Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Full of bright and fresh flavors, spring orzo salad will make you happy from the very first bite! Crisp asparagus, spicy arugula, and flavorful pine nuts are dressed in a delightful lemon basil vinaigrette.
How long it takes: 25 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: large pan for pasta, mixing bowl, small food processor or blender
Servings: 6
Lemony Spring Orzo Salad
Packed full of spring flavors. With crisp asparagus, spicy arugula, creamy artichokes and a tangy lemon basil vinaigrette, this salad sings like the happy birds saying hello to spring. This is one of my favorite pasta salads and I think you will love it just as much as I do.
Easy to make. You can have this salad ready in less than a half an hour. Orzo is a quick-cooking pasta and you can cook the asparagus in the same boiling water. The dressing is easy to whip up, too. Take the time to toast the pine nuts, it’s really easy and takes about 5 minutes. Learn how to toast pine nuts.
Make it ahead. Most of the components of the salad can be made ahead, making it easy to assemble when ready to serve.
Ingredient Notes
- Orzo: Orzo is sometimes confused with rice but it’s actually a small pasta. Unlike rice, you do not need to rinse orzo before cooking it. However, for salads like this one, it should be rinsed after cooking it to cool it down and remove some of the starch.
- Asparagus, Artichokes, Arugula: I use fresh asparagus, canned artichoke hearts, and baby arugula for plenty of fresh flavor. You could substitute baby spinach but the spicy flavor of arugula is a perfect counterpoint to the asparagus and salty Parmesan.
- Parmesan Cheese: Shred your own cheese for best texture and flavor. This is not the place to use the powdery grated cheese. Shaved Parmesan works well in this salad, too.
- Pine Nuts: These tasty little nuts are the crowning touch. Toast the pine nuts first for the best flavor and add them just before serving the salad so they stay crunchy.
- Lemon Basil Vinaigrette: Although you can buy lemon basil dressing, it’s not nearly as fresh tasting as homemade. Toss fresh basil, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, honey, salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder in your blender for an easy dressing. It tastes amazing and you’ll want to put it on everything!
How To Make Spring Orzo Salad
Cook the pasta and asparagus. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and cook the orzo according to package directions. A few minutes before the orzo is done, add the chopped asparagus to the pan to cook.
Drain. Put a colander into your sink and drain the orzo/asparagus mixture. Rinse it with cold water to stop it from cooking more, and drain well. Set aside.
Make the dressing. While the orzo and asparagus are cooking, prep the dressing. A small food processor or blender works well. Process the basil, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, honey, salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder until the dressing is smooth and emulsified.
Combine the ingredients. Put the orzo, asparagus, arugula, artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts into a large bowl, and toss together. Add vinaigrette and mix until the salad is coated.
Serve. Serve the salad immediately, garnished with lemon wedges, if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Make it a meal. This spring orzo salad is absolutely fantastic (like so, so, so good) topped with grilled chicken or grilled salmon for a complete summer meal. It serves four to six if plated in this manner. For a vegetarian main course salad, add protein with chickpeas.
- Add or substitute. Try baby spinach if you’re not a fan of the spicy flavor of arugula. Crumbled feta cheese can be substituted for Parmesan cheese. Instead of asparagus, try sugar snap peas or garden peas. Fresh mint or parsley can be added.
More Orzo Recipes
Hot dishes: Try vegetarian orzo with sundried tomatoes (a one pan pasta dinner), creamy lemon orzo with greens (I’m in love with this one), and lemon chicken orzo soup (make it on the stovetop or in your Instant Pot).
Salads: We have bruschetta orzo salad (another one of my faves!), creamy southwestern orzo salad (this one is always a HUGE hit!), orzo salad with yogurt dill dressing, and Greek orzo salad with shrimp.
Prep ahead: A few of the salad components can be prepped up to a day ahead and stored separately in the refrigerator. Make the vinaigrette, cook the orzo and asparagus, grate the Parmesan, and toast the pine nuts.
