Farro Salad With Tahini Vinaigrette
Farro salad is a colorful and nutty salad with the addition of delicious whole grain and a blend of colorful vegetables. The tahini vinaigrette adds to the flavor of the salad and it is a very adaptable recipe.
Choosing to make Farro Salad with Tahini Vinaigrette for the alphabet F, was the easiest for me yet in this series. I love the texture of the farro and have been waiting a long time to use it in a dish that I know I would love.
What is Farro?
Talking about Farro, I have to mention how I was first introduced to it. A few years back, I attended a Vegetarian meet at our local library back in NY and there they bought some whole grains for us to taste. That was the first time I tasted Farro and I loved it the most among the few others that I tasted that day.
The texture of the farro was something that I loved the most. It is nutty and has a great earthy flavor. I just love the slightly chewy texture that it has and it works great in a salad.
We as a family love to have a salad night once in a while. I usually have some bread on the side as I never feel filled up with just leafy salad. The use of a whole grain in the salad along with the rest of the vegetables was just so filling that we did not need anything else.
I took the Mediterranean route when planning for this whole grain salad as I had all the ingredients I needed. I had bought some tahini sauce to make the Chickpea Shawarma Wrap and I used some of it to make the dressing for this salad.
Why make this salad?
The remaining ingredients were pretty easy to assemble. This Farro Salad with Tahini Vinaigrette also helped me use up the jar of roasted peppers that I bought a while ago. I completely forgot that I had a whole jar of unopened roasted peppers and when I realized that, I thought it would work great in this salad.
The farro can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated until we are ready to assemble the salad. You could make a large batch of farro and keep it refrigerated to use in several recipes.
You could also pack your weekday lunches portioning the farro. When you are doing that make sure to include this Farro Salad with Tahini Vinaigrette in the menu. The farro salad can be refrigerated for a couple of days and tastes great when chilled.
My Other Posts in the A - Z Explore the Flavors Series
B for Baghrir with Orange Butter Sauce
Preparation time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 25 minutes
Difficulty level - Easy
Recipe adapted from - Gimme Some Oven
Ingredients needed
To Make the Farro Salad
- Farro - 1 cup
- Cucumber - 1 cup (diced)
- Cherry tomatoes - ½ cup (halved)
- Roasted Red Peppers - ¼ cup (chopped)
- Parsley - 4 teaspoon (finely chopped)
- Red onion - ½ cup (finely chopped)
- Feta Cheese - ¼ cup
- Salt - ½ tsp
To make the Tahini Vinaigrette
- Tahini - ¼ cup
- Red wine Vinegar - 1 TBSP
- Olive Oil - 2 TBSP
- Lemon Juice - 1 TBSP
- Garlic - 1 clove (finely minced)
- Salt - to taste
- Pepper - to taste
Procedure
To make the Farro Salad
- Rinse the farro under running water, drain, and place it in a pan. Add 2 ½ cups of water and ½ teaspoon of salt and bring it to a boil.
- Simmer the flame and let the farro cook for about 20 minutes or until it is cooked and the liquid has all been absorbed. If the farro appears a little under-cooked, add a little more water and let it cook further until it reaches the right texture.
- Let the Farro cool down to room temperature before we assemble the salad.
- In the meantime, chop all the vegetables and have them all ready
To make the Tahini Vinaigrette
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or a jar and mix them all together until they are well combined.
- The vinaigrette could be used right away or refrigerated until ready to use. Mix well when using it later as the tahini tends to settle down a bit.
To Assemble the Salad
- Combine all the chopped vegetables along with the cooled-down farro.
- Pour the Tahini Vinaigrette over the salad and mix to combine.
- Check for the seasoning and adjust based on your preference.
Expert Tips
- Farro could be cooked in bulk and refrigerated to use for salad.
- The Tahini dressing can also be made ahead of time.
- I like to make the salad the night before and chill before packing it for the lunch box.
- Any vegetable can be added or taken out based on personal liking.
- We can skip the feta cheese to make this Farro salad Vegan.
- If short on time, use any of your favorite store-bought dressings to dress the farro salad.
Frequently asked questions
The Farro salad can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days and tastes delicious when served chilled.
Farro salad is a meal by itself. It has grain, vegetables, and protein from cheese. I like to serve some crusty bread on the side or some light soup.
Unfortunately, Farro is not gluten free. If looking to make a gluten-free salad, try the Quinoa Tabbouleh or Mediterranean Chickpeas Salad.
More filling salad recipes
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter/X
Recipe
Farro Salad with Tahini Vinaigrette
Ingredients
To Make the Farro Salad -
- 1 cup Farro
- c cup Cucumber diced
- ½ cup Cherry tomatoes halved
- ¼ cup Roasted Red Peppers chopped
- 4 teaspoon Parsley finely chopped
- ½ cup Red onion finely chopped
- ¼ cup Feta Cheese
- Salt
To make the Tahini Vinaigrette -
- ¼ cup Tahini
- 1 tablespoon Red wine Vinegar
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 clove Garlic finely minced
- to taste Salt
- to taste Pepper
Instructions
To make the Farro Salad -
- Rinse the farro under running water, drain and place it in a pan. Add 2 ½ cups of water and ½ teaspoon of salt and bring it to a boil.
