Italian Orzo Pasta Salad

This twist on a basic Italian pasta salad is a sport changer. The orzo pasta provides this salad the proper chunk and texture. Plus, it’s loaded with crisp veggies and a simple do-it-yourself French dressing dressing.

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

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, providing you with the proper chunk. And the feel of this salad is just about excellent. When you’re nervous a couple of 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 excellent crunch. This pasta salad and my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad have grow to be 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 possibility, or you could possibly 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: Offers a fantastic crunch and tangy zip. You would additionally substitute with banana peppers.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Grape tomatoes additionally work, and you need to use pink or yellow.
• Recent Mozzarella: Cubed recent mozzarella provides a pleasant smooth texture to the salad. Nonetheless, you could possibly all the time use these little mini mozzarella balls or shredded mozzarella as a substitute.
• Salad Dressing: You may make your dressing with recent herbs over dried. You’ll wish to use one tablespoon of finely minced recent herbs for each teaspoon of dried herbs the recipe requires.

Non-compulsory Add-Ins

Meat: We love these mini pepperonis for the way nicely they mix with the scale of the opposite substances, however for those who’re not a fan, you may simply swap with a unique protein. We advocate grilled rooster, floor Italian sausage, or sliced salami as a substitute.

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

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

Cheese: Be at liberty to make use of your favourite cheese. You should utilize mini mozzarella balls or shredded mozzarella as a substitute of chopped recent mozzarella to avoid wasting time. Parmesan can be a fantastic various that will pair completely with the Italian flavors.

Make-Forward Directions

This pasta salad is tremendous simple to make forward. You may whip up the dressing 1 to 2 days early and stash it within the fridge. Then prepare dinner the pasta the night time earlier than and retailer within the fridge to sit back. While you’re able to eat, all you’ve bought to do is chop the veggies and toss all of it collectively in a giant bowl. Completed and achieved!