📋Israeli Couscous Salad

Isreali couscous salad in white bowl with spoon

5 from 2 votes

📋Israeli Couscous Salad

Israeli couscous salad is packed with vegetables and cooked pearl couscous and chickpeas. With simple lemon dressing and loads of fresh herbs, this salad is great for a light lunch, picnics, and potlucks on any day.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Salads, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: servings

Calories: 291kcal

Author: Jyothi Rajesh

Ingredients

Couscous-

1 cup pearl couscous
¼ cup cooked chickpeas (canned chickpeas works too)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons onion finely chopped
1 ½ tablespoons EVOO
1 ½ cups water or stock use vegetable stock for vegetarian option

For Salad-

8 oz cherry tomatoes halved
2 small cucumbers diced
¼ red onion diced
1 cup baby spinach finely sliced
½ cup chopped parsley or cilantro, chopped
½ cup fresh mint chopped
3 stalks of green onions chopped fine
1 jalapenos chopped fine (reduce it to half if you don’t want too spicy and remove seeds)

For Lemon Salad Dressing-

⅓ cups EVOO use best quality
1 lemon zest
1 lemon juice freshly squeezed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

If using canned chickpeas simply drain chickpeas from the liquid and rinse it once in a colander before using.
In a large pot, heat EVOO. Sauté minced garlic and onions for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Once onions begin to sweat, add in pearl couscous.
Pour water or stock (use vegetable stock for the vegetarian option), stir well.
When water begins to boil, reduce heat to medium-low. Cover the pot with the lid and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
Open the lid, and fluff it with a fork gently. Keep it aside to cool completely.
While couscous cools, make salad dressing. Into a jar, add EVOO, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper. Shake well.
Into a large salad bowl, add cooked couscous. Add in the rest of the salad ingredients – halved cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, red onions, roughly chopped baby spinach, cooked (or canned) chickpeas, chopped fresh herbs (cilantro or parsley and fresh mint), chopped green onions, chopped jalapenos (leave the seeds on if you like it hot).
Pour salad dressing over it. Gently toss the salad.
Rest for a while at room temperature, and serve immediately.

Video

Notes

1. Perfectly cooked couscous- For 1 cup of pearl couscous use 1 ½ cups liquid. Gummy, sticky, or overcooked couscous will ruin the salad.
2. Cook pearl couscous in advance - You'll need to cook pearl couscous at least 1 hour before so it has ample time to cool completely.
3. Fresh is best - use fresh, best-quality ingredients.
4. Best quality EVOO – Salad dressing is a flavor enhancer for any salad. Using the best quality EVOO will make the salad taste its best.
5. Serve it the same day – let the salad rest for a few hours so couscous will soak in all the flavors from the dressing.

Nutritional Info – Please remember that the nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary based on the products used.

Nutrition