Lemony Arugula Salad with Couscous, Cucumbers and Feta

This lemony arugula and couscous salad is crave-worthy. Once you make it, you’ll be itching to make it again. Jump to the Lemony Arugula Salad Recipe with Couscous, Cucumbers and Feta or read on to see our tips for making it.

It’s funny how certain recipes sneak their way into your weekly rotation. This arugula and couscous salad has done just that. We make it for dinner, eat the leftovers for lunch and have served it to friends more times than I can count. [Here’s another couscous salad: Lemon and Herb Couscous Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumbers]

How to Make Crave-Worthy Arugula and Couscous Salad

The moment you make this salad, you’ll be itching to make it again. The salad is simple, fast and tastes like it came from a fancy restaurant. Here’s the rundown for how to make it!

The base is couscous — we particularly love pearl (often labeled Israeli couscous). It cooks quickly and gives the salad enough substance to stand on the plate by itself. You could swap the couscous for pasta, quinoa, barley or other grains.

To the couscous, we add crisp cucumbers, arugula (or other tender greens) and feta cheese. The dressing is simple — just lemon, olive oil and a little honey. Bonus, since the dressing is so simple, it’s easy to play with. If we have it on hand, we love throwing a tablespoon of minced preserved lemon to the party. You can buy it or make your own — we shared this preserved lemon recipe a while back if you want to take a look.

The real trick to this salad is how you assemble it.

It’s simple: toss most of the dressing with the warm couscous and let it cool slightly before adding any other ingredients. We take the same approach when making potato salad (we toss warm potatoes with the dressing first). By doing this, the warm ingredient has a chance to absorb all the flavor in the dressing. A game changer.

If you swap the couscous for pasta or grains the same idea applies. Toss the still-warm pasta/grain with the dressing first, let it absorb and cool slightly. Then move on to adding the rest of the ingredients.

This arugula salad would go really well next to this Seriously Good Turkey Burger, our Easy Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Breasts and our Perfectly Baked Salmon (inspired by my Mom).

For more arugula recipes, take a look at our Fried Goat Cheese, Strawberry and Arugula Salad, our Lemony White Bean and Arugula Salad, this lovely Shaved Fennel and Arugula Salad Recipe and these Baked Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Garlic and Arugula.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, review it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #inspiredtaste on Instagram. Happy cooking!