Orzo Salad with Artichokes, Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Feta & Lemon Basil Dressing
Updated October 06, 2020
Our herb garden is going crazy this year. I can’t keep up with our basil, it is out of control. I’ve been adding basil to salads, sandwiches, pizza, I’ve made pesto, strawberry basil sorbet, etc. Every time I walk outside it looks like I haven’t touched it though. I guess it is a good problem to have since basil is my favorite herb:) One of my new favorite salads is this Orzo Salad with Artichokes, Tomatoes, Chickpeas, and Feta. I made a lemon basil dressing to go with the salad and it is amazing.
I love orzo pasta salads and this one is top notch! I added in artichokes, tomatoes, chickpeas, and feta cheese. The chickpeas added a nice “crunch” with the creamy feta. Plus, they are a good source of protein. The lemon basil dressing was super easy to make. I combined all of the ingredients in the blender and had a wonderful dressing in seconds. I poured the dressing over the salad and stirred it up.
This salad is great at room temperature or chilled. We ate it for dinner and for lunch the next day. If you are looking for a new salad recipe, make this Orzo Salad with Artichokes, Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Feta & Lemon Basil Dressing. It is fresh, healthy, and delicious. And if your garden is full of basil, this is the perfect recipe for you! Enjoy!
On Monday, I was on a local television station, Studio 5, to do a live cooking segment. I made one of my favorite recipes, Strawberry Nutella Muffins. If you want to see the clip from the show, you can visit the Studio 5 website! It was fun!
Orzo Salad with Artichokes, Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Feta & Lemon Basil Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable broth you can use water
- 1 1/2 cups orzo
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chopped artichoke hearts
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup feta cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the Lemon Basil Dressing:
- 3/4 cup basil leaves packed
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- 1. Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Drain the orzo through a strainer and rinse with cold water. Drain completely and transfer the orzo to a large bowl.
- 2. Add the chickpeas, artichokes, tomatoes, and feta cheese to the orzo. Stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- 3. To make the dressing: in a blender or food processor, blend the basil, garlic, salt, and lemon juice until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil. Blend until combined.
- 4. Pour dressing over orzo salad and stir until well combined. Serve salad immediately or chilled.
Have you tried this recipe?
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If you like this Orzo Salad with Artichokes, Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Feta & Lemon Basil Dressing, you might also like:
Mediterranean Orzo Salad from Andrea’s Recipes
Cherry Tomato Orzo Salad with Simply Recipes
Orzo Super Salad from 101 Cookbooks
Lemon Orzo Salad with Asparagus, Spinach, and Feta from Two Peas and Their Pod
This looks delicious! I’ve been looking for a way to use orzo since I’ve had it laying about in my cupboard from Wedding Soup Attempt #1 a while back…I just might try this one. It looks like a perfect, light meal for the summer!
A delicious salad! That combination is really mouthwatering.
Cheers,
Rosa
I would never have thought of putting in chickpeas – they add such an interesting dimension!
I love tomatoes, orzo, artichoke hearts…it all sounds wonderful to me!
What a deliciously fresh salad! 🙂 I bet it would taste great cold or hot. Yum!
I also love using orzo for salad! This sounds lovely. Great recipe!
i love every ingredient in this salad, ESPECIALLY the orzo! one of my favorite pastas ever 🙂
The salad looks awesome-orzo is one of my favorite pastas. Ah-you are such a natural! Ill say it again-you should be on next food network star
I love your flavor combination here! Orzo salad is one of my favorites!
Orzo pasta salad ranks up there in the top 10 of favorite foods for me. So does everything you’ve put into this one 🙂 Perfect and delicious!
I wish our basil was doing that good!
I also wish I had this for lunch today 🙂 It looks so light and delicious
Oh, wow, that looks so good! Love all the different flavors in this beautiful salad.
Oh yes, this is definitely my kind of food!
A perfect salad!! You are so lucky to have all these fresh herbs to choose from 🙂
Looks amazing! I love a good artichoke heart in anything : )
Orzo completes a meal in our house. Easy, yummy, and heck – it’s pasta – what could be bad!
Love orzo- love artichokes- love this pasta salad!
Yes, yes and YES. I could stick my whole head in that and not even care.
YUM.
I love everything about this dish. Perfection!
Orzo is my favorite kind of pasta for dishes like this. Love this, so easy and simple!
This looks gorgeous! I am jealous that you have a garden brimming with vegetables…ah garden envy! I just made this that you might like too:
http://stayskinnymommy.blogspot.com/2011/08/pistachio-crusted-chicken-with.html
(From my farmer’s market trip not my garden ;))
Bree
I think what makes me most excited about this is that I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand! Looks delicious!
We just had rack of lamb last weekend and I was thinking next time I’d really like to make an orzo dish to go with it … and guess what? this is the one! Looks so yummy, I can’t wait to try it!
so fresh and healthy. I love this one
I love the artichoke hearts in this orza salad. Salad looking delicious!! I sub orzo with Israeli couscous and vice versa.
This orzo salad is right up my alley, love the lemon basil dressing, and all the fresh ingredients in the salad! Congrats on your cooking segment.
This recipe sounds so healthy, delish, and light. Beautiful on the plate too.
Oh, this looks so good! I’m bummed though because the first basil plant I haven’t managed to kill became really abundant and some little critter has eaten it down to a nub! I’m so frustrated!
Oh well, I know I can buy it at the store!
Ahhhh, one of the most delicious salads ever in existence. And I don’t say that lightly.
Congrats on the cooking segment! Your baby bump is so adorable, you pretty mama! 🙂
What a great combination! We have tons of tomatoes from our garden and I love to use them in salads. Awesome segment on Studio 5 😉
This sounds wonderful and refreshing! I’ve been in a big salad mood lately… Looking forward to giving this a try!
I started gardening just from this year and i really have very less knowledge on this. Started with my fav herb basil and it’s still growing 🙂
I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! I roasted the chickpeas before I added them to the salad though – I have to have crunch! It was delicious and the dressing is to die for. This salad was the perfect diner for a hot Texas summer! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked the salad. I love the idea of roasting the chickpeas first!
Living in Arizona our summers last longer than any other part of the country which is why I’m always looking for new, refreshing salads to try. Can’t wait to try this.
Marti
Any kind of orzo pasta salad makes me happy. This one is no exception.
looks great…making this tonight…thanks for sharing!
Another great recipe!!! I always come to your web site first when I need a recipe!! Thanks!!
Hi! I love this recipe! I made a slightly adapted version with a little less oil and cheese to lighten it up a bit. It was so good!! I posted the recipe (with due credit, of course) on my blog: http://pumpedupchick.com/welcome/fit-in-the-kitchen-lemon-and-basil-orzo-salad
I made this today and it’s awesome! I just discovered your website a few days ago and already I have several recipes bookmarked. =) Your recipes incorporate several things that I look for – chickpeas (a fav), fresh vegetables/herbs, a grain, with a simple dressing & easily modified to be vegan. Easy and inexpensive as well! Thanks for sharing your talents! -Kaycie
I cannot even put into words how yummy this salad was!! The thing that really made this salad was the delicious basil dressing. I left out the chickpeas and it was still to die for! Thank you!!
Yummy! I Love orzo salad! This looks delicious and I Like it! thanks for share…
I made this for a party and made copies of it and gave them out. Everyone loved this dish. When the pasted was warm i added the dressing so it soaked in. Yummy Thank you
OOPS when the pasta was warm i added the dressing . I served the feta on the side. Also diced up fresh mozzarella .
OOPS when the pasta was warm i added the dressing . I served the feta on the side. Also diced up fresh mozzarella .