This refreshing Mediterranean Farro Salad is served cold. It’s laden with cucumbers and feta cheese, along with herbs, green onion, capers, and tossed in a lemon olive oil dressing. I love a lettuce-free salad for its heartiness, and this salad fits the bill! Farro salad makes a great vegetarian main or hearty side dish. And the leftovers hold up really well in the fridge!
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Farro is a delicious grain, akin to barley in taste and texture. It has a nutty favor and chewy texture, and it holds up really well in a salad without getting mushy.
For this salad, the farro is cooked as pasta is in lots of water, then it’s drained and rinsed under cold water so it’s ready to use immediately. Then, the cold farro, lots of cucumbers, feta cheese, fresh herbs, capers, green onions, and a simple lemon olive oil dressing are mixed together. Easy peasy!
Cold farro salad is a really lovely side dish, refreshing on a warm day and the perfect complement to meatballs, grilled chicken, pork tenderloin, and more. But it’s also really hearty and can be a meal on its own, especially because farro is high in protein and fiber!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Farro – even though the title of this recipe is called farro salad, the farro can easily be substituted with another hearty grain like barley, rice, or quinoa, or a small pasta like orzo or pearl couscous. I recommend quick cooking farro – more on that below.
- Cucumbers
- Feta cheese – omit or replace with a vegan substitute for a vegan/dairy free salad.
- Fresh herbs – I used a mix of dill, mint, and parsley. Chives, basil, tarragon, or other delicate herbs would be fine to use.
- Green onions – use finely diced red onions instead if you want a stronger taste.
- Capers – omit if you like, or replace with chopped olives for a similar briny, salty flavor.
- Lemon juice – use a smaller amount of red wine or other vinegar if you don’t have fresh lemon juice.
- Olive oil, salt, and pepper
How to make Cold Farro Salad with Cucumbers and Feta
First, rinse the dry farro, then cook it in water as you would pasta for the time indicated on the package. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool it down. While it’s cooking, you can prep all the other ingredients!
Then mix lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl, and add the cooked farro and all the rest of the ingredients. Stir everything together and serve!
What kind of farro to use
There are different types of farro out there, some that cooks quickly and some that takes longer. Pearled farro is the quick cooking one, similar to pearled barley. The quick kind has the outer bran removed and takes about 15 minutes to cook. It’s counterpart, whole farro, has the bran intact which adds fiber, but takes about an hour to cook.
I use Trader Joe’s quick cooking farro which only takes about 10 minutes to cook. It’s pre-cooked a bit then dried before it’s packaged, for a super fast (and cheap!) option.
Any type of farro you choose will be fine, just check the package for the amount of time it needs to cook. Here’s a great resource on farro, types, and cooking methods.
Storing leftovers
This salad holds up really well as leftovers! Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The cucumbers may become a bit mushy over time, fyi, but not horribly so.
Other easy, healthy Mediterranean salads
Cold Farro Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup farro about 3 cups cooked, see notes
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice from about 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups diced cucumber from about 1 large cucumber, see notes
- 8 oz. cubed feta cheese see notes
- 3-4 green onions thinly sliced, white and green parts
- ¼ cup capers
- ½ cup chopped fresh herbs I used mint, dill, and parsley
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Instructions
- Rinse the dry 1 cup farro in a mesh sieve. Then, cook it in a pot of boiling water as you would pasta, for the timing indicated on the package instructions (this will vary based on type and brand, see notes). Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to rapidly cool. While the farro is cooking is a great time to chop and prep the remaining ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper to make the dressing.
- Add the cooked and cooled farro to the bowl with the dressing, as well as the 4 cups diced cucumber, 8 oz. cubed feta cheese, sliced 3-4 green onions, ¼ cup capers, and ½ cup chopped fresh herbs.
- Mix everything well and serve.
Notes
- To cook the farro, you’ll need to refer to the package of farro you bought for timing. I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s quick cooking farro, which only needs about 10 minutes to cook. Usually, farro takes about 15-20 minutes of cooking for pearled and up to an hour for whole (similar to barley). For this recipe, cook the farro as you would pasta, in a large pot of water. Then drain and rinse with cold water to rapidly cool so it’s ready for the salad. 1 cup of dry farro yields approximately 3 cups of cooked farro, which is perfect for this recipe.
- Farro substitutions: Use barley, rice, quinoa, or another whole hearty grain, or a small pasta like orzo or pearl couscous instead of farro.
- Make it vegan / dairy-free: Use a vegan feta cheese substitute or omit the cheese.
- For serving sizes, this salad serves 4 as a light meal or 6-8 as a side dish.
- For the feta, I always recommend buying block feta cheese rather than crumbled. The texture and taste is much better!
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
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