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Home » Vegan Recipes » Easy Summer Orzo Salad {vegan option}

Easy Summer Orzo Salad {vegan option}

Published: Jul 22, 2018 · Updated: Nov 25, 2019 · This post may contain affiliate links.

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Summer Orzo Salad

This simple Summer Orzo Salad is bursting with flavor from fresh veggies and a homemade Italian vinaigrette. It’s easy to make with simple ingredients, and almost no cooking at all! Perfect for those hot summer nights, or just a lazy weeknight dinner.

summer orzo salad in a serving dish

Sometimes on these hot summer nights, I just can’t stand the idea of turning on the stove. I know – I’m a food blogger. I am not supposed to avoid cooking. 😉

But it’s about ten million degrees in Florida, so when I find an easy recipe that doesn’t require me to stand over a hot stove for an hour, it’s a keeper.

I just love this summer orzo salad, because it’s so incredibly easy. It’s filled with fresh, raw veggies – which makes it nice and crunchy – and means very little cooking is actually involved! Plus, it’s really simple to leave off the feta cheese and make it completely vegan.

Let’s Make Summer Orzo Salad

Start off by preparing your Orzo.

What is orzo, you ask? Orzo is just a type of pasta – shaped a bit like large grains of rice. So to prepare it, simply boil some water and toss it in, following the directions on your package. The cook times will vary just a bit by brand.

While the orzo is cooking, you can chop up your veggies. I used cucumber, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli. This is great for an easy vegan dish – you can swap in just about any veggies that you like!

Simply chop all the veggies up into tiny bite-sized pieces, and set them aside for your summer orzo salad

chopped veggies for summer orzo salad

Next, make the Italian Vinaigrette.

Now, if you don’t want to be bothered with this, you can simply pick up some Italian dressing from the market. But since this orzo salad is already super easy, I went ahead and took a few minutes to make a homemade dressing.

To make my dressing for the summer orzo salad, I whisked together some extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, basil, mint, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.

The mint is a little unusual for a vinaigrette, but I think it gives such a nice, fresh flavor.

When the orzo is done cooking, let it cool to room temperature, and then toss with the veggies and dressing.

Sprinkle with a little bit of feta cheese for the final touch. Just skip this step if you want to make this recipe vegan. Or if you are feeling ambitious, you can try making your own vegan feta cheese.

easy orzo salad being served

That’s it – you have a super easy summer orzo salad, with hardly any actual cooking. Enjoy!

For more easy weeknight meals, check out my one-pot Thai green curry noodles or one-pot veggie jambalaya.

easy orzo salad being served

Easy Summer Orzo Salad - Vegan

This simple Summer Orzo Salad is bursting with flavor from fresh veggies and a homemade Italian vinaigrette. Easy to make with simple ingredients, and almost no cooking!  
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, vegan, vegetarian
Keyword: easy orzo salad, easy side dish, easy vegan recipe, how to make orzo salad, summer salad, vegan orzo salad
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Calories: 484kcal
Author: Delicious Everyday
4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups orzo dry
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
  • 1 cucumber chopped
  • 1 orange bell pepper chopped
  • 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
  • 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled, optional
  • FOR DRESSING:
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1 clove garlic chopped
  • 2 tbsp basil chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Boil water, and prepare orzo according to package directions.
  • Chop all veggies into bite sized pieces - tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, and broccoli.
  • Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
  • When orzo is done cooking, allow to cool to room temperature,
  • Toss orzo with chopped veggies and Italian dressing. Serve your summer orzo salad.

Notes

To prepare a vegan summer orzo salad, simply leave out the feta cheese or replace it with your favorite dairy-free cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 484kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 62mg | Potassium: 559mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1440IU | Vitamin C: 128.6mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg
Are you ready to make vegan cooking easy?Get the Ultimate Vegan Toolkit - packed with recipes, cheat sheets, and more. Free for a limited time. Download it now!
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Dairy Free, Recipes, Vegan Appetizers, Snack, & Sides, Vegan Main Dishes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Appetizers, Snacks, & Sides, Vegetarian Main Dishes, Vegetarian Recipes bell pepper, broccoli, cucumber, feta, orzo, tomatoes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Linda says

    July 24, 2018 at 12:00 am

    5 stars
    Easy, delicious and quick!
    Best Kitchen Utensil 2018

    Reply

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Nicole - vegetarian food bloggerNicole is a 25+ year vegetarian, and author of a vegan cookbook. She shares her recipes on Delicious Everyday, an award-winning vegetarian and vegan food blog.  About Nicole

one pot vegan cookbook
free vegan cooking cheat sheet

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