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. Enjoy the salad warm or at room temperature as an to alternative to pasta salad, or as a hearty dinner salad.
This farro salad features nutty and delicious whole grain farro, combined with all the veggies I use to make this roasted vegetable salad — colorful chopped vegetables and green herbs. Everything is tossed together with an easy vinaigrette you can shake up in a jar.
Serve this salad in a large bowl at room temperature —it’s PERFECT to bring to casual gatherings like potlucks and picnics.
I think farro is one of the best-tasting whole grains. Find it 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Drain the farro and transfer to a large bowl or spread out on in a shallow pan or baking dish to cool.
Farro salad recipe steps
2. Chop the veggies into small dice. 
3. Pour the dressing over the farro and vegetables. 
4. Toss the farro and veggies in a large serving bowl.
To serve: Crumble the cheese over the salad and add some arugula greens or other salad leaves.
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.
Chopped Vegetable Farro Salad with Feta
Ingredients
Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (20 ml) wine vinegar (red or white)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 whole garlic clove, bruised or smashed with a large knife
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano or Italian herbs
Farro Salad
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) pearled farro
- Kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup chopped red, yellow or orange bell pepper (or a mix of colors), in ½-inch cubes
- 1 zucchini or 2 Persian cucumbers, chopped into ½-inch cubes
- ½ red onion, chopped into ½-inch cubes
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- 4 ounces (115 g) crumbled feta cheese (¾ cup)
- A few handfuls of arugula or salad greens, optional
- Tahini dressing, optional
Instructions
Make the vinaigrette
- 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.
Make the salad
- Bring a medium pot (3-4 quarts) of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Cook 20 minutes, or until the grains are swelled and tender, with an "al dente" bite in the center.
- Drain the farro. Transfer to a large serving bowl and let the farro cool about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, red onion and parsley to the farro and stir together. Pour the dressing over (remove the garlic clove) and gently toss to coat in the dressing.
- Taste and season with more salt, vinegar or lemon juice if needed. Sprinkle the cheese over the farro and serve with optional greens and tahini dressing.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- The farro can be cooked up to 3 days ahead.
- Farro salad tastes best slightly warm or at room temperature. Bring it to room temperature before tossing with the chopped vegetables and dressing.
- The dressed salad keeps 1-2 days in the refrigerator.
- Mix in few handfuls of baby arugula or salad greens.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
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Delicious! I loved the light heartiness of the farro as the grain. A tahini dressing is a wonderful addition. There are good store bought ones available if you don’t have time to make one.
I made this 3 times and love it with everything a salad on bed of lettuce, add to glass noodles or rice, first one I used Farro, 2nd time quinoa and tonight couscous. Quinoa was the best to me. Very easy to make and Tahini dressing makes it even more yummy.
Made this salad tonight, it was so good!! Fresh and delicious!!
Looks delicious! Going to try this soon! Thank you so much!
So simple, fresh and delicious!
Another amazing and easy family style food recipe that has become a part of our weekly rotation!