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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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.
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
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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
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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
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While the couscous is cooking, dice the cucumber and drain the sweetcorn
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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
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Once the couscous is cooked, add the butter if you are using it and fork through to fluff up the couscous
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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.
Karen Burns-Booth says
What a delightful recipe and packed with lovely flavours and textures too! Karen
Curly says
Thanks Karen 🙂
Curly says
Thank you very much 🙂
Chloe Edges says
Yum this looks so vibrant! I had couscous last night but your version looks much better!
Curly says
It really is a lovely colourful recipe. And you can make it differently every time depending on what you have in your fridge.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
I love cous cous although I have to admit I am quite lazy and I get the ready flavoured packets most of the time!
Curly says
Well they are quick & easy. If you make it yourself you know exactly what is in it which is nice 🙂
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
Love couscous for its ease of prep. It’s such a fantastic flavour carrier too, so many possibilities!
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
Ooooh – yes, I do love an easy peasy couscous salad for lunch – especially now the weather is warming up 😀 Eb x
Antonia says
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.
Curly says
That’s so great to hear! Thank you so much Antonia 🙂
Liz says
Hi,
I love the look of your recipe. Unfortunately I’m allergic to peppers. Is there another roasted vegetable I could use instead?
Curly says
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 🙂