An easy orzo pesto salad with creamy basil pesto that blends beautifully into the pasta. This orzo salad with pesto has the perfect creamy texture due to one small trick: To thin out the pesto and help it blend in with the pasta, a small amount of the starchy pasta cooking water is added to the pesto as it blends.
Toss this orzo pasta salad with feta, olives and sun-dried tomatoes for a really flavorful cold pasta salad, or try some of the suggested variations. This is a perfect summer salad that stays fresh for days and can be served for lunch or dinner.
Almost everyone seems to love pesto, which makes this a great pasta salad to bring to potlucks and picnics. It's also fantastic for simple dinners and easy lunches.
If you love pesto, then you'll also want to try garlic shrimp with arugula pesto or tuna pesto pasta.
If you love orzo you'll want to try easy Instant Pot orzo and tuna and orzo pasta salad or Instant Pot orzo and shrimp scampi.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Orzo: The truth is that you can make this pesto pasta salad with any type of pasta. Try rotini, ditalini, bowties (farfalle) or tortellini.
Basil: My grocery store (Trader Joe's) sells a 4-ounce plastic clamshell container of basil, which is the amount I suggest for this recipe. Don't worry too much about buying exactly 4 ounces of basil though, just pick up 4 small bunches or 2 large bunches. You basically want 4 large handfuls of basil leaves.
Parmesan: You can use less expensive Grana Padano instead of parmesan or use a combination of parmesan and Pecorino Romano.
Nuts: Pine nuts are the classic nut used for pesto. They have a mild, slightly sweet and nutty flavor and soft texture that blends up well. However, pine nuts can be very expensive and sometimes hard to find. Instead of pine nuts you can also use walnuts or cashews; both blend up smoothly in a food processor.
Garlic: I suggest one clove but you can use two if you really love garlic.
Feta/Olives/Sun-dried Tomatoes: This combination adds lots of briny, bold flavor to pasta salad. I highly recommend it! Read on for even more flavorful variations.
Orzo Salad Variations
You can change this recipe based on what you like and what you have on hand in your kitchen. The following ingredients can be added to the pasta salad instead of, or in addition to, feta, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
Beans: Canned white beans or garbanzo beans add flavor and protein to the salad.
Shrimp or chicken: Cooked shrimp or cubed chicken breast are another way to add protein.
Arugula: Just a handful or two of arugula adds peppery flavor.
Fresh tomatoes: Cut cherry tomatoes in half and use them in place of sun-dried tomatoes.
Mozzarella cheese: Small mozzarella balls can be added instead of feta if you prefer mild, creamy cheese.
Bell pepper: For color and crunch, add a chopped bell pepper.
Step-by-Step Instructions
For detailed instructions & ingredient amounts, see the recipe card at the end of the post.
Step 1: Cook the orzo in salted water until al dente, about 9 minutes.
Step 2: Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water. Drain the orzo and rinse briefly in cool water.
Step 3: In a food processor, blend pinenuts or walnuts, parmesan, garlic and olive oil until smooth.
Step 4: Add the basil to the food processor. As the basil blends, pour in ¼ cup of pasta water. Blend until smooth.
Step 5: Mix together the orzo and pesto.
Step 6: Add feta, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
Tips for Making Pesto Pasta Salad
- Use plenty of salt: Generously salt the cooking water to add more flavor to the pasta. Also, don't be shy with salt and pepper to perk up the flavor after the salad is made.
- Al dente pasta: Don't overcook the pasta - no one wants mushy pasta salad!
- Rinse the pasta very briefly after cooking: For hot pasta dishes, I don't recommend rinsing the pasta. You want starch to cling to the noodles so that sauce will coat the noodles more easily. However, that extra starch can make cold pasta salad dry and clumpy. That's why I recommend rinsing the orzo briefly. It stops the cooking process so the pasta doesn't get too soft and it gives pasta salad a lighter, looser texture.
- Use this trick to help blend pesto into pasta: It can be hard to get pesto to blend in smoothly. Some recipes recommend adding extra olive oil, but this just makes the pasta salad oily. Instead, try drizzling a small amount of the starchy pasta into the pesto as it blends. This gives the pesto a creamy texture that blends in really well with pasta.
More Cold Salads
📖 Recipe
Orzo Pesto Salad Recipe
An easy orzo pesto salad with creamy basil pesto that blends beautifully into the pasta. Toss this orzo pasta salad with feta, olives and sun-dried tomatoes for a really flavorful cold pasta salad, or try some of the suggested variations listed above.
This recipe was originally published in June 2020 and updated June 2024.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 30
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Boil
- Cuisine: Italian American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 pound orzo
- ¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 ounces basil (about 4 large handfuls of leaves)
- 1 to 2 cups crumbled feta
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives (whole or cut in half)
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (drained)
Instructions
- Bring 8 cups of water to a boil, adding 1 teaspoon of salt just as it begins bubbling.
- Add the orzo and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes or whatever cooking time is recommended on the packaging.
- Before draining the pasta, reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Set aside.
- Drain the pasta and briefly rinse in cold water. Set the orzo aside in a large bowl.
- In a food processor, blend the nuts, garlic, parmesan, salt and olive oil until smooth.
- Add the basil to the food processor. As the basil blends, pour in ¼ cup of pasta water. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the pesto over the orzo and mix well. If the pesto seems too thick and isn’t blending in easily with the orzo, you can drizzle a little bit more of the reserved pasta water into the salad as you mix to loosen the pesto up.
- Stir in the feta, olives and sundried tomatoes.
- Taste and add salt if needed.
Notes
You can make this pasta salad ahead of time. It will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, although it tastes best up to three days.
You can substitute almost any type of pasta in the recipe, although short noodles work best for cold pasta salad. Try tortellini, small shells, rotini or ditalini.
Jen says
Love this pasta salad during the summer. I usually make it ahead of time and then just pull it out of the fridge for an easy dinner.