- Simmer the flame and let the farro cook for about 20 minutes or until it is cooked and the liquid has all been absorbed. If the farro appears a little under-cooked, add a little more water and let it cook further until it reaches the right texture.
- Let the Farro cool down to room temperature before we assemble the salad.
- In the meantime, chop all the vegetables and have them all ready
To make the Tahini Vinaigrette -
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or a jar and mix it all together until they are well combined.
- The vinaigrette could be used right away or refrigerated until ready to use. Mix well when using it later as the tahini tends to settle down a bit.
To Assemble the Salad -
- Combine all the chopped vegetables along with the cooled down farro.
- Pour the Tahini Vinaigrette over the salad and mix to combine.
- Check for the seasoning and adjust based on your preference.
Notes
- Farro could be cooked in bulk and refrigerated to use for salad.
- The Tahini dressing can also be made ahead of time.
- I like to make the salad the night before and chill before packing it for lunch box.
- Any vegetable can be added or taken out based on personal liking.
- We can skip the feta cheese to make this Farro salad Vegan.
- If short on time, use any of your favorite store bought dressing to dress the farro salad.
I have yet to try farro and your salad sounds like a great way to get introduced to it.
So healthy and easy to prepare salad... perfect side dish with every meal.
Never treid the farro before and your post piqued my attention in trying this very healthy salad.
I made this salad today to take to an ANZAC day buffet lunch.
It was such a hit!
I left the dressing on the side so people could add it as they wanted and I can tell you everyone loved it!
Thank you for a great recipe 😀
Claire, thanks a lot for trying it out and letting me know. This has become one of our favorites these days. I also leave the dressing on side and use it as needed.
I have not tried farro before but I've heard great things about it. Your post has convinced me to give it a try. Next time I go shopping I'm going to pick some up. Your salad looks perfect!
Love how vibrant, fresh and colorful your recipe is, I haven't tried farro as yet and now I'm definitely intrigued.
I'm with you! We love the texture of farro as well as the taste. We find it so versatile -- and you can't goof it up like you can rice. We have tahini but I hadn't thought of using it in a dressing. Thank you for the inspiration.
This is my kind of salad...I'm craving something like this for lunch today. Hearty but healthy too...loving the flavors and colors of this dish.
Mmmm I loved that you used farro in this salad...the salad looks so bright and healthy!
This looks like a wonderful, hearty salad. I just bought a bottle of tahini to make hummus, and wasn't sure what to do with the rest of the bottle. Looks like I'll be making a tahini vinaigrette! Thanks for the inspiration
Farro is one of my favorite grains and then using a tahini dressing this is definitely a great meal. Love it I want to try it soon!
Sandhya I 've heard so much about the benefits of farro but have yet to taste it. It looks like wheat. The salad is looks tempting and wholesome.Love the tahini dressing recipe too. I've put farro down on my Montreal shopping list 🙂
lovely salad - so healthy , filling and nutritious.. I haevnt tasted farro till date, but I think my sister kept talking about this grain. Look wise, it resembles wholewheat isnt it ??
colorful salad sandhya! good to hear that you have salad night once in a while, here it will be only me and my hubby! though i get farro here in all stores, i m yet to try it at home!!! With some bread on side, this definitely is a filling meal!!
Wow that is one delicious farro salad and the tahini dressing sounds super inviting. It must have tasted refreshing with all those vegetables.
I have never made such a salad but the colors look so inviting and probably will try making something like this in the near future!
Healthy Salad. I am yet to taste farro as well. The tahini vinaigrette seems so versatile. Healthy indulgence for sure.
Never tasted Farro before, seriously now i'm wondering how it taste. This Farri Salad sounds so healthy and i guess it's quite fulfilling salad too. Great share !!!
I learnt about farro while watching Masterchef Australia series. This salad is so colourful and looks like a filling meal..
Such a colourful and filling salad Sandhya, never used Farro and it looks so healthy!
Such an ultimate salad and seriously very filling to give a try. And this salad is my kind of food, that tahini vinaigrette dressing makes me drool. Absolutely irresistible.
Very colorful salad. I shall try the tahini sauce next time. I am also going to look for Farro. Never used it myself.
This is my kind of a salad Sandhya. I love grain bowls like this with lots of veggies and that tahini dressing sounds absolutely delicious. I would probably add some chickpeas or baked tofu for a complete meal.
That sure is a colorful salad. Farro is new to me ..but I think i shall use freekeh instead, lovely healthy and delicious. I am forever looking for such different salads and this one seems to be just my kinds.
So many colours.. Such a lovely and healthy salad.. My eyes are feasting over that salad!!