This Antipasto Salad is incredibly flavorful and is the perfect seasonal Italian-inspired dish to share with family and friends. It also makes a fantastic meal prep recipe for easy lunches or light dinners! With marinated tofu, zesty olives, fresh basil and a base of hearty orzo, this Antipasto Salad is a definite keeper. It also packs a punch of nourishing veggies and protein.
This blog post is sponsored by DeLallo.
As warmer temperatures welcome in the Spring and Summer fun, this refreshing and satisfying yet bright Antipasto Salad brings all the yumminess. Whether you’re packing up for a beach picnic, an outdoor barbecue, or an al fresco dinner, this recipe will be a hit.
With the DeLallo products, you can make delicious recipes with bold flavors, using their high-quality ingredients! I’m absolutely loving the DeLallo goods in this recipe, including the Pitted Olives Jubilee, Orzo, and Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You may have noticed by now that I am obsessed with olives and orzo, and these don’t disappoint!
These olives are the perfect addition to this Antipasto Salad, for vibrant flavor and tanginess. And the orzo is the perfect base, as it cooks perfectly to al dente and is so fun to eat.
The DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil adds robust flavor to the marinated tofu in this recipe, as well as the incredibly yummy vinaigrette. DeLallo makes it super easy to put together a quick and delicious dish that tastes like it took hours to make!
Tips For Making This Recipe & Additions
As with all my pasta recipes, I recommend salting the pasta cooking water. I add in the salt after adding in the dry pasta to the boiling water. Add in 1-1.5 tablespoons of salt and stir to dissolve. It perfectly seasons the orzo itself, which makes for an extra perfectly seasoned dish!
You can make the marinated tofu the day before, to save some time. You can store it in the fridge with the marinating liquid. Then, remove it from the fridge when you start preparing the rest of the recipe. I like using super-firm tofu for this purpose with its dense texture. Alternatively, you can use extra-firm tofu and press it for 15 min.
If you’re not a fan of fresh basil, you can instead add extra fresh parsley. You can dial up or down the amount of fresh herbs. They add amazing flavor and additional nutrients!
For some added texture and protein, feel free to add beans of your choice. Cannellini beans or chickpeas would be great additions here.
How This Antipasto Salad Comes Together
Marinating the tofu:
Place the tofu cubes into a shallow bowl, then add all the Marinating ingredients to the tofu, including the DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lemon juice, and herbs and seasonings. The nutritional yeast adds nice depth of flavor as well as color. Give the tofu a good stir, gently, to not break up the tofu cubes. Set the tofu bowl aside, as you prepare the other parts of the recipe.
Cooking the orzo:
Next, cook the orzo according to the package directions, adding in 1-1.5 tbsp of salt to the water when it boils, along with the orzo. For salads like this, you’ll want al dente orzo, so be sure not to overcook it. Once it’s the right texture, drain the orzo and rinse it well under cold water. Then drain it well, then add it to a large mixing bowl.
Putting it all together:
Meanwhile, while you wait for the water to boil and for the orzo to cook, you can use this time to do the chopping and making of the dressing. You’ll need roasted red peppers (the jarred variety), marinated artichoke hearts (the jarred variety), pepperoncini, DeLallo Pitted Olives Jubilee (drained), red onion, fresh parsley, and shaved dairy-free parmesan cheese. You can leave the olives whole or coarsely chopped. Sidenote: this combination is super delicious, so be prepared to enjoy!
Next, whisk all the Dressing ingredients together in a bowl. Or, you can add them to a jar/container that has a lid, then shake it up thoroughly.
And that’s it! This Antipasto Salad is a winner and will have you coming back for seconds.
Other Delicious Orzo Recipes
If you try this recipe, I would love to see it! You can tag me on Instagram @janetsmunchmeals and be sure to leave a star rating in the recipe card below.
Antipasto Salad
Ingredients
- 1 package DeLallo Orzo
- 1 cup roasted red peppers chopped
- 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 package DeLallo Pitted Olives Jubilee drained of extra liquid
- 1/3 to ½ cup thinly sliced pepperoncini to taste
- 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts chopped
- 2/3 cup shaved dairy-free parmesan
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 4-5 large fresh basil leaves sliced
Marinated Tofu
- 1 16- oz. package super-firm tofu cut into 2cm cubes
- ¼ cup DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp red chili flakes
Vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Add all Marinated Tofu ingredients to a shallow bowl and gently toss well to incorporate. Let marinate while preparing the rest of the recipe.
- Cook orzo according to package directions in salted water, then drain. Rinse well under cold water, then drain well. Once drained, transfer orzo to a large mixing or serving bowl. Add roasted red peppers, red onion, olives, pepperoncini, artichokes, parmesan, parsley and tomatoes to orzo. Gently toss.
- In a bowl, whisk together all Vinaigrette ingredients (or add them to a jar with a lid and shake to combine). Add tofu to orzo, along with desired amount of vinaigrette, then gently toss. Top with fresh basil.