To serve: Remove the vinaigrette from the refrigerator a half hour ahead of time to allow it to warm up. Sometimes olive oil hardens a little when it’s cold. Shake or whisk the vinaigrette before adding it to the salad. Add the toasted pine nuts immediately before serving so they stay crisp.
This salad is best served immediately or within a few hours of making it. It tastes great leftover but the pine nuts do get a bit soggy and the arugula will wilt. That doesn’t stop me from eating the leftovers for a couple days, but you should be aware of it.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #62. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list.
More Salad Recipes
Spring Orzo Salad
Ingredients
For Salad:
- 1 bunch (16 ounces) asparagus
- 1 can (14 ounces) quartered artichoke hearts
- 8 ounces uncooked orzo
- 5 ounces baby arugula
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup pine nuts (toast them first for best flavor)
For Lemon Basil Vinaigrette:
- 1 cup (2 ounces) fresh basil
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Rinse asparagus, cut or snap off the tough ends, and chop it into 1-inch pieces. Drain the artichoke hearts and roughly chop them.1 bunch (16 ounces) asparagus, 1 can (14 ounces) quartered artichoke hearts
- Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook according to package directions. Two minutes before orzo is fully cooked, add asparagus to the pan to cook. Drain orzo and asparagus; rinse with cold water until cool; drain well.8 ounces uncooked orzo
- Meanwhile, make dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and blend until smooth.1 cup (2 ounces) fresh basil, ½ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons honey, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta, asparagus, artichoke hearts, arugula, and parmesan cheese. Right before serving, add the lemon basil vinaigrette and pine nuts, stir to coat.5 ounces baby arugula, 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, ½ cup pine nuts
- Serve immediately, garnished with lemon wedges, if desired.
Notes
- Shortcut: If you don’t have time to make the vinaigrette, purchase lemon basil dressing (Newman’s Own, Wishbone, or another brand). You’ll need ¾ cup (6 ounces).
- Make ahead tips: You can cook the pasta and asparagus ahead of time; chill until ready to use. The vinaigrette can also be made ahead and refrigerated. Remove it from the fridge a half hour before serving (sometimes the oil solidifies); shake well or whisk. The pine nuts can be toasted a day or two ahead, too.
- Substitutions/add-ins: Try baby spinach instead of arugula, peas or sugar snap peas instead of asparagus, feta cheese instead of Parmesan, fresh mint leaves or parsley in addition to the basil.
- Toast pine nuts: Learn how to toast pine nuts (3 methods). It’s very easy!
- Make it a main dish: Top the salad with grilled chicken or grilled salmon for a complete summer meal. It serves four to six if plated in this manner. For a vegetarian main course salad, add protein with chickpeas.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
would be more effective if you posted recipe first and all your writing afterwards. looking for recipe not chatter!
Every post has a convenient “jump to recipe” button at the top of every page that will take you directly to the recipe with one click. The text is full of helpful information that we take a great deal of time writing. Also, we provide recipes for free (even though I have thousands a month in expenses to run this site) and if you prefer the recipe without the “chatter,” you may have better luck purchasing a cookbook or visiting allrecipes. There’s a lot of reasons for the blog post text (and putting it first) beyond the fact that it contains helpful information for the reader, but I won’t bore you with those. Have a great day, Gerry.
This looks so good. I’m terrible at spring cleaning. I can’t seem to actually get it all done, but we’re trying. Looks like making this may trump my cleaning list though. Ha-ha. I love this salad. I make a similar one with pepper and Parmesan cheese, sans asparagus all the time (once in a while with fresh cherry tomatoes). So easy healthy for a last minute side dish to like any meal.
This recipe is delicious. it’s so fresh and springy… I can never have too many salad recipes on hand! I could go for a salad right now
I’m so happy you like it! It’s one of my favorites. Happy spring!
looks like a fun salad to eat
It really is! Thanks Denise!