Italian Orzo Pasta Salad

This twist on a traditional Italian pasta salad is a recreation changer. The orzo pasta offers this salad the proper chunk and texture. Plus, it’s loaded with crisp veggies and a simple home made French dressing dressing.

Love orzo as a lot as we do? Then you definitely’ll love our Lemon Hen and Orzo.

Why My Recipe

• Loaded with completely crisp and crunchy veggies and all of the scrumptious orzo.
• Selfmade Italian dressing that’s fast and straightforward to make.
• Simple to prep the evening earlier than and able to throw collectively whenever you want it!

What’s nice about this salad is the scale of every ingredient. The orzo pasta, mini pepperoni, and small items of mozzarella all match collectively on one spoon, supplying you with the proper chunk. And the feel of this salad is just about good. When you’re apprehensive a few soggy pasta salad, this isn’t that! Cooking the orzo pasta to al dente and mixing it with olives, peppers, and tomatoes makes this pasta salad gentle with that good crunch. This pasta salad and my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad have turn into my go-to for meal-prepping a fast and engaging lunch!

Ingredient Notes

• Orzo Pasta: This short-cut pasta resembles rice and is discovered within the pasta aisle at most grocery shops. Prepare dinner to al dente for a agency, chewy chunk.
• Olives: the sliced black olives in a can are a fantastic choice, or you can go inexperienced.
• Mini Pepperonis: Simply swap for normal, sliced pepperoni or salami.
• Inexperienced Bell Pepper: Substitute with yellow or pink bell peppers for a sweeter taste.
• Pepperoncini: Provides a fantastic crunch and tangy zip. You can additionally substitute with banana peppers.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Grape tomatoes additionally work, and you need to use pink or yellow.
• Contemporary Mozzarella: Cubed recent mozzarella offers a pleasant smooth texture to the salad. Nevertheless, you can at all times use these little mini mozzarella balls or shredded mozzarella as an alternative.
• Salad Dressing: You can also make your dressing with recent herbs over dried. You’ll need to use one tablespoon of finely minced recent herbs for each teaspoon of dried herbs the recipe requires.

Non-obligatory Add-Ins

Meat: We love these mini pepperonis for the way properly they mix with the scale of the opposite elements, however when you’re not a fan, you may simply swap with a special protein. We suggest grilled hen, floor Italian sausage, or sliced salami as an alternative.

Veggies: We love crunch to our pasta salads. When you’re trying to load up with extra veggies, you can add one other bell pepper (yellow and pink are sweeter), some chopped pink onion and zucchini, or perhaps a diced jalapeño for slightly kick of warmth

Beans: Add some extra substance to your salad! Beans are a good way to make this pasta salad slightly extra hearty and filling. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) pair properly with this salad for his or her measurement and texture.

Cheese: Be happy to make use of your favourite cheese. You need to use mini mozzarella balls or shredded mozzarella as an alternative of chopped recent mozzarella to avoid wasting time. Parmesan can also be a fantastic various that may pair completely with the Italian flavors.

Make-Forward Directions

This pasta salad is tremendous straightforward to make forward. You’ll be able to whip up the dressing 1 to 2 days early and stash it within the fridge. Then cook dinner the pasta the evening earlier than and retailer within the fridge to relax. Whenever you’re able to eat, all you’ve acquired to do is chop the veggies and toss all of it collectively in a giant bowl. Performed and finished!