Life is too short for sad, boring desk lunches, right? Some planning is required to ensure you get a nice variety of homemade meals at work, but it’s so worth it! This chickpea orzo salad meal prep is one of my favorites. It’s something I genuinely get excited to eat when lunchtime rolls around.
You know how some salads leave you starving an hour later? That’s not the case with this one because the chickpeas, orzo, cheese, and veggies are very satiating.
It’s not just enjoyable, it will actually keep you full.
It takes me 30 minutes to make 6 servings of chickpea orzo salad: 20 minutes of prep time and 10 minutes of cooking time. And the meal prep for this is a breeze!
🧅 Ingredients
There is the salad itself as well as the homemade salad dressing too. Let’s take a peek at the ingredients.
✔️Orzo – You will cook the orzo, so it’s al dente to get the perfect texture. It’s a perfect addition.
✔️Chickpeas
✔️Veggies – This chickpea orzo salad has kale, bell peppers, red onions, and parsley.
✔️Feta Cheese
✔️Dressing – The dressing consists of lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. It’s so yummy you will want to eat it with a spoon!
✔️Salt & Pepper
🍽️ Instructions
There are only five steps to make this salad, and I think you will be pleased with how easy they are. Let’s get started:
👉Step 1: Prepare the orzo according to the package. Make sure the water is salted, then you will need to drain and combine it with one tablespoon of olive oil. Let it cool and set aside.
👉Step 2: Drain the can of chickpeas and rinse them well. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Put them in a large bowl.
👉Step 3: Chop the onions, peppers, parsley, and kale, and add them to the bowl of chickpeas. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix.
👉Step 4: Prepare the dressing by combining the lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil together in a bowl. Mix with a whisk.
👉Step 5: Put the orzo in each of the containers. Then, divide the kale salad among the containers. Add the feta cheese and put the dressing in one-ounce lidded plastic containers. Refrigerate and enjoy!
When ready to serve, mix up the salad with the dressing that ties all the flavors together nicely, and you’ve got a flavorful, beautiful lunch that feels like something you’d order from a restaurant instead of something you packed from home!
💡 Expert Tips
📌Chop the kale finely, so it’s nicely incorporated into the salad.
📌The flavors of this salad develop over time, so your lunch will taste better every day!
📌This meal prepped lunch lasts for three days. The amounts listed below will feed two adults for three lunches each.
📌Don’t pour the dressing on until you are ready to serve the salad. Otherwise, it will become mushy.
Looking for more lunch meal prep ideas? Try this easy burrito bowl vegetarian meal prep or this list of 20 Easy Vegan Lunch Ideas. And, if you’re trying to decide which meal prep containers are best for you, here’s a list of my favorite meal prep containers.
I used this meal prep container for the chickpea orzo salad.
❓ Recipe FAQ
Orzo is a delicious pasta that looks a lot like rice. It’s slightly larger than a grain of rice, but tastes great in salads and other dishes. All you have to do is boil it and it’s easy to mix in with your favorite recipes.
Yes, you can use store-bought dressing. We prefer the flavor of homemade dressing. I recommend using whatever you like best, and you can’t go wrong. Just make sure you use the lidded containers for the dressing.
If you don’t like or enjoy feta cheese, swap it for goat cheese, ricotta, or mozzarella.
Sure! If you want to add meat to the salad, that’s more than fine. Try tuna, shrimp, or chicken to start.
Related Recipes
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Chickpea Orzo Salad for Meal Prep Lunches
Ingredients
Salad
- 1¼ cups Orzo uncooked
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil extra virgin
- 15 oz Chickpeas can, rinsed, drained and patted dry
- 1½ cups Kale stems removed, patted dry, finely chopped
- 1 Red Bell Pepper chopped
- 1 Orange Bell Pepper chopped
- ¾ cup Red Onion chopped
- ¼ cup Parsley fresh, chopped
- ¾ cup Crumbled Feta Cheese or to taste
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Dressing
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice fresh squeezed
- ½ cup Olive Oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp Garlic minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook orzo to al dente according to package instructions in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain. Mix with a tablespoon of olive oil. Set aside and allow it to cool.
- Drain a can of chickpeas into a colander. Rinse well. Pat dry. Place in large bowl. Set aside.
- Chop kale, bell peppers, red onion and parsley. Add these ingredients to the bowl of chickpeas. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside.
- Make the dressing by combining lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk well. Set aside.
- Evenly divide orzo between each container, placing the orzo on one side. Next, evenly divide the salad between each container, placing it beside the orzo. Divide feta cheese between all of the meal prep containers. Divide salad dressing into six small containers with lids, place containers on top of orzo.
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
yummy!!
This is my ‘go to’ healthy meal prep.
I’m a full time teacher and my time is very limited. What I enjoy about this recipe is how many different combinations I can make with it, wraps, salad, add protein or make it spicy. If I put the cheese in it’s own container, this can last the full school week which is awesome!
The only negative is getting kale stuck in my teeth.
That is so great to hear! I love the flexibility of it too! Thank you so much for stopping by to comment! 🙂 Cheers! Ginny
This recipie is soooo good!! 5 out of 5!
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