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    Home » Lunch and Dinner

    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

    Published: Dec 8, 2022 by Kristi · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    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.

    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

    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
    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

    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

    veggies on sheet pan

    Step 1: Add veggies to sheet pan and toss in spices. Roast for 30 minutes.

    sauce in bowl

    Step 2: Make your yogurt sauce.

    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

    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

    • fall fruit salad
    • black lentil acorn squash and kale salad
    • roasted cauliflower crunch salad

    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!

    Print

    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale
    Print Recipe

    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 review

    This Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale will be your new favorite orzo recipe.

    • Author: Kristi Roeder
    • Prep Time: 10
    • Cook Time: 30
    • Total Time: 40 minutes
    • Yield: 2 1x
    • Category: dinner
    • Method: oven
    • Cuisine: american

    Ingredients

    Scale

    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

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    2. Add veggies to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Toss in oil and spices.
    3. 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.
    4. Make your sauce by adding all sauce ingredients to a bowl and mixing until smooth.
    5. Add veggies to a bowl along with pasta, kale, sauce, hemp seeds and capers. Toss to combine.
    6. Serve pasta and enjoy

    Keywords: Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale, orzo salad, pasta salad

    Did you make this recipe?

    Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

    Vegan Winter Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Betty

      December 18, 2022 at 11:35 pm

      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 🙏🏼💗

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Kristi

        December 19, 2022 at 1:35 pm

        Thank you for your sweet review Betty!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Kristi! Welcome to Avocado Skillet! My goal is to help everyone eat more plant based meals, whether that's one meal a day, a week or a month. I want to show you that eating plant based can be delicious, fun and uncomplicated.

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