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An Italian Farro Salad made with juicy and sweet cherry tomatoes, peppery radishes, fragrant fresh herbs, and a zingy vinaigrette. This feel-good salad is great for eating outdoors, as a packed lunch or a healthy side dish and couldn’t be simpler to make!
Whenever you feel like you need a big bowl of goodness but fancy a salad with some bite and texture then THIS Italian farro salad is exactly what you need. It’s packed with nutrition, tastes soo good and is super quick to prepare, winning!
So What is Farro Exactly?
Farro is an ancient Italian grain that’s very similar to spelt or barley. It has a chewy texture, nutty flavour and is SO incredibly good for you as well as being very easy to prepare.
It’s so popular and commonly used in traditional Italian cuisine particularly in salads. The great thing about a farro salad is it can be prepped in advance and the flavours really get a chance to develop and soak into the grain as it sits, so delicious!
How to Make Farro Salad – Step By Step
Put the farro in a large saucepan, cover with plenty salted water and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes until tender, drain and cool (photos 1 & 2).
Add the lemon, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper into a large bowl and whisk until emulsified. Add the chopped herbs and stir (photos 3 & 4).
Add all the vegetables to the bowl alongside with cooled farro. Mix everything together to combine. Check for seasoning and add more if required and serve (photos 5 & 6).
Ways to Adapt this Salad
You can add whatever you want to a farro salad and really take advantage of what the seasons have to offer it’s also a great way to use up any leftover veggies you might have.
Cucumber, chickpeas, peppers, artichokes, grilled veggies or even mozzarella would all work really well (just to name a few). Farro is a great, delicious and healthy base for adding whatever veggies you have in your fridge or feel like that day and I often mix it up with different flavours and textures.
Top Tip: Use vegetables that are in season (and good quality) for the very best tasting salad. I don’t use a ton of ingredients and you don’t need much if everything tastes great.
The Dressing
Don’t be afraid to change up the dressing either, I kept this recipe super simple and fresh and I love it on sunny days for lunch or as a side to fish or grilled chicken for dinner.
If you want to serve it as a main why not add in some extra herbs or spices you could even add some mustard into the dressing for a little kick!
Top Tips for Making the Best Farro Salad
- Check the cooking time for your particular brand of farro as it may differ.
- Don’t forget to season the water for cooking the farro with salt it’s really important for adding flavour to the salad otherwise it’ll taste bland.
- Make sure to whisk the dressing until emulsified (combined completely and smooth in appearance) before tossing with the rest of the ingredients.
- Let the farro cool before adding to the salad. It doesn’t need to be completely cold if you are eating it straight away but it shouldn’t be hot.
- No farro? spelt or barley would be great alternatives and can be prepared in the exact same way.
- This salad is so easy to adapt with different veggies, herbs, and spices so add in whatever you like!
- This salad will last really well covered in the fridge for 1-2 days.
More Delicious Italian Salads You Might Like:
- Tuna Panzanella – Italian Bread Salad
- Tuna White Bean Salad with Basil and Lemon
- Classic Caprese Salad – Easy, Fresh & Delicious
- Loaded Lentil Salad With Eggplant And Burrata
If you’ve tried this Farro Salad or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Italian Farro Salad
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put the farro in a large sauce pan, cover with plenty salted water and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes until tender, drain and cool.
- Add the lemon, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper into a large bowl and whisk until emulsified. Add the chopped herbs and stir.
- Add all the vegetables to the bowl alongside with cooled farro. Mix everything together to combine. Check for seasoning and add more if required. Serve.
Video
Notes
- Check the cooking time for your particular brand of farro as it may differ.
- Don't forget to season the water for cooking the farro with salt it's really important for adding flavour to the salad otherwise it'll taste bland.
- Make sure to whisk the dressing until emulsified (combined completely and smooth in appearance) before tossing with the rest of the ingredients.
- Let the farro cool before adding to the salad. It doesn't need to be completely cold if you are eating it straight away but it shouldn't be hot.
- No farro? spelt or barley would be great alternatives and can be prepared in the exact same way.
- This salad is so easy to adapt with different veggies, herbs, and spices so add in whatever you like!
- This salad will last really well covered in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I recently discovered Farro while dining at an Italian restaurant in Tuscany. And since we’re underway in our own motorhome, I decided to buy some at the grocers and give it a go.
I had some carrots which I chopped fine and sauteed with a bit of onion.
I then added fresh olive oil from the farmer and Fagioli Spagna (large white beans) with fresh basilikum, celery, onion, and lemon.
Just before serving, I added some Buffala Mozzarela. All while absorbing the beautiful countryside in the mountains of the regional national park at Rossa e di Frasassi, Italy.
Thanks for providing the basics to such a lovely ingredient.
Bella Italia! <3
Hi Maya, oh wow your recipe sounds so delicious as does the beautiful setting in the Tuscan countryside. I can’t think of a more perfect evening!
Loving the crunchy radishes in here!
omg yes! so much yes.
Hi Emily,
Your Farro Salad looks delicious and we will really enjoy it! Hope you have a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Such a beautiful salad! I love all the colors. I have actually never tried farro before. Love your tips for preparing it.
You’ll love it, I’m sure! ☺️
I love farro! It seems like such a fancy grain but it’s so easy to make. This salad looks great for Spring! Hope you enjoy time with your husband’s family!
I love it too. Aw thank you Alyssa you’re so kind.
What a delicious looking salad. So fresh and yummy!
Thank you!
I love Farro. For some reason I’ve never made enough to have leftovers for a speedy lunch the next day, so thanks for the tip – I’ll be making plenty of this lemony, herby salad of yours.
No problem, hope you enjoy!
What a vibrant and healthy looking dish, love all the herbs
Thanks so much Bintu!