We are taking a tiny break from Baked Salad Season (my favorite season!) to do a normal salad – a crispy farro salad with a lemony dressing and a walnut cream that will make you fall in love. At first glance, this salad might feel a little intimidating. It has: walnuts, capers, mustard, honey….a lot of intimidating and arguably contrarian flavors, but together they SING.
This crispy farro salad is one of the times where I really appreciate the magic of food. It is one of our sensory pleasures where you can actually create balance. This lemony, sweet dressing brings the salad to a high level of brightness, but the salty, crispy farro and the rich but rustic walnut cream perfectly brings the salad back to earth. And the best thing about this recipe? The flavors might be complex, but making it is easy. It’s a wonderful weeknight recipe to make when you want to add that extra level of self-care, but not too much extra work. As a salad, it continues to be one of my favorites.
Table of contents
What ingredients do you need for this crispy farro salad
This salad has many components, but I designed it so that the ingredients repeat, instead of you needing to buy a million things from the store. Here is everything you need for every section of this crispy farro salad:
- 1 head of radicchio
- 1 large head of green leaf lettuce, or two small heads
- 1 cup farro cooked
- 2 tbsp capers, optional
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1 heaping tsp mustard
- 2 tsp capers
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more as needed (use half the amount if using Morton’s)
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 tbsp honey
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan, plus more for garnish
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Kosher salt to taste
Let’s talk a bit about the timing of this recipe
The beauty of a salad is there’s very little cooking – just assembling. This salad is the same, except for the addition of the crispy farro. I recommend starting by prepping your lettuce, washing, finely chopping and setting it aside. Then go into the other elements of the recipe. Get the farro in the oven, start the walnut cream, and lastly, whisk together the dressing. Then you’ll be ready to plate and serve!
What is crispy farro?
Farro is one of my favorite grains, and I’m sure it’s been done before, but I’m taking a bit of credit for bringing crispy farro salad into this world.
Crispy farro is essentially baked farro, where you roast it with just a touch of olive oil until it gets nice and golden. Think of it more as corn nuts texture, very crunchy and very earthy. It’s not going to be light and crisp like my baked quinoa, but it is still going to be delicious.
How to make this crispy farro salad
So with the instructions, let’s start at the beginning. Here is how to prep your lettuce and make this crispy farro salad:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Finely chop the radicchio and the green leaf lettuce. Toss together and set aside.
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, evenly spread out the cooked farro. Scatter the 2 tbsp of capers on top. Drizzle with just a bit of olive oil, no more than a teaspoon. Toss to coat, season with a pinch of salt and put it in the oven. Roast at 400°F for 15-18 minutes or until the farro is lightly golden and the capers are crisp. Note that the farro will taste more like a corn nut and less like a puffed grain, you want it to be a dense, crunchy texture.
How to make the walnut mustard cream
This has to be my FAVORITE part of the recipe. It’s divine. And don’t be afraid of the ingredients! Even if you don’t like capers, the walnuts will lend a subtle sweetness and richness to the point where you won’t even notice it. I want to eat this with a spoon. Here is the best way to make it:
Soak the walnuts in boiling hot water for 4-5 minutes. Drain and transfer them to a small blender. Add the mustard, capers, parsley, lemon, salt and pepper. Add 2/3 cup of cool water and blend until smooth and creamy. Season with more lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.
How to make the lemon parmesan dressing for this crispy farro salad
And lastly is the dressing! It’s truly so easy, and the brightness it gives the rest of the recipe is crucial. For this component, get a larger bowl. Add the honey, juice from the second lemon, red pepper flakes, parmesan and olive oil. Whisk well to combine and season with salt.
Throw the lettuce and radicchio directly into the bowl with the lemon dressing and give it a toss with clean hands.
FAQ
Yes! Everything can be done ahead of time and stored separately. Just don’t dress the salad with the lemon dressing until you are just about to eat it!
