Lemon Orzo Salad with Corn and Basil

Name: Lemon Orzo Salad with Corn and Basil
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 8 ounce dry orzo; 2 ears of corn (about 1 cup of kernels); 1/2 cup olive oil; Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup); 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper; 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt; 6 ounce crumbled feta; 2 cups Fresh basil leaves (roughly torn or shredded)

Published: Jul 4, 2022 · Modified: Oct 9, 2022 by Samantha Ferraro · This post may contain affiliate links · 73 Comments

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This light lemon orzo salad comes together in a breeze! Cooked orzo is tossed with a simple lemon vinaigrette, grilled corn, creamy feta and lots of fresh basil. Easy, quick, light and fresh is what I look for in the perfect pasta salad.

Easy Lemon Orzo Salad

Today, I am whipping up an easy and light lemon orzo salad with grilled corn, fresh basil and creamy feta. This simple pasta salad is fantastic alongside grilled chicken shawarma skewers or tossed with a few spoonfuls of basil almond pesto.

This recipe comes together in a breeze. Orzo cooks incredibly fast and once that’s done, all you have to do is mix everything together and done, you have a light and fresh orzo pasta salad to enjoy all summer long!

And what ties the orzo salad together is the quick lemon vinaigrette. At the bottom of your mixing bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and then toss everything else in.

Ingredients

Olive Oil: Because this is a main part in the dressing, use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. I am loving this Organic Argentinian olive oil.
Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is ideal.
Cooked Orzo: Found in the pasta aisle of grocery stores. or any other small shaped pasta.
Grilled Corn: If you don’t have whole ears of corn to grill, you can use 1 cup of frozen corn kernels and saute in a skillet with a bit of olive oil until caramelized.
Fresh Basil: And a good amount of it, roughly torn or sliced into thin ribbons.
Feta Cheese: Buy a whole block of feta in the brine if you can and crumble the feta yourself. Blocks of feta are much creamier than the pre crumbled options.

How to Make this Easy Orzo Salad

Grill ears of corn until charred on all sides. Use a sharp knife to cut kernels off and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.
Add cooked orzo, grilled corn kernels, a handful of shredded fresh basil and crumbled feta cheese and stir everything to combine so the dressing coats everything.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.

Some Tips and Substitutions

If you don’t’ have whole ears of corn, you can substitute frozen corn kernels.Defrost corn kernels (I like to run it under warm water) and dry well. Then add corn to a skillet with olive oil and saute until caramelized.
Instead of crumbled feta cheese, creamy goat cheese would be delicious as well as small mozzarella balls.
This lemon orzo salad stores very well and can be made ahead up to 2 days in advance. If making ahead, add basil right before serving.
Other mix-in options: chopped castelveltrano olives, sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or grilled zucchini.

Recipes to Serve Alongside

More great salads:

Lemony Couscous Salad with Chickpeas and Asparagus

Chopped Antipasto Salad

Israeli Chopped Salad