With chicken sausage and lemon caper dressing
I’m always looking for a vegetable-filled dinner that fits a lot of eating styles, and this Broccolini Orzo Pasta Salad with sizzled lemon caper dressing (and more greens than I can count) always hits the right note. And I feel like it’s easily adaptable to many diets – whether you have vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, gluten free OR eaters who want it all.
This pasta salad is a perfect meeting-of-the-minds between my chicken-lover husband and me, his pescatarian other half. It’s packed with vegetable-filled flavor, and you can sub in whatever sausage protein you like. I also have tips on how to make it fully vegetarian, and what to do if you aren’t a fan of meat subs.
But really, it is the sizzled lemon and caper dressing that’s the star here. It comes out creamy without being too rich, and the subtle flavor coats all components of this salad, making it something I want to eat over and over again.
Why to make this Broccolini Orzo Pasta Salad
- Vegetable-forward: Packed with broccolini, basil, arugula, and parsley, this is a greens-heavy pasta salad, but it doesn’t feel that way because all the greens are designed for flavor first. So it is all your nutrition and all of your flavor combined – and we love that.
- The sizzled lemon caper dressing: It’s a unique dressing, but so simple. And once you make it you can apply it to so many different things! Plus if you aren’t a big fan of capers, just try them cooked down with garlic and chili flakes— it gets all salty, zippy, and a little addictive.
- Protein-flexible: Use chicken sausage (my husband’s usual), or go vegetarian with plant-based links, or swap in butter beans for a meat-free version that still satisfies.
- Meal-prep friendly: This tastes great warm, room temp, or cold, so leftovers are a gift to your future self. And it makes four servings, so if you are looking for a lunch recipe to use up all your farmers’ market greens, this one is a great one!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This orzo pasta salad recipe balances pantry staples with fresh greens and a few flavor-forward extras. Plus, I like that it uses what you will normally get in a bundle from the farmers’ market or grocery store. So no odd arugula leftovers here!
Here’s what’s going into the mix:
- Orzo: The pasta base that holds everything together. I call for 12 ounces, but you can use half a box or a full box, it’s up to you.
- Broccolini: Chopped and sautéed until vibrantly green. I love broccolini because unlike it’s broccoli cousin, it usually stays a bit more green and vibrant in a meal-prep recipe.
- Arugula + basil: For a fresh, herbaceous contrast. Arugula is nice and peppery, and basil has that signature flavor we all love.
- Lemon + capers + garlic: The backbone of our bold dressing. These ingredients are known to play nicely together, and sizzled in olive oil? Delicious.
- Kewpie mayo: Adds a little creamy richness to balance the acidity in the dressing. Just a touch turns a vinaigrette-style dressing into something remarkably creamy.
- Chicken sausage: Or vegetarian sausage, or beans. Your call!
- Shaved parmesan (optional): For a salty finish. Plus, there’s nothing savory that parmesan doesn’t improve, IMO.
How to make this Broccolini Orzo Pasta Salad
The steps here are streamlined, so don’t say I don’t take care of you!
1. Boil your orzo
Cook until al dente in well-salted water. Drain and set aside. This also makes it so that if you meal-prep this recipe, the pasta turns into a resistant starch, which is good for anyone looking to eat a bit healthier.
2. Make the sizzled lemon caper dressing
Chop half a lemon (yes, the rind too!), capers, and garlic. Sizzle them in olive oil with chili flakes until fragrant. You’ll know it’s time when the lemon goes from light yellow to golden. Add this to the bowl you plan to mix the salad in. Mix in Kewpie mayo, parsley, more lemon juice, and a pinch of salt for a creamy, punchy dressing.
3. Sauté the broccolini
Same pan, no extra dishes. Cook until the broccolini is deep green and tender-crisp. Make sure to season it, we will need layers of seasoning as we continue to prep the salad.
4. Toss it all together
In a big bowl, combine the orzo, broccolini, arugula, basil, and the lemony dressing. Taste and season as you go—this salad loves a little extra salt or lemon juice or a few pinches of salt.
5. Cook the sausage
Brown your sausages evenly on all sides. Do this on medium-low heat and take your time so they don’t split. You can add them to the big salad bowl, or save them later as a topping.
6. Top with parmesan
Totally optional, but a great move if you want some salty punch to finish it off.
FAQS
Absolutely. Swap the sausage for butter beans, chickpeas, or your favorite vegan sausage. Use a vegan mayonnaise or yogurt for the dressing, and then you can let that and the greens do most of the flavor heavy lifting.
Yes! Mix everything but the arugula and basil in advance—they’re best mixed in fresh right before serving. It’s great cold or at room temp, and leftovers keep beautifully.
So many swaps work! I love broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, snap peas, or kale. Just aim for quick-cooking green vegetables that hold a little bite.
You can use any mayo you have on hand, I’m just partial to the brand since it has slightly more sweetness and acidity, so I always like to suggest it in my recipes!
How to store this pasta salad
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days. Everything gets very lightly dressed, so the vegetables may wilt slightly, but they will still taste delicious.
If making ahead, I’d suggest holding off on adding the arugula and basil until just before serving, you can store them separately for maximum freshness, then toss everything together in your salad bowl!
And that’s it for this Broccolini Orzo Pasta Salad!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Broccolini Orzo Pasta Salad with Lemon Caper Dressing
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 medium sauté pan
Ingredients
- 10 ounces orzo
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 medium lemon halved
- 2 tablespoons non pareil capers
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon Kewpie mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley 0.25 ounces, chopped
- 8 ounces broccolini chopped
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves 1.5 ounces
- 4 cups arugula 5 ounces
- 4 chicken sausage or vegetarian sausage links see Note
- 2 ounces shaved parmesan optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt with 1 tablespoon of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, then add the 10 ounces of orzo and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. When it is finished, drain and set aside.
- Take 1/2 of the lemon and finely chop it, rind and all. Remove any seeds and add this to a medium sauté pan. Finely chop 2 tablespoons of capers and grate 3 garlic cloves and add these to the pan. Add 1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes and pour in 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil.
- Put this pan over medium heat and let it come to a simmer. Let the mixture sizzle for 1-2 minutes or until the lemon has darkened from a light yellow to golden. Remove this from the heat and pour it into the bowl you plan to toss the salad in.
- To the bowl add 1 tablespoon of Kewpie mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and squeeze in the juice from the remaining lemon half. Mix into a creamy dressing, taste and season.
- Chop up the 8 ounces of broccolini into small pieces and add them to the same sauté pan. Put this pan back over medium heat, season the broccolini with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the broccolini is a vibrant dark green. Transfer this to the bowl with the dressing.
- Add the orzo to the large bowl. Tear in 2 cups of basil leaves and 4 cups of arugula and give everything a mix to coat in the dressing. Taste and season with more salt or lemon juice as preferred.
- Place the skillet back over medium-low heat and add a touch of olive oil if the pan is looking a bit dry. Gently cook your sausages, allowing them to cook untouched for 3-4 minutes before rotating them 90 degrees to cook, repeating until the sausage is fully golden on the outside and an internal temperature of 165°F. Don't rush this process or you risk your sausages splitting.
- Chop the sausages and add them to the pasta salad. Shave in 2 ounces of parmesan, if that's your thing. Serve right away!
I think there’s maybe a touch too much orzo for me? But that’s an easy fix next time otherwise wow I love how the flavor is built in this!!! Truly easy to adapt however you want I’m glad I made the whole thing for lunch for the week.
Totally get it, we like carbs here so it’s a pretty pasta-heavy-pasta-salad! You can definitely switch it to 8 ounces to more match your taste!
This is an excellent recipe to use as a base and then riff off of to include some extra items I had already stocked in my kitchen!
My modifications: I made 1.5 times the dressing because it is incredibly delicious. Seriously, make that dressing. I also added a quarter of a deseeded/deribbed jalapeño to the dressing while it was sizzling for a little heat and extra greenness. Finally, I added some marinated chicken thighs as my protein of choice.
