Couscous Salad Recipe
This couscous salad recipe is a fresh & flavorful side dish. Couscous and veggies are tossed in a delicious homemade dressing.
Servings: 8 Servings
Cost: $5
Ingredients
- 1 cup couscous*
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter (optional)
Salad
- 1 cup cucumber (peeled and diced, about ½ a cucumber)
- 2 green onions (finely sliced)
- 1 pint baby tomatoes (halved, or 2 tomatoes, finely diced)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil (chopped)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley (chopped)
- 1 avocado (diced)
Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Cook Couscous:
- Bring 1 ¼ cups water + ¼ tsp sea salt to a boil. Add couscous – for quick cooking stir, turn off heat add butter (if desired). Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. For pearl couscous: reduce heat and simmer (covered) for 10-14 minutes or until tender, add butter (if desired) let sit covered for 10 minutes before stirring)
- When couscous is finished cooking, transfer to a large bowl to cool, stirring often.
Make the Dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients
Assemble the Couscous Salad
- Once the couscous has cooled, add cucumber, onion, tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh parsley and the dressing and stir to combine. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Chill & Serve
- Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or until completely chilled.
- If desired, add avocado immediately before serving.
- Serve cold.
Video
Notes
*Note: I cup pearl couscous dried is 153 grams, Quick cooking golden couscous 165 grams.
Ingredient Substitution Notes
- Couscous. I have made this recipe with both quick-cooking couscous (1 cup = 165 grams) and pearl couscous (1 cup = 153 grams) with great results.
- Butter. olive oil is a great substitute for butter.
- Cucumber. We prefer to use peeled cucumbers.
- Green Onion. red or yellow onions are a good substitute.
- Baby Tomatoes. You can substitute any tomato variety including heirloom, Roma, etc.
- Olive oil. Avocado oil is a great substitute if you don't have olive oil.
- Dijon Mustard. Any mustard variety can be used in place of Dijon.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 185mg | Potassium: 345mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 728IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg