Roasted Red Pepper Bean Orzo Salad! Step into flavor town with this orzo salad – where sweetness, smokiness, and crunchiness collide in a bowl of delicious chaos!
Each bite is a harmonious blend of textures and flavors, this Roasted Red Pepper Bean Orzo Salad is brimming with hearty and wholesome goodness. This unconventional yet delicious salad is a must-try for anyone looking to tantalize their taste buds with something new and exciting. Perfect for a quick lunch or a side dish at your next gathering, this salad is sure to impress even the most discerning food enthusiasts.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
Indulge in the irresistible flavors of this mouthwatering orzo salad that had us all licking our plates clean! Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on this tasty salad – it’s a must-try for your next mealtime adventure.
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Roasted Red Pepper Bean Orzo Salad is both sweet and smoky. The orzo and beans offer heartiness while the green onions, red bell peppers, and toasted almond slivers provide a nice contrasting crunch. It’s an unusual, but perfectly tasty salad.
- Gluten Free Pasta: Most gluten free pastas are very starchy and can sometimes get a little crunchy once refrigerated. We suggest thoroughly rinsing the cooked gluten free pasta and serving it at room temperature immediately after making it.
- Orzo Pasta: Orzo is the best pasta for this recipe; however, you can substitute the orzo for another small cut pasta like ditalini or elbows. If using another type of pasta, you may need to adjust the amount of pasta used to avoid an overly dry or overly juicy salad. If using other than orzo pasta, we recommend cooking more than you think you need, then start adding the cooked pasta in small amounts (along with all the other ingredients) to the bowl, and keep adding more pasta until you reach a well-coated consistency. The extra pasta can be used and is fantastic on lettuce salad.
- Cannellini Bean Substitutions: You can pretty much substitute with your favorite white bean for the cannellini beans or leave them out completely and replace them with more pasta or other veggies.
- Roasted Red Peppers: The roasted red (bell) peppers add a subtle sweet and slightly smoky flavor that perfectly complements the dish. Be sure to select a jar of store-purchased roasted red peppers that is oil-free, or feel free to roast your own.
- Red Bell Peppers: The addition of the fresh red bell peppers adds freshness and a nice crunch to the salad. ¾ cup is approximately one small red bell pepper.
- Toasting the Blanched Slivered Almonds: Place the blanched slivered almonds into a dry skillet, heat over medium heat, constantly stirring until the almonds become fragrant and golden (about 3 to 5 minutes). Immediately remove from the skillet and onto a plate to prevent burning as the almonds will continue to toast in the hot pan.
- Serving at Room Temperature: This is an excellent room temperature pasta salad. If serving from being refrigerated, remove from the fridge, and allow to sit for 20 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to wake up.
- Excellent Potluck Dish: This pasta salad is an excellent potluck dish as it tastes best at room temperature or just slightly chilled. We suggest the following as make-ahead:
- Earlier in the Day (or Day Before)
- Toast the blanched almond slivers and place in a separate bag (or container), keep at room temperature
- Cook the pasta and refrigerate
- Cut the veggies and refrigerate
- Chop the roasted red peppers and place in a separate container and refrigerate
- Made the dressing and refrigerate
- Right before Serving:
- Remove the dressing from the fridge approximately 30 minutes before dressing the salad to wake up the dressing flavors. Refrigeration tends to dull flavors. After 30 minutes, check the consistency, if needed, add a little water to loosen it up.
- Place the pasta in a colander and run under cold water and gently loosen any pasta that is sticking together, shake well to drain off any excess water, drain well
- Toss all the ingredients into a large bowl, pour the dressing over top, mix well and serve.
- Earlier in the Day (or Day Before)
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.
This dish can be frozen.
Pantry Products:
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs. If using table salt, you may need to use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Medium stockpot (to cook the orzo)
- Skillet (to toast the blanched slivered almonds)
If you try this wholesome salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
PrintRoasted Red Pepper Bean Orzo Salad
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 4-5 Servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Each bite is a harmonious blend of textures and flavors, this Roasted Red Pepper Bean Orzo Salad is brimming with hearty and wholesome goodness.
Ingredients
Base Salad Ingredients:
- 1 cup orzo *
- 1 – [ 15.5 can ] cannellini beans, drained and rinsed *
- 5 to 7 green onions, thinly sliced (+/-)
- ½ cup finely chopped roasted red peppers *
- ¾ cup red bell peppers, small dice
- ½ cup toasted blanched slivered almonds *
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon tahini
- 3 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- 3 Tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (+/-)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-)
- Pinch cayenne pepper (+/-)
Instructions
- Cook one cup of dry orzo pasta according to package directions. After reaching al dente stage, drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water to remove excess starches, and to cool off the orzo. Allow to drain until ready to use in Step 3.
- Place all the Dressing Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk well until smooth and emulsified, set aside.
- Place all the Base Salad Ingredients (including the cooked and cooled orzo) into a large bowl, mix well to evenly distribute the ingredients, then pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, stir well to thoroughly coat all the ingredients.
- Serve either at room temperature or cold. Note: Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 4-5
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