This. Is. Delicious. So streamlined for the home cook with one bowl and pan and perfect to master and make variations of. I’m already thinking of new additions or switches to make endless new pasta salads for summer! I’m thinking of adding a quarter cup of cooked green lentils next time to hide some extra protein and fiber for my unsuspecting boyfriend… Thanks, Justine!
I usually love your flavor combination but this one didn’t hit for me. Maybe I did something wrong because all I taste is bitter lemon which is unappealing and doesn’t balance out the arugula. Made it for dinner and no one could get more than a few bites down.
Oh no! I think I know exactly what happened, either your lemon was particularly bitter or you didn’t sizzle it long enough. Getting it to golden brown eliminates any bitterness! I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you, and to be extra safe in any other recipes you may try (mine or others) swap lemons for preserved lemons, which will better match your palate!
After reading other comments, I reduced the amount of orzo and doubled the amount of dressing. I also swapped the broccolini for asparagus (couldn’t find it in the store). It was wonderful! The dressing was phenomenal and it all comes together so perfectly! The only thing is that I still ended up making too much orzo. Next time, I’ll only make 1/2 the orzo. But a wonderful flavour combination!
I made this for dinner and it’s SO good! I was nervous about sautéing and eating the lemon rind, but that turned out well. You are my meal hero of the week!
I was skeptical to keep the rind on the lemon but it came out so good! It really softened and kept a clear bright flavor. Excited to try out this dressing across other dishes as well.
More of that dressing! 😍 Very delicious.
I did 8oz of orzo instead of 10 and it was perfect, just needed a touch more dressing. I was a little afraid of the lemon rind so I cut some of it out this time. But I’ll definitely be making this again!
I love this recipe! I feel like it’d be a great salad to bring to a function. I made it for meal prep with hot Italian sausage but like we gone else I’m already plotting what to combine with it next!
This was so good! Even my picky husband enjoyed the combination of flavors. A really nice alternative to the usual “dinner salad” recipes so commonly found during a frantic “what’s for dinner” Google search.
Made this tonight and we loved it! I used the amount of orzo called out in the recipe and thought it was great. But we love orzo and carbs! I’ve never used lemon rind in a recipe and was surprised how much more depth it added to the dressing. It was absolutely delicious and can’t wait to make it again!
Hey Justine! If I wanted to prep the dressing done in advance, would you recommend doing the simmer oil/lemon/caper situation then cool and store in the fridge? Or add mayo then store? So excited to make this ❤️
Hi and sorry for my delay!! Yes, I’d recommend doing all the simmering and add the mayo, too, then store the whole dressing as-is! It will solidify in the fridge, so let it come to room temperature by mixing it for when you plan to serve!
This is so delicious and easy to make. Definitely putting this on my regular dinner rotation!!
All of my freaking favorite things in one recipe – sh*t load of lemon, orzo, and arugula. YUMMMMMMM salty and bright and briney and peppery and fun. Imagining this dressing in other places………… like shrimpies.
I didn’t have sausage on hand and made it with one of your breaded beans recipes on top instead! Really great combo even if it might have been a case of ‘making life more complicated for myself,’ I love how flexible your recipes are and how fun it is to fit them together in various ways
This tasted amazing the lemon flavour is so fresh! I think it would be amazing with some baked white fish maybe topped with a lemon breadcrumb.
I made some changes to use things I had on hand and it still turned out amazing!
Used dried herbs
Used buckwheat instead of orzo
Used jarlic instead of garlic cloves
Used precooked chicken breast instead of sausage
loooved this one! will definitely be adding it to our rotation
This was great!! The dressing was bright and so delicious, I will be using it with many other veggies. I made a few swaps- kale instead of arugula, anchovy paste instead of capers, Trader Joe’s harvest blend instead of plain orzo, and tofu instead of the sausage. (10 oz of pasta was perfect for me though, I too am a carb girl).
Overall, this worked so well for me and I expect I’ll be making variations of this all summer!
Hi Justine!
Loved this recipe and it was so easy to follow. My best friend has a gluten allergy so unfortunately no orzo for her. We usually sub quinoa, but do you have any other recommendations? Thanks!
I love farro or buckwheat, too! Also jasmine rice or brown rice is excellent 🙂