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This lemon orzo salad recipe is a fresh, healthy, and colorful summer salad with chicken that’s a breeze to make! It’s ready in about 30 minutes.
Try this Easy Italian Pasta Salad or Avocado Corn Salad next.
Why you’ll love it
Orzo is extremely popular lately, so I’m thrilled to bring you even more recipes with it. You loved this Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, so I’ve come up with this irresistible orzo salad with chicken and fresh vegetables and a quick lemon honey dressing that’s simple to make.
This bright lemon orzo pasta salad is easily customizable and lends itself to substitutions or additions. My mantra has always been that summer recipes like salads should be fuss-free. Enjoy this one outside on the patio with a glass of prosecco, or use it for meal prep!
What you’ll need
For the salad
- Orzo – you’ll find this small rice-shaped pasta in the dry pasta aisle
- Cucumbers – I prefer using mini (Persian) cucumbers, but if you can’t find them, half a regular English one works just fine
- Tomatoes – use grape, cherry, or any little tomato variety
- Onion – red onion is the ideal kind for salads since it’s less sharp than other varieties and packs a crunch
- Arugula – for some green goodness
- Chicken – I just bought a rotisserie chicken for ease, but if you’ve got a leftover Roast Chicken, that’s great too
- Parmesan – always use freshly grated
- Basil – for a pop of freshness
For the dressing
- Lemon – we’re using both lemon juice and zest for ultimate brightness
- Olive oil – a good base to any salad dressing
- Honey – for a hint of sweetness and balance
- Garlic – use even more if you’re a big fan of garlic!
- Salt & pepper – as with any pasta salad, it’s important to be generous
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I like to use this garlic press to mince it since you don’t even need to peel the cloves first, and a Microplane is great to effortlessly zest/grate the lemon and parmesan.
- One of these large glass prep bowls is pictured.
- Store the rest of your lemon in this cute lemon saver for freshness.
Make ahead tip
If you want to make this salad ahead of time or for meal prep, I suggest leaving out the arugula. That way, it’ll last in the fridge a few days no problem. Just mix in the arugula and toss with the dressing when you’re ready to eat it.
How to make lemon orzo salad
This is an overview, and full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Boil a salted pot of water, and cook the orzo al dente. Rinse with cool water, drain, and transfer the pasta to a large bowl.
- Prep and chop all the salad ingredients and add to the bowl.
- Add the dressing ingredients to a jar or small bowl and mix thoroughly. Toss the salad with the dressing, and enjoy!
Substitutions and variations
- This salad is very forgiving. Feel free to throw in any fresh herbs you may have in the garden, swap the arugula for spinach, can be vegetarian without the chicken, etc.
- I use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe, but you can definitely quickly cook some chicken if you have some. Try pan frying it with your favorite seasoning, and it’ll be delicious.
- Kalamata olives and/or capers would go great in here if you’re a fan for a briny quality.
What to serve with orzo salad
- It makes a fantastic lighter main course, so it’s perfect on its own or with a slice of crusty bread.
- You can also leave out the chicken, and then it makes a perfect complement for seafood recipes such as my Easy Pan Seared Salmon Recipe or these Tequila Lime Shrimp.
Leftovers and storage
- As mentioned above, this orzo salad will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days no problem if you leave out the arugula.
- If this salad has been sitting out in the sun for any amount of time, I’d eat it right away or discard it for food safety reasons.
More pasta salad recipes
Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or if you made this orzo salad. As always, tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram if you’ve made one of my recipes!
Lemon Orzo Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked orzo
- 2 mini cucumbers (or 1/2 English cucumber) chopped
- 1 cup little tomatoes (grape/cherry/etc.) cut into quarters
- 2 tablespoons red onion chopped
- 2 cups (loosely packed) fresh arugula optional
- 2 cups cooked/rotisserie chicken
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil sliced thin
Dressing:
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice + zest of 1 lemon
- 2.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water and cook the orzo al dente according to package directions. Once it's done, rinse it with cool water and let it drain thoroughly. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Meanwhile, prep all the salad ingredients and add them to the bowl. If you're not going to eat the salad right away, I suggest skipping the arugula.
- Add the dressing ingredients to a jar or small bowl, and whisk/shake until well combined.
- Toss the salad with the dressing. Add more lemon/oil if needed. I also add plenty of salt & pepper – there's a lot of pasta in here, so you need to salt it well so it doesn't taste bland.
Notes
- This recipe makes quite a lot of pasta salad. If served with nothing else, this could serve 4 adults. You can easily get 6+ servings out of this. If you know you’re going to have leftovers, I suggest either leaving out the arugula or only tossing it with the portion of the salad you’ll be eating right away. Without arugula, this salad will last in the fridge for a few days no problem.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made this tonight and it was so good!! It was also very easy to and quick to make. I will definitely be making it again. Thank you so much for sharing it!!
I’m so glad you liked it! You are very welcome!
This is such a great salad! I’ve come back to this recipe many times, including this Memorial Day weekend!
Wonderful! Thank you!!
I doubled the recipe and brought to a tennis luncheon. Everyone raved about it and asked for recipe. For sure a crowd pleaser!
Fantastic!! 😀 Love that!
This salad turned out really nice. We enjoyed it as a meal in itself. I slightly changed the recipe because I don’t care for cucumbers and tomatoes. Instead, I used sun dried tomatoes and added capers and pine nuts, and doubled the amount of fresh basil.
I placed the orzo salad on top of the arugala so that I can have it for another couple days without it getting soggy. Also left out the honey in the dressing, and added another clove of garlic.
Delish! Will be making this one again!
So glad you were able to adapt it! 😀
didn’t really follow the directions as far as portions go. Just eyeballed it getting equal parts red and purple and green. Threw in a butt ton of chicken that was sitting around. What really put this up a notch was the lemon and the lemon zest. Do not….for the sake of the meek and unadventurous….skimp on the lemon or the basil. Go ahead. Eyeball the EVOO and honey and make it lemony. When you do it will set you apart from the ordinary with a killer salad that will see bowls empty after the meal and the uninitiated thinking you’re a culinary God.
Seriously. This is a really good meal.
I’m so glad you liked it!! 😀
Loved this recipe!
Fantastic to hear, RM! Thanks for letting us know.
Very good orzo salad. I did need to add more acid to the dressing, but very delicous.
Glad you enjoyed it, Susan! Thank you!
I was so happy to pick the veggies this morning from my little garden and make this delicious salad. I surprised my daughter with lunch today and she absolutely loved it. This is definitely a keeper!
That’s great to hear!! 😀
OMG! This is mind blowing. I am Singaporean and been eating plain salad that is lifeless, structureless and sad hahaha. Tasted Orzo the very first time and it this is the real star to the bite. Made the same recipe but ran out of cucumber & replaced it with zucchinni instead. (Lovely) The structure of this dish combines everything, love the raw onions and garlic that gave the punch, and the queen of crunchiness tops it all. Thank you for the recipe and definitely coming back for more.
I’m thrilled you enjoyed it, Sandra!! 😀 Thanks for taking the the to write me a review! 😀
I adore the lemon chicken orzo soup!! Make it often!! I cannot wait to make this it’s sounds yummy with crusty bread!!!I
Hope you love it too, Barb! 🙂 Thank you!
This is SO good. Just as written. I didn’t use the optional arugula. I did eat some leftover over a bed of romaine. But, the salad itself is perfect. Thank you SO much for sharing. I will be eating this regularly.
Yay!! Thrilled you enjoyed it, Pam!