Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad

Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad is an easy make-ahead salad that is packed with a ton of fresh flavors. This mayonnaise-free salad is perfect to make for BBQs, baby showers, bridal showers, luncheons, and potlucks. You’ll find yourself making it over and over again!

Oh my goodness! I’ve definitely got a keeper for you today with this Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad. Not only is this salad filled with fresh ingredients bursting with flavors, but it is made ahead of time making it perfect to prepare for any occasion. Personally, my favorite part of this salad is the salty bite you get from the feta cheese. Yummy!

I can remember the exact day I tried this salad for the first time, December 16, 2011. Before you think I’m a major weirdo, let me explain. The only reason I know the exact date is because one of our neighbors brought it to our Holiday Potluck Party. I used Evite to create the invitation so I was able to go back in my history and find out when the date of the party was. Pretty awesome if I do say so myself! I love Evite so much and have talked about how many amazing features it has in my Pinterest Party post and also in this post here. I honestly swear by it!

My neighbors across the street were the ones who brought this GEM to the party. From the very first bite, my mom and I were addicted. We loved it so much that I had to beg the neighbors for the recipe. You know it’s good if we are still making this over 6 years later!

I brought this salad to a BBQ on Sunday, and once again, it was a huge success! I love that I can make it the night before and just toss it all together the day of the party. I put the salad in a disposable aluminum tray so I didn’t have to worry about bringing home a dish. Plus, it allowed me to leave any extras at the party.

The salad really holds up nicely in a buffet-style atmosphere like there was at the BBQ we attended this past weekend. This Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad is also perfect for baby showers, bridal showers, luncheons, and potlucks of course. I’m pretty sure I have actually made it for every single type of event I just listed!

So what do I need to make this Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad?

16 oz. box Orzo, 2 small tomatoes (chopped), 1 small red onion (chopped), 1 bag Baby Spinach (chopped/torn), 10 – 12 basil leaves (chopped), 4 oz. crumbled Feta cheese, 12 oz. Girard’s Champagne Dressing, ½ cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

Cook the box of Orzo pasta according to the package. Mine took 10 minutes to cook.

As soon as the Orzo is done cooking you’ll want to drain it in a strainer and run it under cold water. The cold water will help stop the cooking process. Let the Orzo drain for about a ½ hour. After the ½ hour, rinse the pasta one more time and let it drain completely. Here’s a helpful hint! Be careful with the type of strainer you use for this. Orzo is a very tiny pasta and it will slip right out of a strainer with too big of holes…yes I know from experience!

While the Orzo is draining, you can begin chopping your tomatoes, onions, and basil.

For the tomatoes, I personally like to remove the seeds when chopping them up. I find the tomatoes to be too mushy with the seeds.

I also have a great trick for chopping basil that I saw on the Food Network way back when.

You want to start by stacking a few basil leaves on top of each other like so.

Take your stack and roll it into a cute little cigar.

You’re now set to begin chopping.

You’ll end up with these beautiful little ribbons of basil when you’re done.

Once you have your tomatoes, onions, and basil all chopped, up you’ll want to place them in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

Grab your bag of baby spinach and begin chopping it up. Instead of using a knife for this I like to use my hands and just tear the spinach leaves apart.

I make sure to remove any large stems from the spinach during the process.

Once done, add the baby spinach to Ziploc bag with the other vegetables and place it in the refrigerator for tomorrow.

Now it’s time to fluff your Orzo. Remember, we ran the orzo under cold water TWICE and left it to drain completely before we fluffed it!

Once fluffed, add the Orzo to a new Ziploc bag and pour in 1 cup of the Girard’s Champagne dressing.

Close the bag and gently mix in the dressing with the pasta. The dressing will eventually get soaked up in the pasta. Place the bag in the fridge next to the bag of vegetables and leave it overnight.

The next day, empty the two Ziploc bags into a bowl along with the crumbled feta cheese and stir it all together.

Add as little or as much of the extra dressing to the salad to make it wet. I usually end up using the majority of the remaining dressing when I make this recipe.

Don’t forget that you can add some toasted pine nuts if you’d like although I did not. Why not add some Kalamata olives too while you’re at it!

Time to enjoy!

Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad is so darn delicious. I know you’re going to love it! I’ve yet to bring this to a party, or have it at one of my own, and not have people go crazy over it. Give it a try at your next gathering and let me know how it goes!