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This superb farro salad is everything you want out of a grain bowl--it's fresh, healthy, simple to make, and tastes DELICIOUS. Bursting with crisp veggies, you can keep this farro bowl vegetarian or add some chicken or salmon. Trust me, you're going to love this farro salad recipe!
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Near my hometown, there is a delicious restaurant called "Farm 12". It is a farm-to-family restaurant that has a rotating menu inspired by seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms. It's always fun to go see what is currently on the menu and everything I've tried has been great.
One of my favorite dishes to order is the "King Salmon Farro Bowl." It's one of those dishes that fill you up but leaves you feeling light and fresh and ready to take on the day! Because I am worried that one day it will leave their seasonal menu, I decided to try recreating the recipe at home. After a few tweaks, I think I've got it down. I know you're going to love it as much as I do!
🥫 Ingredients
- Pearled Farro: The base of this salad bowl is cooked farro. I always make it with pearled farro, because that is the variety that I can get the easiest at the store. Any other type of farro (whole grain, semi-pearled) would work just fine.
If farro is a new ingredient to you, check out my guide "What is Farro and How is it Used?" It's my favorite grain, you should definitely get to know it. It has a great amount of fiber and protein, which makes this salad very filling. - Crispy Veggies: Uncooked snap peas, radishes, and sweet bell peppers give this salad a delightful crunch!
- Pistachios: Pistachios boost the protein count in the farro bowl recipe.
- Avocado: I can't get enough of the creamy avocado chunks in this salad, which perfectly balance out all the other crispy ingredients.
- Cilantro: A sprinkling of cilantro brightens the whole grain bowl!
- Lemon Vinaigrette: All the flavors come together in this farro bowl with a perfectly light and fresh lemon vinaigrette. I think it's the perfect dressing for a farro salad.
I personally love to keep this farro grain bowl vegetarian, but you could absolutely add grilled chicken or salmon if that is your jam.
📖 Instructions
To start, you'll need to cook your farro. You can do this on the stove, in the Instant Pot, or even in a rice cooker! My favorite way is to do it on the stove. Once farro is done cooking, set it aside to cool.
Next, make the lemon vinaigrette by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Or add them to a mason jar and give them a good shake. Set the salad dressing aside until ready to use.
While the farro is cooking, work on chopping up the veggies. You'll want to cut the snap peas into halves or thirds, depending on how big they are. The radishes can be thinly sliced, and the bell peppers diced.
Unshell the pistachios and chop if desired. You can also leave them whole.
Remove the cilantro leaves from the thick stems and coarsely chop.
Remove the avocado pit and skin and cube.
Once all the ingredients are ready, simply mix them all together in a large bowl and drizzle with the lemon dressing!
⏰ Make-ahead Instructions
This farro salad can absolutely be made ahead of time (like the night before or several hours before) and kept in the refrigerator. In fact, I think this salad tastes better cold than warm.
For best results, however, I would wait to add the avocado until you are ready to serve. It can get brown and mushy if stored for too long.
🔄 Substitutions
If farro isn't your favorite, literally any other cooked grain (rice, quinoa, barley, couscous, wheat berries, etc) would work just fine in this salad.
You can also switch up or add more veggies. I'm thinking I'll add shredded carrots next time I make this recipe. If you have a vegetable on hand or that you really like, throw it in!
💪 Nutrition
People are always interested if a recipe is healthy or good for losing weight, and it's a solid yes for both with this grain bowl.
This farro salad is very high in plant protein and fiber. It also has a lot of healthy fats. This means it will fill you up faster and keep you feeling full longer, which means you'll want to eat less.
With the variety of veggies, grains, and nuts, it's also full of vitamins and minerals. For example, it's got almost 20% of your recommended daily iron.
Farro is a member of the wheat family, so this salad does contain gluten. Also, like all whole grains, Farro is high in carbohydrates. Therefore, those eating a low-carb diet, such as people with diabetes, should consume farro in small portions. This salad is not Whole30 or Keto-approved.
If you'd like to learn more about why farro is such an awesome grain to eat, check out "What is Farro and How is It Used?"
One serving of this grain bowl contains 387 calories.
✨ Top Tips
I love to make a big batch of farro in my Instant pot, and then freeze it in individual size portions. Doing this cuts down the prep time on this salad in a big way!
Adding grilled chicken or salmon is a great way to add even more protein to this grain bowl.
🥣 Storage
This salad should be stored in the fridge, and because of the avocado, will only keep for about a day. The pistachios will also start getting soft.
If you store the ingredients separately and only mix them together when you are ready to eat, they will last about 5 days. Just cut the avocado right before serving.
🥗 More Grain Bowl Salad Recipes
Blueberry Lemon Salad with Quinoa
Mediterranean Chickpea and Quinoa Salad
Recipe
Spring Vegetables and Farro Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups farro
- 1 cup snap peas
- 1 bunch radish
- 1 avocado
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 1 bell pepper
- ½ cup pistachio
Lemon Herb Vinigrette
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- black pepper
- ½ teaspoon honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
Farro
- Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove over high heat. Just like pasta, farro doesn't require a certain amount of water, so just fill the pot up at least 3 cups of water. You'll want enough to cover all the grains.
- Rinse your farro under cold water. This removes any dust or extra starch that has settled on the grains in storage. Add rinsed farro to the boiling water, and turn the heat down to a gentle boil. You do not need to cover the pot.
- Let the farro boil for 15-20 minutes. The grains will always be a little chewy, but are done when they are mostly tender.
- Drain the water and rinse the farro under cool water. This will stop the cooking process of your grains, and keep them from getting mushy. Set aside till you're ready to assemble your salad.
Lemon Vinaigrette
- Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl. Or add them to a mason jar and give them a good shake. Set the salad dressing aside until ready to use.
Salad Toppings
- While the farro is cooking, work on chopping up the veggies*. You'll want to cut the snap peas into halves or thirds, depending on how big they are. The radishes can be thinly sliced, and the bell peppers diced. Unshell the pistachios and chop if desired. You can also leave them whole. Remove the cilantro leaves from the thick stems and coarsely chop. Remove the avocado pit and skin and cube.
- Once all the ingredients are ready, simply mix them all together in a large bowl and drizzle with the lemon dressing!
Notes
Nutrition
Equipment
Here are some products you might need as you make this Spring Veggie Farro Bowl.
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