Lemon Dill Orzo Salad with Feta

This vegetarian lemon dill orzo salad recipe tosses cooked orzo pasta with lemon juice, dill, cucumbers, and Feta cheese.

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Lemon dill orzo salad is very addicting and a perfect Greek inspired side dish for a picnic, potluck, or large gathering.

Serve this cold lemon orzo salad recipe with something light like gazpacho, pickled shrimp, pan fried piece of chicken or with seared scallops.

Parmesan cheese is pictured with this lemon orzo pasta recipe but it's even better with feta cheese.  And, even better with both cheeses!

Vegans leave out feta cheese or substitute dairy free cheese.

This looks like a lot of dill orzo pasta salad when it's finished but it goes down easy!

Is Orzo Rice?

Orzo often gets confused with arborio rice which is used for risotta. But orzo, is a pasta, like spaghetti. It's just a tiny shape that looks like short grain rice.

Orzo is perfect with the addition of lemon, dill, and feta cheese. It isn't able to soak up a lot of sauce like marinara does for spaghetti so lighter or more delicate flavors work best for cold orzo salads (like lemon and olive oil).

So having said all that! Orzo is pasta not rice. It has gluten which rice does not.

Lemon Dill Orzo Salad Ingredients

Lemon dill orzo salad is versatile. Leave out any of the ingredients if you don't like them (looking at your onions!).

Here's the ingredients with recommended substitutions:

• 1 lb orzo - sub: gluten free pasta or rice
• ⅔ cup lemon juice - sub white wine vinegar
• ⅔ cup olive oil - ohhhh, don't sub this but reduce the amount if you like
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper - white pepper, red pepper flakes
• 1 large cucumber - sub red peppers, cooked diced zucchini, chickpeas
• ½ cup red onion
• 1 ½ cup green onion
• ¾ cup dill
• ¾ cup parsley - for any herb, sub tarragon, basil, rosemary, savory, thyme...
• ½ lb feta cheese - optional as garnish

Tips for Making Lemon Dill Orzo Salad with Feta

Cook the orzo first, strain and add the olive oil and lemon juice mixture immediately. Keep stirring it or it will clump together.

Pro - tip: Speed the cooling process along by rinsing the cooked orzo in cold water in a strainer before adding the lemon and olive oil mixture.

Do not add remaining ingredients until orzo is cool because the cucumbers will get soggy and the herbs will wilt. We're looking for a fresh, bright, vibrant, and crunchy lemon dill orzo salad.

Seed the cucumbers because the water released from them will make the lemon dill orzo salad soggy.

Pro - tip: Seed the cucumbers and put the seeds in a pitcher and fill with water and keep it in the fridge. Use a small strainer over your glass when pouring a refreshing cup of cucumber water and throw the seeds back in the pitcher a couple times to maximize getting the most cups out of the cucumber water.

Lemon Dill Orzo with Feta FAQS

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