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Bowl of orzo salad with a wedge of lemon tucked into it.

Lemon Orzo Chickpea Salad

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 9 reviews
  • Author: Catherine Perez
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 8 minutes
  • Total Time: 18 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

Fresh, vibrant and easy to make, this lemon orzo chickpea salad is the perfect dish to start welcoming spring and summer. This salad is full of flavor from the zippy lemon garlic dressing and can be prepped in minutes. 


Ingredients

Scale

Orzo Salad

  • 1 1/2 cups dry orzo
  • 1/2 medium cucumber, deseeded and cubed
  • 1/4 medium red onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • Handful chopped parsley, minced
  • Zest of one lemon (optional)
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  • Lemon Garlic Dressing Recipe
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon Garlic Dressing

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 12 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp agave syrup
  • 1/4 tsp dry basil
  • 1/4 tsp dry oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook orzo according to package recommendations and instructions. Drain the orzo, but do not rinse it! Just set it aside and prep the remaining ingredients. 
  2. Prepare your lemon garlic dressing. To a small bowl or jar combine olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, agave, basil, and oregano. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste. 
  3. Now, to a large bowl add in your orzo then add in cucumber, onion, tomatoes, almonds, nutritional yeast, chickpeas, parsley, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and pour over your dressing. 
  4. Toss the salad together to coat and mix ingredients well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve. To really allow the flavors to meld, I recommend chilling for at least an hour in the fridge before serving.  

Notes

When cooking orzo pay attention well to salting the boiling water well. This will make a difference in terms of the final taste of your salad. If you feel some of the flavors aren’t as pronounced in your salad, adjust by sprinkling in some more salt to taste. 

Do not rinse your orzo after cooking! Rinsing the orzo will remove the starch from the orzo, which might effect how the sauce adheres to your pasta. 

If you can manage to wait a little longer to enjoy this salad, I do recommend allowing this salad to really chill in the fridge for at least an hour before enjoying. This will allow the flavors to truly blend together for the best tasting salad.

Need some alternatives for this salad? For GLUTEN FREE substitute the orzo for quinoa, gluten free orzo or Banza’s Chickpea Rice. For SWEETENER, you can replace the agave with another liquid sweetener of choice like maple syrup. Replace CHICKPEAS for white beans, tofu or your favorite plant based meat alternative. For NUTS replace almonds with pepitas, hemp hearts or sunflower seeds.