is another good option.
- Red onions give the salad a sharp accent. It’s important to finely chop them, so they don’t overpower everything else. For something more mild, swap with thinly sliced green onions.
- Panko breadcrumbs: These Japanese-style breadcrumbs give the salad toasty crunch. I always keep them in my pantry.
- Almonds: I combine the breadcrumbs with chopped almonds when I toast them. That texture and flavor is so good in this lemon orzo pasta salad.
- Parmesan cheese: I fold in parmesan with the rest of the ingredients. You can swap with pecorino cheese which is little bit stronger and saltier. You can also go with feta cheese or crumbled goat cheese. Leave out the cheese to make the recipe vegan or use a plant-based, dairy-free cheese.
- Parsley: To finish the salad, I include chopped fresh herbs.
- Lemon vinaigrette: The dressing is a combination of minced garlic, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Olive oil: You will need oil for both the breadcrumbs and the dressing.
- Kosher salt & black pepper season the breadcrumbs and the vinaigrette.
How To Make This Lemon Orzo Salad Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
1. Prep the breadcrumbs. In a small bowl, stir the panko breadcrumbs, chopped almonds almonds, lemon zest, salt, pepper and oil.
2. Toast the breadcrumbs. Spread them over the prepared sheet pan. Then bake them until they are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
3. Cook the orzo. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and simmer until al dente according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water in a colander or strainer.
4. Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, combine the cooked orzo, navy beans, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, baby spinach, parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and toasted almond breadcrumbs
5. Make the vinaigrette. Whisk the minced garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
6. Dress the salad. Drizzle in the vinaigrette and toss to combine.
Serving
As mentioned, this lemon orzo salad ticks the boxes for side dish or main dish. You can add more spinach and push it into the leafy green salad category. Because it has Mediterranean lemony flavor with olives and sun-dried tomatoes, you can pair it with Greek and Italian dishes. It would be good as a side with chicken, salmon or shrimp.
Leftovers & Storage
Most salads are best the day you make them, but both orzo and beans make it far more forgiving than lettuce salads. You can make the vinaigrette and breadcrumbs up to 3 days in advance. Store the dressing in a jar in the fridge. Let it sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before you toss it in the salad. Keep the breadcrumbs in an airtight container at room temperature.
You can store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Let them sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving it, so it isn’t as cold. The breadcrumbs will lose their crunch, but they will still give the salad their toasty, nutty flavor. If you’re doing meal prep, only toss the salad you are going to eat in the vinaigrette. Also, wait to stir in the breadcrumbs, so they keep their good texture.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overcook the orzo. Look at the recommended cook time on the package instructions. It should turn out al dente and have a toothy bite. Orzo cooks quickly because it is small.
- Adapt the salad depending on the season. If you have beautiful ripe cherry tomatoes during the summer, they would be wonderful instead of sun-dried tomatoes. On the other hand, if you have roasted sweet potatoes during the fall-winter months, you can stir them into the salad. This is a great way to repurpose random leftover roasted veggies.
- Use an actual lemon. Bottled lemon juice has all sorts of preservatives and unnecessary ingredients. Also, you need a lemon for the zest.
- Taste the salad before you serve it. You might need to season it with salt and pepper. This is especially true if you are eating it cold and not at room temperature.
More Orzo Recipes
Grilled Vegetable Orzo Salad
Roasted Broccoli Orzo
Lemon Kale Orzo
Zucchini & Squash Parmesan Orzo
Roasted Tomato Zucchini Orzo
Roasted Butternut Squash Broccoli Orzo
Lemon Orzo Salad
Ingredients
For breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds
- 1 lemon, zest
- Pinches of kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For salad
- 1 cup orzo
- 15 ounce can navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup halved pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, oil drained
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the breadcrumbs, almonds, lemon zest, pinches of kosher salt and black pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small bowl.
- Spread the breadcrumb mixture across the prepared sheet pan. Bake in the oven until it is golden brown and toasted, about 10-12 minutes.
- Cook the orzo in salted boiling water until al dente according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water in a colander or strainer.
- Combine the orzo, navy beans, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, baby spinach, parmesan, parsley and toasted breadcrumbs in a large bowl.
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
