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Easy Couscous Salad

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This Easy Couscous Salad is simple to make and really tasty. It makes a perfect lunch or as a side dish for a BBQ or any evening meal.

Making couscous couldn’t be easier!

Couscous could not be easier to cook. No matter what your cooking abilities are, you can definitely make couscous.

All you need to do is add boiling water to it, cover it and leave it for a bit. What could be easier than that?

This also makes it great for warmer weather when you don’t want to be standing over the hob. Pour the water in and leave it to do its thing.

Do not confuse standard couscous with giant couscous. Giant couscous needs boiling like pasta. Try my Giant Couscous, Tomato & Rocket Salad recipe if you want to see the difference.

How much water do you need to make couscous?

When I make it I don’t tend to measure out how much water I add. If you are used to making couscous you probably won’t need to either.

You just need to add boiling water so it covers the couscous by about one centimetre. Don’t panic, I have included the amount you need below if you do want to measure it out.

I think it is better to add too little water than too much. If you don’t add enough and the couscous is still too hard when all of the water has been absorbed, add a bit more and leave to cover again.

This should leave you with lovely fluffy couscous. On the other hand, if you add too much water you may find the couscous can’t absorb any more and it might be a little more wet.

By the time you have added the rest of the ingredients you probably won’t notice so it isn’t the end of the world.

Don’t be tempted to add more couscous in an attempt for it to absorb some of the excess water because this just won’t cook.

Easy Couscous Salad is very easy to adapt

This recipe is very easy to adapt to your preferences. My Mum, sister and I all make it slightly differently. I like to include cucumber, roasted peppers and sweetcorn in mine.

When I make it, I scatter the spring onions on top as I don’t like them but Mr Curly does.  I sometimes add diced plum tomatoes. You can really add any vegetables you fancy.

This Easy Couscous Salad is as the name suggests, easy to make. The hardest thing about this recipe is roasting the peppers. If that is too much for you, just dice them up and chuck them in.

If you fancy a couscous recipe with a bit more cooking, try my Za’atar Chicken & Couscous Salad with Tahini Dressing.

Turn this Easy Couscous Salad into a main meal

This salad is delicious for lunch or as a side dish. It is also easily turned into a more substantial meal that is perfect for dinner.

I like to do this by adding some cooked chicken (leftover roast chicken works really well), chorizo, or grilled halloumi.

Other recipes you might like

  • Za’atar Chicken & Couscous Salad with Tahini Dressing
  • Feta Stuffed Peppers
  • Simple Chicken & Bacon Salad
  • Stilton, Apple & Walnut Salad
  • Greek Style Salad

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5 from 5 votes
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Easy Couscous Salad

This Easy Couscous Salad is simple to make and really tasty. It makes a perfect lunch or as a side dish for a BBQ or any evening meal.

Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword Salad, Couscous
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 469 kcal
Author Curly

Ingredients

  • 350 g couscous
  • 750 g boiled water
  • 1 tbsp chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large peppers
  • 340 g tin sweetcorn drained
  • 5 spring onions sliced
  • 300 g cucumber diced
  • 20 g butter optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan assisted, 200ºC non fan). De-seed and slice the peppers. Put them on a baking tray and roast in the oven for around 30 minutes, turning half way. You want them to get slightly blackened

  2. Put the couscous in a large bowl. Add the chicken stock, olive oil and water to the couscous. The water should just cover the couscous by around 1cm. Stir with a fork and then cover with a dinner plate

  3. While the couscous is cooking, dice the cucumber and drain the sweetcorn

  4. After around 15 minutes the couscous should have plumped and cooked. Test it is ready by tasting it. If it is still a little hard recover for a few more minutes

  5. Once the couscous is cooked, add the butter if you are using it and fork through to fluff up the couscous

  6. Remove the peppers from the oven and slice. Add to the couscous along with the sweetcorn, cucumber and spring onions and fork through to mix

Recipe Notes

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. 

Nutritional information is given as a guide only and my vary.

Nutrition Facts
Easy Couscous Salad
Amount Per Serving
Calories 469 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 11mg4%
Sodium 54mg2%
Potassium 391mg11%
Carbohydrates 73g24%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 12g24%
Vitamin A 482IU10%
Vitamin C 68mg82%
Calcium 40mg4%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

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13 Comments

Previous Post: « Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup
Next Post: Honey Rum Drizzle Cake »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen Burns-Booth says

    March 17, 2020 at 3:31 pm

    What a delightful recipe and packed with lovely flavours and textures too! Karen

    Reply
    • Curly says

      March 17, 2020 at 3:51 pm

      Thanks Karen ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
    • Curly says

      March 18, 2020 at 11:02 pm

      Thank you very much ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Chloe Edges says

    March 17, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    5 stars
    Yum this looks so vibrant! I had couscous last night but your version looks much better!

    Reply
    • Curly says

      March 18, 2020 at 11:01 pm

      It really is a lovely colourful recipe. And you can make it differently every time depending on what you have in your fridge.

      Reply
  3. Kat (The Baking Explorer) says

    March 20, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    5 stars
    I love cous cous although I have to admit I am quite lazy and I get the ready flavoured packets most of the time!

    Reply
    • Curly says

      March 22, 2020 at 9:08 pm

      Well they are quick & easy. If you make it yourself you know exactly what is in it which is nice ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  4. Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says

    March 23, 2020 at 12:35 pm

    5 stars
    Love couscous for its ease of prep. It’s such a fantastic flavour carrier too, so many possibilities!

    Reply
  5. Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says

    March 24, 2020 at 1:52 pm

    5 stars
    Ooooh – yes, I do love an easy peasy couscous salad for lunch – especially now the weather is warming up ๐Ÿ˜€ Eb x

    Reply
  6. Antonia says

    May 27, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    5 stars
    Love this recipe!

    I made this at the weekend. Super easy and quick to make, and was very tasty. Perfect to have on a hot day as part of an evening meal, or for lunch (in our case it was part of our main meal, and then leftovers for lunch the next day).

    Enjoyed by the whole family. Will 100% be making this again.

    Reply
    • Curly says

      June 1, 2020 at 10:03 pm

      That’s so great to hear! Thank you so much Antonia ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  7. Liz says

    July 20, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Hi,
    I love the look of your recipe. Unfortunately I’m allergic to peppers. Is there another roasted vegetable I could use instead?

    Reply
    • Curly says

      July 20, 2021 at 9:33 pm

      Hi Liz, you can use any vegetable you like really! Roasted courgettes, onions, mushrooms would all work well. This recipe is super easy to adapt to add things you like ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
5 from 5 votes

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Hi, I'm Cat aka Curly. I'm a home cook that likes nothing better than a day in the kitchen baking and cooking. Whether its sweet or savoury, in my mind food is always the answer. Meet Curly

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