Lemon Chicken Orzo Salad
Yield: 6 servings
This easy Lemon Chicken Orzo Salad recipe features chewy little pasta bites, flavorful chicken and veggies, cubed feta, kalamata olives, and herbs - all folded together in a bright lemon dressing. It's colorful and yummy, the perfect light-yet-hearty summer salad!
Ingredients
Dressing
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Chicken (or sub with 3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast or rotisserie chicken)
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Salad
- 1 pound uncooked orzo
- 2 cups thinly sliced Persian cucumbers (or another small variety of cucumber)
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup halved, pitted kalamata olives
- 8 ounces block feta, cut into ½" cubes (about 2 cups)
- ½ cup chopped fresh herbs of choice (I use roughly 6 tablespoons chopped basil leaves, 1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves, and 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves, to equal ½ cup.) Dill, parsley, and oregano are also good choices.
- 6 fresh lemon wedges
Instructions
Dressing
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a large salad bowl.
Chicken
- Evenly coat chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over chicken.
- Set your grill, grill pan, or skillet to medium to medium-high heat. Cook chicken until cooked through, turning as needed, 8-12 minutes total. Remove chicken to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes before chopping it into bite-size pieces.
Salad
- While chicken is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and boil gently, until orzo is al dente. Drain. Then add hot orzo to the salad bowl with the dressing, and toss to combine.
- Add chopped chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, olives, feta, and herbs to the salad bowl. Toss again to combine evenly.
- Serve warm, right away (my favorite!), with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top of individual portions. Or store in the fridge and then serve cold. The salad will develop more flavor as it sits. The orzo will also soak up more of the dressing as it sits, so I like to squeeze a little more fresh lemon juice over any leftovers before eating.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 754kcal Carbohydrates: 70g Protein: 41g Fat: 35g Saturated Fat: 9g Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Monounsaturated Fat: 19g Trans Fat: 0.01g Cholesterol: 106mg Sodium: 1.537mg Potassium: 877mg Fiber: 5g Sugar: 8g Vitamin A: 992IU Vitamin C: 41mg Calcium: 251mg Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.