Whip up this light and fresh couscous salad using Israeli or pearl couscous, a simple lemon vinaigrette, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and fresh herbs. This incredibly delicious and easy salad bursts with fresh flavors.
Watch the Video
I’ve been making this easy couscous salad for years, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser! It’s my favorite summer side dish for potlucks and BBQs – my friends absolutely love it.
The best part is how simple and delicious it is. The ingredients are all fresh, and the salad comes together quickly. The couscous cooks in just 10 minutes, giving you plenty of time to prep the rest of the salad ingredients.
The Secret to the Best Couscous Salad
For the best, most flavorful couscous salad, add your vinaigrette to the couscous while it is still warm. Since the couscous is warm, it soaks up all the flavor from the dressing. We use the same trick when making pasta salad and even potato salad.
How to Make Couscous Salad
We use pearl couscous (also called Israeli couscous) for its unique texture. It resembles tiny pearls and cooks like pasta (about 10 minutes in boiling salted water).
Feel free to substitute with regular couscous, farro, quinoa, or even small pasta like orzo.
In addition to the couscous, you’ll also need these simple ingredients:
- Diced tomato
- Crisp cucumber
- Lots of fresh herbs
- Golden raisins
- Crunchy walnuts
We love this light salad — it doubles as a side, can be the main event, or works well topped with grilled chicken or Adam’s favorite, roasted shrimp.
To make our Mediterranean-inspired couscous salad:
- Cook your couscous or use pasta or grains.
- Make your dressing in the bottom of a large mixing bowl.
- Toss drained warm couscous into the bowl with dressing.
- Mix in veggies, herbs, raisins, and nuts.
My Favorite Couscous Salad Dressing
This salad dressing is one of our favorite recipes. We use it for other salads, too (see our Easy Chickpea Salad). To make our light lemon vinaigrette, you will need the following ingredients:
- Dijon mustard
- Honey or maple syrup
- Lemon — the zest and juice
- Olive oil
Whisk everything together until creamy, and then season with salt and pepper. It’s perfect for this couscous salad recipe, but keep an extra batch in the fridge for your next weeknight salad!
How Long Does Couscous Salad Last in the Fridge?
This salad is delicious when eaten immediately, but you can also make it, cover it, and refrigerate it for up to 4 hours. This way, all the flavors marry and mingle, making for an even more delicious salad.
Because of all the fresh ingredients, this salad only lasts a few days in the fridge. If you plan to make it ahead of time, keep the tomatoes and walnuts separate until you’re ready to serve since they don’t hold up as well as the other ingredients.
More Easy Salads
- Arugula Salad with Feta and Couscous
- Lemony White Bean Salad with Prosciutto
- Seriously Good Quinoa Salad
- Authentic Greek Salad
- Chopped Tomato, Onion & Cucumber Salad
Incredibly Delicious Couscous Salad
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We love this easy couscous salad — it doubles as a side, can be the main event, or works well topped with grilled chicken or Adam’s favorite, shrimp!
This is undoubtedly one of our favorite salad recipes, with a lot of texture from crisp cucumber, sweet tomatoes, crunchy nuts, and raisins. You can even make it ahead of time. See the notes section below for our tips.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 ½ cups dried Israeli couscous, also called pearl couscous
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 to 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, depending on taste
1 medium English cucumber, diced
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh herbs; use any combination of fresh parsley, cilantro, basil, dill, or mint
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup raisins, we love golden raisins
Directions
1Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add couscous and cook until tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain.
2While the couscous cooks, in a large bowl, whisk the oil, mustard, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the drained couscous to the dressing and mix well.
3Stir in the cucumber, tomato, herbs, walnuts and raisins. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and/or pepper as needed. Enjoy warm or cover then refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Couscous substitutes: regular couscous, farro, barley, quinoa, small pasta like orzo.
- Toast walnuts: Add them to a dry pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently until the nuts turn golden brown and become fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Make-ahead: Cover it and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. If you are planning to make a day or two ahead of time, keep the tomatoes and walnuts separate until you’re ready to serve.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We assumed 1/4 teaspoon of added salt.
I’ve made this twice now, and it’s my new favorite lunch to take to work. You can change the taste by adding different veggies, too. I love it!
We love how flexible this recipe is. The dressing goes with so many veggies. So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
A perfect recipe for a church potluck very tasty with garlic bread
I made this recipe and it was absolutely fabulous. I used a lot of fresh mint and parsley.
Also, I tripled the dressing recipe. I mixed the hot pasta in with the dressing as prescribed. Soooo scrumptious.! I marinated chicken and fried it and then diced it and ate alongside the salad. Will definitely make this again.!!! Thanks much!!!
Just made this recipe – excellent!
Fresh parsley and dried oregano. Served with feta and olives. Mwah!