Orange Chicken Orzo Salad
This Orange Chicken Orzo Salad is the perfect warm weather dish and will make a spectacular addition for picnics, beach days or road trips. This is an ideal dish that travels well that can be a meal in itself or simply served as a colorful, tasty side dish.
Summer is almost here and I’m going to share with you how I like to spend my summer holiday… at the beach! The best days of summer are when my husband and I pack a lunch and some drinks, grab our towels, beach umbrella and sunscreen. We make a day of relaxing on the warm sand of the beach and taking in the warming Southern California sun.
Serving Suggestion:
In addition to this orange chicken orzo salad, another favorite I like to take to the beach is a tuna pita pockets (< click for recipe link).
I love the simplicity of this dish and it is so packed with fresh orange flavor, both in the dressing that is mixed with all the ingredients, as well as the chicken that is cooked in an orange sauce.
There are jewels of fresh orange segments mixed throughout the salad for an extra burst of flavor, along with roasted red peppers and spring onions for a pop of flavor as well as vibrance and color. Once the orzo and chicken are cooked, all the ingredients are mixed together and the salad is done!
Orange Chicken Orzo Salad
Chicken is cooked in an orange sauce and served over delicious orzo with red peppers and fresh orange segments.
Ingredients
- For the dressing:
- Juice and zest of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- For the salad:
- 8 ounces (227 grams) Orzo
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/4 pounds (681 grams) boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
- Orange segments of 2 oranges
- 6 ounces (227 grams) roasted red peppers, chopped
- 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- For the dressing:
- Add the orange juice, zest, honey, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to a bowl. Pour in the oil while whisking until emulsified. Set aside.
- For the salad:
- Add 4-6 quarts of water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt to the water and add the orzo. Simmer for 9 minutes uncovered and drain.
- Add the orzo to a large bowl and pour over half of the dressing, mix and set aside.
- To a heavy skillet add the oil over medium-high heat.
- Salt and pepper the chicken pieces. When the oil ripples, add the chicken and brown.
- Mix the zest and juice of 1 orange with the corn starch until dissolved. Add to the pan of chicken and mix well. Cook until thickened and remove from heat.
- Add the chicken to the orzo to a large bowl along with the orange segments, red peppers and green onions and the rest of the dressing, mix well. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
2 ouncesAmount Per Serving Calories 184Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 2mgSodium 328mgCarbohydrates 35gFiber 4gSugar 26gProtein 3g
This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.
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10 Comments on “Orange Chicken Orzo Salad”
I made this for take to work lunches for the week. I didn’t mix with the dressing, I do that before I eat. I added snow peas and almonds for crunch. REally good!
This is so perfect for work lunches. I love the additions ๐
This is great! So fresh with great summer flavors! And orzo pasta is so yummy!
Love orzo pasta. This looks so delicious! Great flavors, perfect for this time of the year!
Anything with orzo sounds super delicious to me. If you top it with orange chicken you can really have a winner on your hands. Pair it with Aquafina is a splendid idea.
Your salad is lovely…. I love the bits of orange in it…. it just makes it so summery and doesn’t Summer make everyone happy?! ๐
This sounds like the most refreshing meal EVER! I’m a huge fan of grapefruit drinks, so I’m heading to Target to find Aquafina, and of course I’ll be making your gorgeous salad, too.
I’m planning a trip to the beach this Memorial day weekend – this would be perfect for the packed lunch! Thank you!
I love finding new salad recipe ideas, because in the summer we eat a lot of salads. I brought this to the beach this past weekend and it was so good, the kids inhaled it. The orange segments really make it.
I love getting the thumbs up from kids because they are the toughest food critics ๐