Spring Orzo Salad

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If you haven’t already noticed, I love making seasonal salads; examples being my fall harvest salad, and winter beet salad. So naturally, I had to share this spring orzo salad, which is a combo of all the bright and citrusy things I love about spring.

Think charred asparagus, creamy artichoke hearts, orzo, butter beans, and fresh herbs like dill and parsley, tossed in a sweet honey lemon vinaigrette. Like what more could you want?

Plus, this salad is packed with over 15 g of fiber and 18 g of protein per serving (this salad serves 3).

Whether you make this for a quick weeknight dinner or prep it for lunch during the week, don’t let asparagus season go by without making this lemony spring orzo salad!

P.S. I did update this salad recipe, and this 2.0 version is so much better imo. There’s more flavor, fiber, texture, and protein!

What You’ll Need For This Spring Orzo Salad

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this easy spring orzo salad. 

• Asparagus: 
• Orzo: If you’re gluten-free, they’re are tons of gluten-free orzo brands out there. And if you don’t like orzo, feel free to sub in giant couscous. Giant couscous is twice as big as the more common small, yellow, semolina-based couscous from North Africa. Plus, it’s toasted, rather than dried, which gives it a nutty flavor and a light yet hearty texture. Like pasta, it has a chewy bite, can stand up to a good sauce, and is great mixed into salads.
• Butter beans: I highly recommend Strianese canned butter beans (also labeled as fagioli bianchi di Spagna); they taste amazing! And for those curious, butter beans are just lima beans, but with a cooler name (depending on where you are the names are used interchangeably). Lima beans refer to a broader group of beans that have a large range of colors, hence the confusion around green lima beans and beige butter beans. 
• Green pitted olives 
• Jarred artichoke hearts 
• Fresh parsley 
• Fresh dill 
• Lemons: You’ll need both the juice and zest. 
• Extra virgin olive oil: 
• Honey: Feel free to sub in maple syrup if you’re vegan. 
• Garlic cloves: While I recommend using fresh garlic for this dish, you can opt to use 1/4 tsp garlic powder instead to save on prep time. 
• Black pepper 
• Kosher salt

A Few Recipes Notes 

• Get asparagus with thin stems. Thinner stemmed asparagus tends to be more buttery and tender, than thicker asparagus stems which are usually woody and fibrous. Plus, the thinner stems char better when roasted!
• In the original recipe I included green peas, so feel free to add them to the salad if you like that version. You’ll need 1 cup of frozen green peas, blanched in hot water for 3 minutes.
• Make this salad your own by adding in crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts, etc. If you eat meat, feel free to throw in some shredded chicken to make this heartier!

And since you always ask, the serving bowl in the photo is the speckled low bowl from Crate & Barrel. 

Hope you enjoy this salad recipe!

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Spring Orzo Salad 1.0

If you’re looking for the older version of this recipe, leaving the full recipe for you below! Although, I highly recommend making the newer version – it’s so much better!

Orzo Salad

• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 cup orzo, dry
• 1 cup green peas, frozen
• 1 bunch parsley
• 12-15 basil leaves, fresh
• 1 cup packed arugula, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup pine nuts

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Start by preheating your oven to 450°F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. 
2. Fill a pot with water and place on the stove to boil. 
3. Next, rinse the asparagus thoroughly and chop into small 1” pieces or slightly smaller. I usually don’t use the bottom ⅓ half of the asparagus as it tends to be very ‘woody’ in texture, especially for a pasta salad like this. Add the chopped asparagus onto the prepared sheet pan and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, salt and black pepper. Toss to coat. Bake the asparagus in the oven for 25-30 minutes until it just starts to crisp and the asparagus is super tender. 
4. At this point the pot of water should be boiling, add in the orzo along with a generous amount of salt. Lower the heat to medium and cook the orzo as stated on the package instructions. Pro tip, 1 minute before the orzo is done cooking, I like to add in the green peas to blanch quickly. That way you don’t need to use an additional pot.
5. While the orzo and asparagus cook, finely chop the parsley and basil and add into a large mixing bowl. 
6. Next, combine all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl and whisk and emulsify everything. Adjust for salt. 
7. Once done cooking, drain and rinse the orzo and peas and put it into your mixing bowl, along with the asparagus and toasted pine nuts. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Adjust for salt and pepper and enjoy!