Ready in around 15 minutes, this orzo salad with pesto is such an easy side dish for a midweek meal or summer BBQ. Made with just orzo pasta, basil pesto, fresh spinach and tangy parmesan, it may be simple but it’s also beautifully fresh and flavorful.

Add toasted pine nuts for crunch, or why not make it a main dish by adding chicken or salmon? With the option to enjoy this Mediterranean orzo salad either cold or hot, it’ll become a firm family favorite!

Why you’ll love it

• Fresh and flavorful, despite having few ingredients. Small orzo pasta easily soaks up the flavors in the salad.

• Such a quick and easy pasta salad. Orzo cooks in around half the time as rice, so you’ll only need around 15 minutes to make this.

• Delicious Mediterranean flavors. The herby, garlic-y, fresh taste of the pesto and spinach contrast perfectly with the rich and salty parmesan and crunchy pine nuts. The splash of vinegar adds a little tang.

• Versatile! Serve as an easy midweek side dish alongside chicken, fish or a vegetarian main. Or add meat, fish, beans, cheese and extra veggies to transform it into a tasty main.

• Great for making ahead. Take along to a party, pot luck or barbecue. Also perfect for work or school lunch boxes!

About the ingredients

Dried orzo pasta: This small pasta looks like large grains of rice. But it’s definitely pasta, not rice! You can find it in the pasta aisle of most grocery stores. Note that it’s sometimes called risoni instead of orzo.

If you can’t find it where you live, good substitutes would be pearl couscous or another small pasta shape such as ditalini, fregola, acini de pepe or even small macaroni.

For the pesto

Fresh basil: Try to grab a nice fresh bunch of basil to make the pesto for this salad.

In case you don’t have a food processor, feel free to buy a good quality jarred pesto from a supermarket. Bear in mind that most commercially produced pestos these days contain cashew nuts rather than pine nuts, in case there’s an allergy to consider.

Pine nuts: These can be on the expensive side, but you don’t need many. You can sometimes buy them ready-toasted. But if you can’t find them toasted it’s worth spending the extra few minutes to toast them yourself, for extra flavor and crunch!

If you’re finding pine nuts hard to come by, you can easily substitute with a tree nut such as almonds or cashews. Even peanuts will work.

A garlic clove: You’ll only need a small clove, since the garlic will be added to the pesto raw.

Extra virgin olive oil: This is actually a key ingredient in the recipe, so it’s worth going for a good quality brand.

Baby spinach: The fresher the better! Of course, you can substitute with regular fresh spinach – just chop finely.

Parmesan cheese: It’s best to use either thickly grated parmesan or shaved parmesan in this recipe.

Vinegar: I use either white wine vinegar or cider vinegar, but any white vinegar is fine. Alternatively, you can use lemon juice instead for a hint of zesty flavor.

Salt and pepper: I usually season the finished orzo with pesto to taste. Since the parmesan is already salty, you won’t need to add much salt.

How to make an orzo salad with pesto

The step-by-step guide below should help you make the recipe perfectly first time. Scroll down to the end for the full recipe including ingredient amounts.

The first step is to boil the orzo pasta in a large pot of water according to the packet instructions. Follow the instructions for ‘al dente’ pasta. Alternatively, simply take a minute or two off the regular cooking time.

When it’s ready, drain and rinse in cold water. Then put the cooked orzo into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, you can toast the pine nuts (if they aren’t toasted already). Simply toss them around for a few minutes in a dry pan (no oil needed!). Keep a close eye on them. You want them to be a golden brown color, but obviously not burned.

The next step is to make a batch of fresh basil pesto. It’s so quick and easy! Just add all of the ingredients to a mini food processor (or any food processor) and pulse for a few seconds.

Then all you have to do is add the fresh pesto to the cold orzo pasta.

Then you can stir in the vinegar, along with the chopped spinach and most of the parmesan.

Pile into a serving bowl. If you like, you can drizzle over a little extra olive oil.

Look how green and fresh your pesto orzo salad looks!

How to serve

I think this pesto orzo salad is perfect on the side with any kind of grilled or barbecued meat or fish. Try it with these oven chicken kabobs, this marinated Greek chicken, these easy air fryer chicken thighs (also possible in the oven!), or another simple chicken recipe.

It also goes so well with this 10-minute salmon with dill yogurt sauce.

You can serve it as a single side dish or together with other Mediterranean style sides. I like a classic Greek ‘village’ salad or Greek lettuce salad and perhaps a little tsatziki sauce as well.

If you want to serve it with a show-stopper, try this Italian burrata caprese salad.

To keep the meal vegetarian, this risoni salad would also pair well with this delicious baked eggplant recipe. Or how about cauliflower fritters, Greek zucchini fries, or perhaps the best crustless quiche you ever tasted?

Also, it’s actually equally as delicious served cold or warm!

Variations

I love this pesto orzo pasta salad just as it is, for its fresh, refreshing flavors and simplicity. However, there are so many ways to make it your own. Here are a few ideas.

• Add meat or fish. I’m thinking leftover rotisserie chicken (or any chicken!), flaked salmon, shrimp, bacon, chorizo, or any other protein you like. Serve as a main dish, or a work or school lunch.

• Keep it vegetarian but add canned chickpeas (or another type of canned bean), crispy halloumi bites, tofu or chopped hard-boiled egg for added protein.

• Add more veggie goodness. How about cubed bell peppers, cucumber, juicy cherry tomatoes or red onion? Or how about jarred sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts or green or Kalamata olives? No pre-cooking necessary!

• Add more cheese. Feta works brilliantly, as does sliced mozzarella balls, or really any cheese you like.

• Try a different type of pasta. I know, it’s an orzo pasta salad recipe, but you can achieve a similar result using pearl couscous or another type of small pasta.

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