Curried Couscous Salad with Feta
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This curried couscous salad with feta, tart dried cranberries, crunchy almonds, and a tangy lemon vinaigrette is super easy and quick to make, packed with flavor, and perfect for lunches or as a dinner side.
Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve ever made couscous. Like first EVER. I mean regular couscous, not pearl or Israeli couscous, which I make constantly, now that this mediterranean Israeli couscous salad is my go-to potluck dish.
I guess the reason is mostly because my husband Phil shuns any sort of pasta or grain smaller than a grain of rice. (I mean he’s never actually put it in those terms, but after 13 years, you get to know a guy).
So good news! Couscous is not only delicious and versatile, but it is also pretty much the easiest thing to make! If you can boil water, you can make couscous.
You don’t have to worry about over-cooking it at all, as long as you’re adding the correct ratio of boiling water to couscous. And the ratio is… 1:1. Kinda hard to mess up.
You just add your couscous to the boiling water, remove from heat, cover, and let it sit there for at least 10 minutes, but beyond that, as long as you want! It just absorbs the water and gets perfectly cooked and super fluffy.
Once fluffed, you get about 4 cups of cooked couscous for every cup of dried. Hopefully I’m not the last person on earth to discover the wonder of couscous, but I could not be more excited about it!
The reason I finally decided to make couscous was because I was trying to re-create a salad I’d had at a party a while back. It was just a grocery store salad, the kind that comes in an overpriced little tub.
But I loved the ingredients and the concept and vowed to reproduce it at home. I added a few extra things like salty feta, and am happy to report it far exceeded my expectations!
Whether this curried couscous salad will convert Phil remains to be seen, but I hope it does because I have aaaalllll kinds of plans to serve this with fish, chicken, grilled meats and more in the future!
Enjoy! xx
Sound good to you? If you make this curried couscous salad with feta, I would be thrilled if you would take a pic and tag me on Instagram @ourhappymess!
Or pin for later! ↓↓↓
Curried Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth or water
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup feta crumbled
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds toasted
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
Lemon Dressing
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the curry powder, turmeric, salt, and couscous. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes, or until water is fully absorbed. Remove the lid to allow the couscous to cool. Fluff with a fork.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, lemon juice and olive oil.
- In a large bowl, toss together the cooled and fluffed couscous, feta, cranberries, almonds and parsley. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine.
Would it work to add poached or baked chicken chunks to this to increase protein and make it a main dish? Or make it with quinoa rather than couscous?
I often serve this salad with baked chicken, no reason you can’t mix it in, I think that would be delicious! An yes, quinoa is a great sub for couscous!
This is absolutely delicious!!! I make it all the time.
Thank you so much for your feedback Sarah! 🙂
This was delicious. Concerned with calories though. Is the 300+ for ENTIRE recipe?
The nutrition info is per serving 🙂
Hi, is this 398 calories per serving. Is a serving size 1/2 cup?
One serving is about 1.25 cups. One cup of dried couscous gives you about 4 cups cooked 🙂
I love easy salad ideas that are great for a meal. This sounds perfect with the fresh lemon dressing.
Thanks Stephanie! 🙂
Wow, we love couscous at our house and this looks perfect for so many meals and even for a meatless main dish. Thanks for sharing a great recipe. Nice photos, too!
Yes! I’ve been thinking of all kinds of things to pair it with!
This couscous salad looks so fresh and delicious! Definitely going to give it a go, thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Thank you so much Chris! Would love to know if you do!
Love this couscous salad! The curry flavor paired with the almonds and cranberries sounds divine!
I’m in love with this flavor combo! Thanks Sherri!
This recipe sounds delicious. I love couscous as it is so easy to prepare and taste amazing, especially when turned into a salad like this!
I know, the effort to reward ratio is great! Will definitely be making it often from now on 🙂