I will be honest, now that I live in Austin winters are not so bad. Like it is 70-80 degrees most days. However, I still get to take advantage of delicious late fall and winter produce. This Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale is a fun salad to make in the winter because it takes advantage of all the delicious winter produce.
I got all of the produce for this salad from my local farmers market, so all of it is in season right now. This salad uses a combination of roasted peppers, cauliflower and carrots - yum. For the protein aspect we have chickpeas in this salad which I chose not to roast for texture reasons. Then, the dressing is an amazing tangy yogurt sauce. I added in kale for some extra greens and capers for some tang.
This salad has mediterranean vibes, but is cozy enough for chilly days. I personally am obsessed with this recipe, I had made it multiple times already and my non vegan boyfriend approves!
Let's get into the recipe.
This vegan winter mediterranean orzo salad is
- gluten free, dairy free, egg free and plant based
- high in protein
- easy to make
- made with healthier for you ingredients
- perfect for dinner or lunch
- a great meal prep option as it makes many servings
Ingredients for high protein vegan orzo salad
- orzo
- carrots
- cauliflower
- bell pepper
- dill
- yogurt
- lemon
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- garlic
- paprika
- garlic powder
- hemp seeds
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for winter orzo salad with lemon dill yogurt sauce
Step 1: Add veggies to sheet pan and toss in spices. Roast for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Make your yogurt sauce.
Step 3: Toss together salad ingredients and serve!
Substitutions
- Chickpeas- can be subbed with white beans
- Cauliflower- can be subbed with broccoli
- Carrots - Can be subbed with squash or sweet potato
Equipment
You just need a sheet pan and your oven for this recipe.
Storage instructions for orzo salad with roasted carrots and cauliflower
The leftover salad can be stored in a sealed container in your fridge for up to 4 days.
Other vegan salads to try
If you make this Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale, please leave me a rating and review on this blog post. This is the best way to support me!
Tag me on Instagram so I can repost you!
PrintVegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale
This Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale will be your new favorite orzo recipe.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Ingredients
This makes 3-4 servings of pasta
Roasted Vegetables
- 2 carrots or 4 small carrots - roughly chopped
- 1 green bell pepper - roughly chopped
- 1 small head cauliflower - cut or ripped into small florets
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
Sauce
- ½ cup unsweetened vegan yogurt (I like coconut, if you're not vegan greek works)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- juice from ½ lemon
- 1 garlic clove - minced
- salt/pepper to taste
- ¼ cup dill - finely chopped
Other ingredients
- 1 cup dried orzo - cooked
- 1 can chickpeas - drained
- 1 head kale - ribbed and cut into tiny pieces
- ¼ cup hemp seeds (optional for additional protein)
- ~3.5 ounce jar capers - drained (sun-dried tomatoes would be a good sub)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add veggies to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Toss in oil and spices.
- Bake veggies for 20 minutes, then remove the peppers from the pan. Put the pan with the carrots and cauliflower back in the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.
- Make your sauce by adding all sauce ingredients to a bowl and mixing until smooth.
- Add veggies to a bowl along with pasta, kale, sauce, hemp seeds and capers. Toss to combine.
- Serve pasta and enjoy
Keywords: Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale, orzo salad, pasta salad
Betty
This is truly amazing! I used veggies that I had on hand, which were Brussels, cauliflower, carrots, and shallot. I follows the rest exactly and I really love how easy this was but how complex it tastes. The dill yogurt dressing is stunning, I’ll keep that as a staple sauce from now on! I so appreciate this yummy and nutritious meal. Thank you 🙏🏼💗
★★★★★
Kristi
Thank you for your sweet review Betty!