Vegan Couscous Salad Recipe

Couscous is used as a base for stews, meat dishes, salads, soups, or vegetable casseroles. It’s a versatile and nutritious ingredient that you can use in a million creative ways.

vegan plant based contains gluten

With colourful array of vegetables, fragrant herbs, and zesty lemon dressing, this vegan couscous salad is sure to brighten up any mealtime. This salad is:

vegan easy to customize meal prep friendly perfect for lunchbox or office meals

Ingredients Required For Salad

Couscous is the key ingredient of this salad recipe. Substitute it with bulgur wheat, broken wheat, or millets. Apart from onion, tomato, cucumber, you can add bell peppers, corn, or avocado. Kalamata Olives, Capers, and pickled vegetables add lot of flavour to the salad. Fresh Herbs like mint, parsley, cilantro or basil add breath of freshness. For making dressing, you need extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, za’tar spice mix, salt, and pepper. You can add brine liquid from the preserved olives or capers to the dressing. It is salty, sour, and has a delicious kick to it.

How To Make Couscous Salad

Prepare the Couscous:

In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth or water to a boil. Pour hot water over the couscous in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a lid and let it sit for about 5 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb the liquid. After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains . Let it cool to room temperature.

Prepare the Dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced or crushed garlic, za’tar, salt, and pepper until well combined. Set aside.

Assemble the Salad:

To the cooled couscous, add the halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced bell pepper, halved Kalamata olives, finely chopped red onion, chopped parsley, and chopped mint leaves. Drizzle the prepared dressing over the couscous salad. Toss the salad gently to coat all the ingredients with the dressing.

Chill and Serve:

Cover the salad bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to come together. Once chilled, give the salad a final toss and adjust seasoning if necessary. Garnish with additional fresh herbs or a drizzle of olive oil if desired.

Whether enjoyed as a side dish or a light main course, this vegan salad is a testament to the fresh flavours and wholesome ingredients that define Mediterranean cuisine.