Pesto Orzo Pasta Salad with Chickpeas
This refreshing pesto orzo pasta salad with chickpeas and fresh veggies makes a light dinner, easy lunch or side salad for a summer BBQ.
The recipe is plant-based, quick and easy to make and comes together in about 20 minutes with simple ingredients.
Pasta salads are one of my favourite things to make. They’re so easy to throw together and endlessly customizable. Some of my favourites are this Easy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad Recipe, Easy Vegan Cold Pesto Pasta Salad and Zesty Italian Pasta Salad.
This orzo pasta salad is made with a nut-free homemade pesto sauce, chickpeas, tomatoes, red onion and arugula for a flavorful, nutritious dish that’s perfect for a light meal or crowd-pleasing side dish.
If you have extra orzo on hand from making this recipe, this Easy Creamy Tomato Orzo with Spinach is another quick and easy recipe perfect for weeknights or meal prep. This is the same pesto recipe used in this Pesto Spaghetti Squash so you could always double up and make both!
Recipe Highlights
- Vegan recipe (dairy-free, no egg).
- Can be gluten-free (use gluten-free orzo).
- Nut-free pesto.
- Lots of nutritious ingredients.
- High in fiber.
- Source of plant-based protein.
- Make in advance.
- Bright and refreshing flavor.
- Good for potlucks and picnics.
Ingredient Notes
- Orzo: Any orzo works just be sure to check it’s made without eggs if you need the recipe to be vegan. Orzo can be found in the pasta aisle of most grocery stores, if not, in Mediterranean or Middle Eastern specialty shops or online.
- Tomatoes: You can use grape or cherry tomatoes.
- Pumpkin Seeds: These are used as an alternative to traditional pine nuts in pesto. You can substitute walnuts or sunflower seeds.
- Nutritional Yeast: This is used to replace parmesan cheese in the pesto.
- Basil: You can use all basil for the pesto or a mixture of basil and parsley. I used a mix.
- Spinach: This is optional for the pesto to help make it a brighter green.
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
Variations and Additions
- Sun-dried tomatoes make a good addition to this salad. Use up to 1/2 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil.
- Other additions to experiment with are roasted red peppers, black or kalamata olives or artichoke hearts.
- For extra veggies, you can add 1 diced red or yellow bell pepper.
- Feta or mozzarella cheese can be served on top.
- Store-bought pesto can be used for convenience. You’ll need about 1 cup.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cook the orzo. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook according to its package instructions. Drain and set aside to cool.
Step 2: Add all of the pesto ingredients except for the oil to a high-speed blender or food processor and pulse to combine.
Slowly pour in the oil whiled blending, stopping to scrape down sides as necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 3: Add the chickpeas, vegetables and cooked orzo to a large mixing bowl with 2 tbsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Mix well to combine.
Step 4: Add the pesto to the bowl and toss until everything is coated.
Recipe FAQs
You can store leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
This salad is great for meal prep as the flavors meld and improve over time. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
This salad can be served as a main dish or a side. It pairs well with grilled vegetables, vegan burgers like these Spicy Chickpea Veggie Burgers, or any protein. It’s perfect for picnics, potlucks, or as a refreshing meal on a warm day.
This salad is typically served chilled or at room temperature.
More Orzo Recipes
Pesto Orzo Pasta Salad with Chickpeas
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This easy orzo pesto salad features fresh tomatoes, homemade basil pesto and chickpeas for a quick and easy weeknight meal or side salad.
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 1/2 cups dried orzo (275g)
- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (305g)
- 1 cup diced cucumber (160g)
- 3 cups arugula-spinach mix (60g)
- ¼ small red onion, thinly sliced (40g)
- 1 19 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
For the Pesto
- ⅓ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (14g)
- 1 tbsp light miso (15g)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cups basil (40g) or mix of 20 g basil and 15g parsley
- 1 cup spinach (25g)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Cook Orzo: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add orzo. Cook al dente according to package directions, stirring occasionally. Drain orzo and set aside to cool.
- Make Pesto: In a food processor or high speed blender, add pumpkin seeds, garlic, nutritional yeast, miso, lemon juice, basil, parsley and spinach. Pulse to combine. With the machine running, gradually stream in oil, stopping and scraping sides down as necessary, until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Toss Salad: Add the tomato, cucumber, arugula and spinach, red onion, chickpeas, lemon and cooked orzo to a large bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix to combine.
- Add Pesto: Add the pesto to the bowl and mix well until everything is coated in pesto.
- Serve: Serve right away with more fresh basil leaves, a squeeze of lemon juice, drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
Notes
The 2 tbsp lemon juice in the salad can be substituted with white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar as a variation. You can use all arugula or all baby spinach in the salad rather than the arugula-spinach mix. Baby kale would also work.
Leftover salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 (266g)
- Calories: 378
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fat: 18 g
- Carbohydrates: 46 g
- Fiber: 11 g
- Protein: 12 g
This recipe was really good. I had a pre-made pesto on hand so I used that, and since I had white beans on hand I used them instead of chickpeas. I also added roasted red peppers which was an optional add in that was suggested in the post. While I think the homemade pesto would’ve been even better, this was such a nice dinner. I’ll definitely be making it again, next time hopefully ill have the stuff on hand to make the pesto myself, or maybe I’ll try a tomato pesto or something else to change up the flavour. This would also work with other types of pasta, especially smaller shapes like the pinwheel or even the smaller bowtie pasta really well I think if someone doesn’t care for the texture of orzo. You can definitely customize this.
This was fantastic! The pesto is really good, I’ve never made it with pumpkin seeds but love that they’re less expensive than pine nuts. I’ll definitely make this again. I didn’t measure any of the salad ingredients just kind of threw in whatever and it worked out great.