What’s needed to make rainbow orzo salad?
For this colorful orzo salad, you will need the ingredients shown below: It’s a highly customizable salad recipe in which you are free to use colorful ingredients of your choice. This rainbow salad is not only delicious but beautiful too. You can enjoy it as a side dish as well as a meal on a hot summer day.
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
Pasta: I have used orzo to make this salad but you can use other varieties of pasta too. Pick whichever short or medium-cut pasta you like. Vegetables: I used red bell peppers, purple cabbage, carrot, cucumber, sweet corn, green peas, red onion, and cherry tomatoes. Feel free to use colorful ingredients of your choice. I have shared some ingredient options for different colors, further in this post. Fresh herbs: My favorite herb is cilantro (fresh coriander leaves) so I have used that. You can use other fresh herbs too like parsley, mint leaves, green onions, or dill. Fresh basil can be added too. Lemon: I have used fresh lemon juice in the dressing. You can also add lemon zest along with lemon juice. Instead of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar can also be used. Seasonings: I have seasoned the dressing with red pepper flakes, oregano, ground black pepper, fresh garlic, and salt. Use whatever seasonings you have or like. You can also add some palm sugar or any other sweetener of choice to the dressing if you want to add some sweetness to it. Olive oil: Use good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Other ingredient details and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.
Colorwise vegetable options for a rainbow salad
The best part about rainbow salad is that there are no set rules to make it. You can use ingredients of your choice to add colors to it. I am sharing some colorwise ingredient suggestions below, you can choose your favorite fresh fruit or vegetable from these options:
How to make (step-by-step instructions)?
To make this orzo pasta salad recipe, just follow the easy step-by-step instructions shown below: Step 1: Put olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, minced garlic, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, ground black pepper, and salt, in a bowl. Mix. Step 2: Boil salted water in a large pot. Add orzo and cook al dente following package instructions. Strain and transfer the cooked orzo to a large bowl. Step 3: Add all the chopped vegetables and herbs. Pour salad dressing on top. Step 4: Gently toss. Your delicious rainbow orzo salad is ready to be served.
Serving rainbow pasta salad
You can serve this orzo salad at room temperature or keep it in the fridge for a few hours and serve it chilled. It can be paired up with dishes like grilled vegetables, oven-baked potato wedges, corn on the cob, sandwiches, burgers, etc.
Storing the leftovers
Transfer the leftover salad to an airtight container and refrigerate. It will be fine for 3-4 days. To do some preparation ahead of time, you can chop all the vegetables and store them in the fridge. The salad dressing can also be prepared in advance.
Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions
Feel free to add more colorful ingredients of your choice to create a rainbow of fresh vegetables and fruits. If you are adding cucumbers to this salad, use English or Persian cucumbers. If you want to add Indian cucumber, peel it and remove the seeds if they are hard. This salad can be made with other varieties of pasta too. You can also make rainbow salad using rice, quinoa, couscous, barley, or green lentils instead of orzo. As the size of orzo is small, cut the vegetables into small pieces too. Even pieces of ingredients make the salad more appealing. You may also add some maple syrup, agave syrup, honey, or brown sugar to the dressing. To add a crunch to the salad you can add pepitas, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, or any other seed or nut of choice. Non-vegans may also add some crumbled feta cheese to this easy pasta salad.
Frequently asked question
More easy orzo recipes
If you enjoyed this rainbow orzo salad recipe and want to try more orzo recipes then the following links are worth trying:
More vegan salad recipes
Don’t miss to check out more tasty and nutritious salad recipes from all around the world. If you liked this recipe, please leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in the recipe card below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest.
Recipe
