Greek Feta Salad is a summer salad so good you'll want to enjoy it year-round. The vibrant colors make for a beautiful presentation, especially considering how easy it is to make.
This salad is full of juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, bright red bell peppers, Kalamata olives, tender orzo, and creamy feta cheese. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is!
Another reason I love this Greek Feta Salad recipe is it is versatile. You can make it a full meal by adding grilled chicken breasts or leave out the protein and serve as a side dish.
WHAT MAKES THIS VIBRANT GREEK FETA SALAD WITH ORZO GREAT?
- You can find most of the ingredients at your local farmers market.
- The tangy feta cheese sends this recipe over the top. If you are like me and love feta cheese you'll love my Caesar Pasta Salad too.
- The fresh ingredients make this the perfect Greek salad to take to your next backyard summer cookout.
- If you love to meal prep, you'll love the ease of having this in the fridge for a quick lite lunch.
WHAT IS ORZO?
In Italian, Orzo means barley because of its similar size to rice. It's actually a short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. It is traditionally made with white flour, but it can also be made with whole grains.
To save time, I often substitute orzo for rice because it takes about half the time.
HOW TO MAKE GREEK FETA SALAD WITH ORZO
- Add 1 ½ cups raw orzo to 2 quarts of boiling water.
- Stir often for 8 - 10 minutes.
- Cool with cold water and drain.
Once the Orzo is cooked, you will need a large bowl to combine the ingredients.
- Add the cooked orzo
- ¾ cup diced red pepper
- 1 English cucumber diced
- ½ cup red onion
- ½ cup Kalamata olives
- ½ cup crumbled Feta cheese
- Cherry tomatoes cut in half
- Basil cut into ribbons
SIMPLE VINAIGRETTE
To make the vinaigrette, you'll need a small bowl or mason jar. Then, you will:
- Add ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove minced garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp Oregano.
- Shake or whisk until the ingredients are mixed well.
DRESSING THE SALAD
- Toss the salad with the simple vinaigrette and chill for one hour before serving. Be sure to give the salad another toss right before serving.
GREEK PASTA SALAD INGREDIENTS
Below are a list of the ingredients and some suggestions for what works well as substitution.
- Feta Cheese: If you aren't a huge fan of feta, try substituting Cotija cheese or goat cheese. They both will give you a similar texture.
- Cherry Tomatoes - Cut in half from the stem down. I use fresh tomatoes from my garden during the summer months.
- Fresh basil - To get basil ribbons, stack, roll, and slice the basil.
- Kalamata Olives - Black olives are an excellent substitute. Be sure the olives of your choice are diced and pitted.
- Red Bell Pepper - Feel free to substitute green bell pepper or yellow bell pepper in this healthy summer salad.
- English Cucumber - Instead of large chunks, dice the crunchy cucumbers small into bite size pieces.
- Raw Red Onions - I like to dice up the onion tiny, almost minced.
Simple Vinaigrette Dressing Ingredients
- Olive oil: Use high-quality olive oil for this recipe.
- Black Pepper - When making fresh salad recipes, I always use my pepper mill.
- Oregano - If you want to use fresh Oregano, add three times the amount of dried.
- Salt - Feta Cheese can be a little salty. Don't over-salt the salad.
- Minced Garlic
- Dijon Mustard
- Red Wine Vinegar - Lemon juice is a great substitution for red wine vinegar.
