Caprese Orzo Salad with Pesto
Take your summer salads to the next level with a vibrant and flavorful orzo salad with pesto! Bursting with fresh taste, zesty pesto, and tender orzo pasta, this refreshing dish is a true crowd-pleaser.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 212kcal
Ingredients
- 4 ounces basil pesto
- 8 ounces orzo pasta uncooked
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- ½ cup mozzarella pearls
- 1 ounce of baby spinach about 2 handfuls
- juice of one lemon
- optional: fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a 4 quart pot with water. Bring to a boil, then season with salt. Cook orzo to al dente, according to package directions (about 9 minutes). Drain well.
- In the meantime, roughly chop the baby spinach and place in a medium sized bowl.
- Add drained orzo to the spinach and stir well to combine. The heat from the pasta will make the spinach slightly wilt and soften.
- Add the juice of a lemon and the basil pesto. Stir to combine. Allow to cool for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. The orzo will soak in some of the pesto.
- When the orzo is cooled to room temperature, add the cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Stir to combine.
- Garnish with fresh basil, if desired. Serve at room temperature.
Notes
Substitutions
- Orzo - instead of using orzo, you can use any small pasta like orecchiette, pearl couscous, or ditalini like in my Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli Soup.
- Tomatoes - use halved grape tomatoes, chopped plum tomatoes or any variety you like.
- Gluten free - use gluten free pasta to make this recipe part of your meal plan.
- Mozzarella - fresh mozzarella is more mellow than the cheese we'd use on pizza. You can use the pearls as mentioned above, or ciliegine, which are slightly larger balls of mozzarella. Both come in a brine like solution. You can also cut a ball of fresh mozzarella into cubes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 128mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g
