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This Italian rice salad (insalata di riso) is a colorful, flavor-packed dish that’s perfect for warm weather meals and casual gatherings. It’s a staple in Italian summer cooking, combining tender rice with a mix of crisp fresh veggies. Savory add-ins like tuna or ham or even briny olives are a great addition. I love how flexible it is—great for using up odds and ends in the fridge, yet it always comes together beautifully. Serve it chilled for a refreshing, make-ahead option that only gets better as the flavors meld.

This colorful rice salad offers nutritious ingredients such as nutty brown rice, tomatoes, red onion, arugula, crisp cucumber, fresh lemon juice, and more.
Maybe you’ll like mushroom risotto too, or roasted beet salad, or maybe recipes with corn. And don’t miss out on arancini and antipasto farro salad.
Why You’ll Love It
Nutritious: is a very healthy salad with plenty of vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants, from the fresh vegetables. The olive oil is a great source of healthy fats. Healthy doesn’t have to mean boring, and this recipe isn’t boring in the slightest.
Authentic: The ingredients in this Mediterranean brown rice salad were carefully chosen with the Mediterranean region in mind, especially Italy and Greece. If you enjoy Greek dishes, you will love how great this is.
Versatile: Whether you’re looking for a summer side dish, a snack or the basis of a main meal with added protein, this is certainly a versatile dish. It’s also easy to tweak the chopped salad ingredients to truly make the recipe your own.
Mediterranean Salad Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Brown rice: The main ingredient in this insalata di riso recipe.
Fresh veggies: Crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, onion, and arugula offer freshness and crunch.
Herbs: The tasty trifecta of dill weed, oregano and cilantro add subtle herbal flavors.
Feta cheese: Adds a creamy, tangy, salty flavor to the salad.
Extra-virgin olive oil: For the dressing.
Vinegar: Balances with the olive oil to make the vinaigrette dressing.
Garlic: Also to flavor the dressing.
Lemon juice: Adds a zesty, citrusy touch of flavor.
How to Make Mediterranean Brown Rice Salad
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Cook rice: Follow the package instructions to cook the rice, then drain off any excess water and let it cool to room temperature.
Prepare the vegetables: Finely dice the veggies for the chopped salad.
Make the dressing: Toss all the dressing ingredients together.
Assemble the salad: Toss the cooked rice and prepared vegetables with the dressing and serve at room temperature.
Substitutions and Variations
Brown rice: You might prefer to use cauliflower rice for a low-carb option or consider long grain rice, wild rice, white rice or even some leftover rice from the previous day. Whole grain brown rice offers a nice nutty flavor though, which is why it’s so good in salad recipes.
Salad vegetables: Consider adding any other salad ingredients you have in the crisper drawer, such as red bell peppers or hot red peppers, and green onions in place of the red.
Optional add-ins: Kalamata olives or regular black olives, sun-dried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, fresh basil, fresh parsley, black beans or cannellini beans, artichoke hearts, green bell pepper, or sunflower seeds would all work.
Top with boiled eggs: In Italy, you often see quartered hard boiled eggs added on top of the rice salad.
Serving Suggestions
With bread: Some pita bread or garlic bread on the side is always good with fresh salads.
As a side dish: It would be delicious served with chopped chicken gyros, lemon chicken thighs, reverse seared New York strip steak, ricotta and spinach stuffed shells or shrimp and pan seared pork chops.
As a main dish: Consider topping with a cooked protein (such as shrimp, chicken, steak, or even tofu) to turn this side salad into a main dish.
How to Store Italian-Style Rice Salad
Store: Keep the components for this cold rice salad refrigerated and make the salad within two days. Leftover Mediterranean rice salad will keep in an airtight container for a few days but, if you already added the dressing, the herbs and arugula will get a little soggy.
Freeze: If you made extra rice you can freeze that, but the rest of the salad isn’t suitable for freezing.
Top Tips
Meal prep: This is a nice meal prep option so long as you keep the components (the rice, vegetables, and dressing) separate and then assemble just before serving.
Bite-sized veggies: It’s best to cut everything quite small, so you’ll be able to get several flavors on your fork at once. You don’t want large chunks.
Serving temperature: If you serve this at room temperature, the flavors will be maximized.
Summer Rice Salad FAQs
Yep – no gluten in here!
Don’t leave it out for more than two hours.
Italian Rice Salad Recipe
Italian Rice Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 3 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 red onion, diced
- 6 Ounces feta cheese, cubed
- 1 Cup arugula
- 2 Cups brown rice, cooked
- 1 Tablespoon oregano, freshly chopped
- 1 Tablespoon dill, freshly chopped
- 1 Tablespoon cilantro, freshly chopped
For the Dressing:
- ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 lemon, juiced, 2 to 3 Tablespoons
- 2 Teaspoon oregano, Greek or Italian
- 2 Cloves garlic
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
Instructions
- Cook the brown rice, following the directions on the package, then drain off the excess water and cool.
- Meanwhile, dice the cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion, and chop the feta cheese.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together with a fork or small whisk.
- Toss the rice with the chopped salad vegetables, feta cheese, and dressing.
- Serve the Mediterranean salad at room temperature or chill it for an hour if you’d prefer it cold.
Notes
Bite-sized veggies: It’s best to cut everything quite small, so you’ll be able to get several flavors on your fork at once. You don’t want large chunks.
Serving temperature: If you serve this at room temperature, the flavors will be maximized.
Nutrition
Mediterranean rice salad Italian style makes a great summer side dish and it’s also a great way to get plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants into your diet. Try it at your next summer dinner party or enjoy it for lunch paired with your protein of choice. Italian cold rice salad is going to be your new favorite side dish!
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
So crisp, so invigorating, and bursting with delightful flavors! This salad is a true taste sensation.
I just happened upon your site and I will be visiting this again. I love the recipes I’ve browsed upon and will be looking forward to making quite a few – already beginning with this beautiful Italian Rice Salad!!
P.S. B e a u t i f u l Photos by the way!!!
So light, so refreshing, and so delicious. This salad is just packed with flavor~
My family loves this as a side dish, but I enjoy it on its own.
This is great if you’re cooking for a crowd.
Always make this recipe! So tasty