Chopped Vegetable Farro Salad

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A flavorful, fresh farro salad that’s as beautiful to look as it is to eat! This farro salad is packed with chopped Mediterranean vegetables and herbs, crumbled feta cheese and tossed in a light lemony dressing. Ready within 30 minutes, enjoy the salad warm or at room temperature as an to alternative to pasta salad, or as a hearty dinner salad.

Here’s a farro salad recipe you’ll be making on repeat. This is one of my most requested salad recipes, and it never gets boring.

I l-o-v-e creating and eating recipes using farro, especially when it’s served warm or at room temperuate. Even though I’m an omnivore who enjoys eating a wide variety of food, putting vegetables at the center of the plate is the goal. Vegetarian dinners were my most requested meals when I was a personal chef.

This farro salad features nutritious and delicious whole grain farro, combined with a very generous amount of colorful chopped vegetables and green herbs. Everything is tossed together with an easy vinaigrette you can shake up in a Mason jar.

• About farro
• How to cook farro
• Recipe steps
• Serving and meal prep tips

Serve this salad in a large bowl at room temperature — just like a fresh summer tomato sauce it’s PERFECT for casual get togethers like potlucks and picnics.

Farro bowl recipes are great if your looking for easy lunch or dinner meal prep recipes. The salad keeps for days in the fridge so it will be there for you to grab when hunger strikes!

What’s farro?

Farro is one of the best-tasting whole grains you can find in your grocery store or online, usually labeled “pearled” or “semi-pearled”. It has a really pleasant chewy texture and nutty flavor I can’t get enough of.

Is farro gluten free?

Farro is a type of wheat chock-full of fiber and nutrition, but it is not gluten free.

Farro (pronounced “Far-Oh”) is a type of ancient grain called emmer, which was first cultivated in the Middle East thousands of years ago. The grains are short, rounded and light brown in color, resembling short grain brown rice or barley. Farro has a delicious nutty flavor along with a pleasing chewy texture.

Farro salad ingredients

There’s no need to search for lots of ingredients for this salad — once you have the farro, of course. This recipe uses easy to find produce from the supermarket.

• Farro: If your farro isn’t pearled the cooking time will be slightly longer, up to 45 minutes.
• Zucchini: You can also use seedless cucumber instead (or in addition to) the zucchini, but keep in mind it will soften and weep water as it sits. Raw zucchini is crunchy and holds up well in the salad for days.
• Cherry tomatoes: Go for a mixture of colors ones. Grape tomatoes are good too!
• Sweet bell pepper: Red, orange or yellow or a mixture looks beautiful in the salad.
• Red onion: Green onion (scallions) make a good substitute.
• Parsley: Use the leaves and tender upper stems.
• Feta cheese
• Arugula or baby salad greens

How to cook farro

• Pearled or semi-pearled farro (which is typically the kind you’ll find in your market) cooks pretty quickly in boiling water.
• Hulled farro (i.e. the hull intact) takes about twice as long to cook. If you have farro that is NOT pearled or semi-pearled, you can soak it overnight.
• You don’t need to rinse farro before cooking. Once it’s cooked it’s ready to use right away in warm farro recipes, or refrigerated up to 5 days.

1. Bring a saucepan (3-4 quarts) of water to a boil. Season generously with salt — this seasons the grains and makes them tasty inside and out. I recommend 1 tablespoon kosher salt for 3-4 quarts of water.
2. Boil about 20 minutes, until the grains appear plumped and almost splitting apart. Taste test! It should be soft with a slight chew in the center.
3. Drain the farro and transfer to a large bowl or spread out on in a shallow pan or baking dish to cool.

How to make farro salad, step by step:

To serve, crumble the cheese over the salad and add some arugula greens or other salad leaves if you like.

Farro salad vinaigrette dressing:

The easy to make dressing is tangy with wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice, and spiced with garlic, dried herbs and crushed red chili.

• Add all the ingredients to a Mason jar, screw on the top and shake to mix. You can also just whisk the dressing in a small bowl.
• Pluck out the crushed garlic clove before serving the dressing.
• The vinaigrette dressing will keep 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

Serving and meal prep tips:

• Farro salad tastes best slightly warm or at room temperature.
• The farro can be cooked up to 3 days ahead. Bring it to room temperature before tossing with the chopped vegetables and dressing.
• Keep 3-5 days in the fridge in a sealed container. Let the salad come to room temperature or heat at half-power in a microwave for 1-2 minutes.

More fresh Mediterranean-style recipes to try:

• Farro Risotto with Tomato and White Beans
• Israeli Couscous Salad
• Mediterranean Farro with Roasted Vegetables
• 25 Healthy Vegetarian Recipes

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