I like to store every component on its own, and then combine it right before I eat it. This helps get rid of any sogginess, and also eliminates any “meal prep” energy that a combined salad might have. I like to store the farro in a tupperware container, the chopped lettuce in its own container, and the lemon dressing and walnut cream in their own separate jars. All the components will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Absolutely! You can omit the parmesan entirely for some freshly grated garlic in the lemon dressing. You can then replace the honey with agave or maple syrup, and you’ll have a fully vegan salad!
Looking for similar recipes?
You’ve come to a great place. Here are all my salads, the loves of my life:
And that’s everything for this crispy farro 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
Crispy Farro Salad with Walnut Mustard Cream
Equipment
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 small blender
Ingredients
- 1 head of radicchio
- 1 large head of green leaf lettuce or two small heads
- 1 cup farro cooked
- 2 tbsp capers optional
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1 heaping tsp mustard
- 2 tsp capers
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves plus more for garnish
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt plus more as needed (use half the amount if using Morton’s)
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper plus more to taste
- 1 tbsp honey
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan plus more for garnish
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Finely chop the radicchio and the green leaf lettuce. Toss together and set aside.
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, evenly spread out the cooked farro. Scatter the 2 tbsp of capers on top. Drizzle with just a bit of olive oil, no more than a teaspoon. Toss to coat, season with a pinch of salt and put it in the oven. Roast at 400°F for 15-18 minutes or until the farro is lightly golden and the capers are crisp. Note that the farro will taste more like a corn nut and less like a puffed grain, you want it to be a dense, crunchy texture.
- While the farro is in the oven, begin the walnut cream. Soak the walnuts in boiling hot water for 4-5 minutes. Drain and transfer them to a small blender. Add the mustard, capers, parsley, lemon, salt and pepper. Add 2/3 cup of cool water and blend until smooth and creamy. Season with more lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, add the honey, juice from the second lemon, red pepper flakes, parmesan and olive oil. Whisk well to combine and season with salt.
- Throw the lettuce and radicchio directly into the bowl with the lemon dressing and give it a toss with clean hands.
- Remove the farro from the oven, and now it's time to plate!
- Plate each serving with a generous smear of the walnut cream on the bottom, then top with the lemony salad, and sprinkle with a generous serving of crisp farro. Enjoy!
We have nut allergies in my home. What would you suggest as an alternative for the walnut cream?
I love using white beans in place of the walnuts! It gives the same creaminess as the nuts do 🙂
Any ideas if you aren’t a caper girly? I know you said that you can’t really taste them I just don’t want to buy them if I won’t use them again.
Thanks!
In this case I’d totally give you a free pass to skip! Just season to taste and add a bit more salt if you think you need it, the capers are there for salinity, but the mustard should still keep the walnut cream interesting!
Can I leave out the parmesan or sub it for something none dairy?
Feel free to leave it out – the salad will still be delicious 🙂
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so thrilled you liked it!
Delicious! So fully of flavour and a perfect balance of salty, bitter, acid/tang! Relatively easy to make too. Will be making again for sure. Thank you Justine 🙂
This was OUTSTANDING! So many layers of flavor. The choice of green leaf lettuce (vs. a romaine or butter lettuce) was perfect.
One question: the recipe says to sprinkle the capers over the farro and toss them bake. If you do that how do you sort them out of the pan to put in the walnut cream? I had to omit them from the walnut cream and just eat them whole in the salad with the farro. Still delicious.
There are two types of capers in the recipe! One is just uncooked in the walnut cream (you add them straight into the blender from the jar!) and the second layer is baked with the farro, which is totally optional 🙂 I hope that makes sense, you’re using the same ingredient in two different ways!
Any tips on making ahead of time? I want to make this for a work potluck.
I’d prepare everything and store it all separately, then assemble right before you plan to serve!
This looks delish. I can’t do the farro (gluten-free). Could you roast brown rice, or what GF workarounds would you recommend?
I just uploaded a crispy quinoa recipe that is a great sub! Brown rice also works, but it tends to “pop” in the oven and turn into little puffs, but if you’re ok with that, go for it!