Classic Italian orzo pasta salad, complete with a homemade dressing and mini pepperonis. This traditional American pasta salad is great with an orzo pasta twist.
Italian pasta salad is a classic American dish, despite sneaking the word Italian in the title. It can be found at potlucks and picnics across the United States all summer long. It’s often made with bottled dressings and spiral noodles, but today I’ve taken this classic dish and given it a bit of a modern update. Orzo pasta is utilized to give it a fresh twist, and a homemade dressing gives this pasta a tasty, clean finish.
You really can’t go wrong with pasta salad. This particular recipe has all my favorite goodies including mini pepperonis and fresh mozzarella cheese. I’m telling you, that mozzarella cheese makes all the difference. It gives the salad such a fresh and clean taste.
This dish is perfect for potlucks and picnics. As part of National Picnic Day I’ve also included a roundup of more great picnic recipes from some of my favorite blogging friends. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to check out all of those tasty recipes.
Be sure to watch the video recipe to see all the steps to this recipe. Besides teaching you how to make the recipe, it’ll also make you hungry.
I made this for my co- workers. It was all gone by the end of the day. Everyone loved it! Now they ask what am I cooking next? I’m going to try Chicken Pasta with peas and crust on top.
I like the fact that your recipes are easy without a lot of expensive items that are hard to find. Most ingredients I already have at home.
Great recipe-easy, light but deep flavor. Used ditalini instead of orzo and worked out well
So the white vinegar is it distilled or white basaltic vinegar?
Distilled
I’ve never tried orzo, but this salad makes me want to. It looks delicious! I love that you use homemade dressing!
Two things I love so much about this – 1 homemade dressing, it looks so fresh and flavorful and 2 orzo! Genius! I love orzo pasta but haven’t tried it in a pasta salad. Definitely perfect for a picnic!
Oooo! This looks so good!