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This Mediterranean orzo salad is easy, fresh, healthy, and quick! It’s bursting with fabulous Greek flavors and makes a nutritious side dish or light meal.
Love orzo in salads? Try my Lemon Orzo Salad with Chicken.
Why you’ll love it
This Greek orzo salad comes together fast, and the bold Mediterranean flavors make this the ultimate pasta salad! It has simple-to-find fresh ingredients and a quick homemade Greek vinaigrette. It’s very flexible, and you won’t even have to measure after you’ve made it once or twice.
It’s great for making ahead as well. Simply assemble the salad, portion it out, and you’ve got healthy lunches for a few days, or your picnic salad is ready to go! It’s a great year-round salad as well since the veggies are generally available at the grocery store during colder months.
What you’ll need
- Orzo – orzo is a rice-shaped pasta and has the perfect texture in every bite when cooked al dente
- Feta – use the kind with cubes packed in oil and herbs or crumbled feta
- Red onion – this milder variety of onion tastes great raw
- Tomatoes – grape or cherry tomatoes give juicy and sweet bursts of flavor, but you can cut up regular tomatoes if you prefer
- Cucumber – use mini (Persian) ones if you can find them, but English cucumber will also do just fine
- Kalamata olives – a cornerstone of Greek salad. The briny olives add so much delicious savory flavor. Buy the pitted ones to make prepping this salad a breeze!
- Oregano, red wine vinegar, and olive oil – the dream team that makes up the simple homemade Greek dressing
- Parsley – gives a pop of freshness to top it all off
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I like to make my salads in large glass mixing bowls.
- A classic chef’s knife makes chopping up the veggies a smooth process. I use this cutting board as well.
- For the rest of your onion, store it in this handy onion saver that looks adorable in your fridge and keeps it fresher for longer.
How to make orzo salad
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cook the orzo, drain, and rinse with cold water. Cut up your veggies and prep all the other ingredients.
Once the orzo has cooled, add all the ingredients to a large bowl. Toss with the homemade dressing, and enjoy.
Pro tip
Make sure to adjust the oil and vinegar quantities to suit your tastes! It’s also important to season this salad well with salt & pepper to bring out the flavors since there’s a fair bit of pasta in it.
Substitutions and variations
- If you are not a fan of olives, you can leave them out.
- To make this salad vegan, don’t include the feta, or replace it with a plant-based alternative.
- Other ingredients that would go great in this versatile salad are green or red bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, spinach, and arugula!
- If you can’t find red wine vinegar, sub in fresh lemon juice instead.
What to serve with this Greek orzo salad
- Enjoy this salad with my Easiest Baked Chicken Thighs, or try some Greek favorites like Homemade Tzatziki or this deliciously crispy Saganaki (Greek Fried Cheese).
- If eating it as a main, a slice of crusty bread would go well with it or this Hummus Crostini Appetizer.
Leftovers and storage
- This pasta salad will last 3 to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container, but keep in mind that orzo will soak up the dressing a bit.
- You may want to add a splash more oil and/or vinegar if you found it’s gone a little dry.
If you made this Mediterranean orzo salad recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! You can also ask any questions if the blog post above didn’t answer ’em.
Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked orzo
- 1 (10 ounce) package little tomatoes (grape or cherry) cut into halves
- 3-4 mini cucumbers (or 1/2 English cucumber) chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 1/4 cup Kalamata olives pitted & cut into halves
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped red onion
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Salt & pepper to taste
- For garnish: fresh parsley optional, to taste
Instructions
- Boil a large salted pot of water and cook the orzo al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Meanwhile, prep your other ingredients.
- Once the orzo has cooled, add all ingredients to a large bowl. I suggest starting with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, tossing the salad, then adding more if needed. Season with salt & pepper as needed (I am generous with both). Garnish with fresh parsley if using.
Notes
- Serves 2-4 depending on how much people eat.
- Feel free to eyeball the ingredients such as the olives and onion.
- You can replace the red wine vinegar with fresh lemon juice if you prefer.
- Crumbled feta works but I’ve also used those little feta cubes packed in olive oil & fresh herbs.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on January 2, 2018. It’s been tweaked to be even easier, tastier, and has new photos!
I just made this, tweaked it a bit to use what I had. I added some red bell pepper, more oinion, 1 whole cucumber. I used bottled red wine vinegarette. I used 1/2 feta and 1/2 goat which made it a little creamer. Fresh basil at the end. Tastes wonderful, just put it in the fridge, I know it will be better cold. Thanks so much for a great quick recipe.
Sounds delicious, Harriet! You’re welcome!
Increadable!!!!! You will absolutely love this.
Thanks, Lou! 😀
I’ve been craving the Whole Foods orzo salad but I’m on a restaurant strike (besides pizza by the slice) so I made some at home! I chopped all the veggies while the orzo was cooking and it was so easy. Currently on my second bowl.
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed it!
Took this to church dinner. Everyone raved & wanted the recipe! My husband loved it too!
I’m thrilled to hear that!! Thank you, Deb!
I love this recipe so much! I also add some tuna to stretch it a little farther. My favorite thing to pack for lunch for work!
I’m so happy to hear that, Ashleigh! Adding tuna is a great idea!
I added some extra pickled items that I had on hand: cherry peppers (chopped & seeds removed), capers & pepperoncini. I added fine chopped colored bell peppers on hand (red yellow & orange / as recommended) and I had no parsley on hand, so I substituted some fresh cilantro. It was a perfectly mild herbal substitution. This salad is so great you can add or replace ingredients, as you like. It’s also the perfect thing for clearing out old jars of pickled items from your fridge into a beautiful & bright salad. If you want to “cheat” you can also just dress it lightly with a ready-made Greek dressing. BEWARE TO GO EASY on the salt! I added salt to the pasta water & nothing else. The feta, olives, etc. add so much salt you don’t need it. Dried Oregano & black pepper were so necessary. This was a perfect basic recipie!
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I LOVE this recipe! It’s delicious and healthy – thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Sarah!
This is another great salad on my favourite recipe site. Loads of potential for tweaking too. We love panzanella and will having that soon which I always make with fried halloumi to make a main meal. Thanks superb easy to follow as ever.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Doug!! 😀 I love panzanella too. So good with in-season summer tomatoes!
I made this as a side dish for my sisters birthday party. It was a total hit! I used fresh mozzarella instead of feta since I had a bunch to use up. Thank you for your always amazing recipes!
Fantastic!! You’re very welcome. 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Just found this recipe now (via your newsletter!) and it looks delicious. However, I dislike the taste of Feta cheese. What would you recommend as a substitute? I realize you haven’t personally switched it up, but if you had to guess? I like mozzarella, goat cheese, ricotta. Do you think any of those would work? Which texture would be a better match?
I also saw the comment for substituting with “Sheese” but unfortunately my local grocery store doesn’t carry it.
I might wait until warmer weather to try it, but definitely have it added to my list of recipes to try!
Hi Angela!! I think goat cheese would work well! Mozzarella would be yummy too for a more mild flavor. Let me know how it goes. 🙂