Today's recipe is this gorgeous Orzo Pasta Salad with Bacon & Parmesan Vinaigrette Recipe! Perfect for summer dinners, picnics, and really any day you want a delicious salad. I love making cold salads for the summer. They look beautiful on the table and you don't have to heat up your house making them.
Orzo Pasta Salad with Bacon & Parmesan Vinaigrette
Can you believe we are already deep into June! I am not sure where this year is going but it is flying by so quickly. It feels like it was just Christmas and Valentine's day and now we are only weeks away from the Fourth of July!
I seriously need to put a pause button on the calendar and spend a few days just soaking up the sun and fun of summer here in Spokane. Have you had a chance to kick off summer fun yet? What are you doing to enjoy the warm weather? Please share your ideas!
Orzo Pasta Salad Ingredients
- Orzo pasta
- Frozen corn
- Frozen petite peas
- Cherry or grape tomatoes
- Carrots
- Red onion
- Green onions
- Bacon
Parmesan Vinaigrette Ingredients
- Olive oil
- White balsamic vinegar
- Parmesan cheese
- Garlic
- Dijon mustard
- Honey
- Dried basil
- Salt
- Pepper
Recipe Tips
This is delicious served at room temperature or cold.
Keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Note: I like a more sweet and vinegary dressing, so that's the way the recipe is written. You could suggest starting with less and adding more if desired. This dressing is very adaptable, so they can easily make it to suit their own tastes.
As with any pasta salad, this soaks up the dressing, so the next day I drizzled in some more balsamic to moisten it up.
Some variations to the dressing would be lemon, regular balsamic, red wine vinegar, olives, crushed red pepper...and the list goes on.
Great Side Dish Recipes
Do you love recipes? Check out our copy cat recipes, dessert recipes, and our Crock Pot Recipes.
Orzo Pasta Salad with Bacon and Parmesan Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Orzo pasta
- 1 Cup frozen corn thawed
- 1 Cup frozen petite peas thawed
- 1 Cup Cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 Cup Carrots shredded
- ¼ Cup red onion finely sliced
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 6 slices Bacon cooked and crumbled
Parmesan Vinagrette
- ¾ Cup Olive Oil
- ½ Cup white balsamic vinegar
- ⅓ Cup Parmesan Cheese finely grated
- 1 clove Garlic crushed
- 1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Basil
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Cook the Orzo pasta according to the directions, drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
- In a large bowl, add the pasta, all of the vegetables and bacon. Stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients except the Parmesan cheese.
- When the dressing is smooth and creamy, taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Don't add salt yet, because the Parmesan is salty.
- Add the Parmesan to the dressing and whisk again until completely blended.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and mix well.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings again.
Nutrition
Recipe originally shared on July 3, 2018. Updated January 2021
Ellen Christian (
I absolutely love orzo! This sounds so delicious. I need to try it soon.
valmg
I love the colors of this dish! It sounds yummy, I could go for some right now.
Aubrey
Very interesting recipe. It looks like it would taste good.
Kelsey Apley
Oh that sounds amazing! I have never had Orzo but I want to try it, I think we would love this salad!
Melissa Ann
This looks so good! Perfect recipe for Summer, and I definitely want to try it soon 🙂
Sabrina
I love orzo salad and usually make it with shrimp and feta from an old Ina recipe. The addition of bacon here is great!