Farro Summer Salad with Sweet Dijon Honey Dressing
This healthy summer farro salad has the perfect mix of flavors and textures. The nutty farro pops in your mouth while the sweet honey dijon dressing and crispy apples come alive with the bitterness of the peppery arugula.
The fresh summer veggies are grilled to balance out the sweetness of the apples and honey dressing and to add the charred flavor only the bbq can create. This salad has a lot going on but the flavors are perfectly balanced and work together. You’re always welcome to change things out, but this one’s pretty perfect, as is.
Add in air fryer blackened chicken or cast iron flank steak to make this a complete meal. Pair it with dill pickle pasta salad and grilled chicken teriyaki for your next spring or summer potluck.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 10 grams of protein and 6g of fiber per serving.
- Uses seasonal vegetables.
Ingredients and Substitutes:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions. See recipe card below for full ingredients list and instructions for the farro summer salad.
- Whole Farro: farro has a nutty flavor, similar brown rice but high in fiber, magnesium and vitamins. It’s the star of the show!
- Chicken Broth: you can use water or chicken stock.
- Fresh Corn on the Cob: use grilled corn for a smokey flavor or canned for a sweeter flavor.
- Grilled Zucchini: gives extra flavor to the salad. You can pan fry or steam, if desired.
- Arugula: known for its peppery leaves, it pairs well with the sweet dressing and charred summer vegetables. You can use your favorite leafy green but I highly suggest the arugula.
- Granny Smith Apples: I love green apples because they’re sweet and crispy. Use any apple you love.
- Shaved Parmesan Cheese: feta cheese, goat cheese or mozzarella balls are great in this.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: fresh squeezed is best.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Coconut Aminos: or soy sauce.
- Dijon Mustard
- Honey: or pure maple syrup.
Variations
- Add blackened chicken, cast iron flank steak or air fryer blackened salmon to add protein.
Dietary Modifications
- To make dairy-free, omit the parmesan cheese.
- This recipe is not gluten-free, as farro is a type of wheat. Omit the farro and use wild rice or brown rice.
How to make the Farro Summer Salad
Step 1: make farro
First, rinse the farro and drain. In a medium saucepan, combine farro and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender and no broth remains, about 35-40 minutes. When the farro is done, transfer to a large bowl to cool.
Step 2: prep and grill corn and zucchini
Next, heat the grill on high heat. Slice the zucchini and spray with cooking spray and season with salt. Do the same for the corn, without the husk.
Place the zucchini and corn on the grill and cook until the zucchini is soft and the corn is charred and popping (image 1). Remove and chop the zucchini and slice alongside the corn on the cob to remove the kernels from the cob.
Step 3: prep dressing
In a small bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside (image 2).
Step 4: combine salad
In a large mixing bowl combine the arugula, farro, zucchini, corn, apples and parmesan (image 3).
Top with the dressing and mix together until evenly coated (image 4). Finally, season with salt and pepper or fresh squeezed lemon juice and serve as a side dish.
Expert Tip!
Use leftover veggies to save on time and make the farro earlier in the day or night before to easily throw this together.
Recipe FAQs
The farro summer salad makes a great side dish to your bbq. Serve with High Protein Pasta Salad and Grilled Teriyaki Chicken.
I suggest only assembling and dressing the amount of salad you know you’ll eat. For meal prep, store grilled veggies, arugula, cooked farro and dressing in separate airtight containers to avoid the salad getting soggy.
Farro is chewy and nutty and gives a nice little pop to the salad. If you don’t care for it, or prefer to use wild rice or brown rice, go for it.
Check out some of our other easy meals!
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Farro Summer Salad
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Ingredients
- 1 cup whole grain farro 180g
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
- 2 corn on the cob grilled
- 2 zucchini grilled
- 3 cups arugula
- 2 small granny smith apples chopped 7.7 oz.
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese shaved 28g
Dressing
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. coconut aminos
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. honey
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- First, rinse the farro and drain. In a medium saucepan, combine farro and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender and no broth remains, about 35-40 minutes. When the farro is done, transfer to a large bowl to cool.
- Next, heat the grill on high heat. Slice the zucchini and spray with cooking spray and season with salt. Do the same for the corn, without the husk.
- Place the zucchini and corn on the grill and cook until the zucchini is soft and the corn is charred and popping. Remove and chop the zucchini and slice alongside the corn on the cob to remove the kernels from the cob.
- In a small bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Then, in a large mixing bowl combine the arugula, farro, zucchini, corn, apples and parmesan. Top with the dressing and mix together until evenly coated.
- Finally, season with salt and pepper or fresh squeezed lemon juice and serve as a side dish.
Notes
- Use leftover grilled corn on the cob or canned.
- Measure the 1 cup of farro dry before you cook it.
- Top with chicken or steak for added protein.
- Any apple variety works well.
This salad was delicious!! I made it the night before I planned to eat it and was nervous about cold cooked zucchini haha but it was so good!! Added some chicken for extra protein
Cold roasted zucchini is sooo good lol!! I’m so glad you loved it!
Amazing summer salad, we enjoyed with grilled dinner for Father’s Day! Will make again! How much parm cheese do you recommend? noticed it wasn’t included in the ingredients but was in the steps!
1/4 cup, sorry it was left off and added back.