This lemon orzo salad with goat cheese may just be the perfect salad. We absolutely love the lemon dressing and the balance of textures.
This recipe has been tested with feta, Boursin, and even shaved parmesan. Though we love all cheese, this salad is best with basic goat cheese, offering a creamy bomb in every bite.
What You Need for this Lemon Orzo Salad
- Mixing bowl:
- Citrus juicer:
- Orzo:
- Goat cheese:
Choosing Goat Cheese
Goat cheese (or often called chévre — its french name) is one of the main ingredients of this delicious lemon orzo salad. You can buy crumbly goat cheese, creamy goat cheese, tangy goat cheese, or even flavored goat cheese in the US.
We love using our marinated goat cheese for this salad, but feel free to sub for any plain crumbled goat cheese.
Easy Substitutions
If you don’t have everything you need for this lemon orzo salad salad at home, it’s ok to make substitutions! Below are some easy swaps:
- Cherry tomatoes —> Slicing tomatoes or grape tomatoes
- Arugula —> Spring greens or spinach
- Red onion —> Yellow or white onion
- Peas —> Asparagus or green beans
- Marinated goat cheese —> Plain goat cheese, feta or queso fresco
Top Tips for Perfect Lemon Orzo Salad
For the Peas: You can use English peas or frozen peas for this recipe. We prefer the snap of English peas, but either will work 😀
For the Orzo: If you don’t have orzo you can use any fun pasta that you’d like!
What to Serve with this Salad
We love adding a meat protein to this lemon orzo salad! Steak, chicken or shrimp would all be delicious additions. Check out some of our recipes on our sister site, Fit Foodie Finds:
- Grilled chicken
- Shrimp
- Steak
Storage
Store leftover lemon orzo salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Lemon Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese
Ingredients
Lemon Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 4 leaves fresh mint chopped
Orzo Salad Ingredients
- 4 oz. uncooked orzo
- 2 cups English peas or frozen peas
- 2 cups cucumber sliced into thin half moons
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup red onion minced
- 2 cups fresh arugula
- 1/2 cup fresh basil minced
- ¼ cup fresh dill minced
- 1/4 cup salted sunflower seeds
- 8 oz. marinated goat cheese or plain goat cheese crumbled
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the orzo. Bring a medium-sized pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo to the pot and stir periodically until the orzo is cooked to al dente (about 8-10 minutes).
- About 2 minutes before the orzo is ready, add the peas to the boiling water and let them cook for 2 minutes. Strain the pasta and peas and rinse them in very cold water. Set aside.
- Next, prepare the dressing by adding all of the ingredients for the dressing into a Mason jar. Cover the jar and shake vigorously until all the ingredients are combined. Set aside.
- Assemble the salad by adding all of the ingredients for the salad (except for the goat cheese) into a large salad bowl and fold together.
- Drizzle the dressing over all of the ingredients and fold ingredients together again until everything is coated in the dressing.
- Finally, crumble the goat cheese over the top of the salad, toss and enjoy.
Tips & Notes
- You can use English peas or frozen peas for this recipe. We prefer English peas.
- If you don’t have orzo you can use any fun pasta that you’d like.
