This easy plant based Pearl Couscous Salad is made with sweet cranberries, zucchini, tomato, parsley and pine nuts. It’s tossed with a lemony turmeric dressing and makes for one easy side to dinner or light lunch.
What Is Pearl Couscous? How Do You Cook?
Pearl couscous or Israeli couscous is a type of pasta made of semolina flour and is much larger than the regular (smaller) granular couscous variety. It’s pretty versatile and can be used in place of rice or smaller pastas in soups or salad.
It takes minutes to cook, which makes it a great candidate for Sunday meal prep. Unlike the granular version of couscous, you cook pearl couscous like you would pasta – in a pot of boiling/salted water for about 10 minutes.
Pearl Couscous Salad
I got the inspiration for this pearl couscous salad from my local grocery store. They sell a similar salad in their deli department that hubby loves. Of course, you know I had to try my hand at a homemade version!
The ingredients for this couscous salad recipe are pretty simple and all pretty healthy. Aside from cooking the couscous, it’s just mix and toss.
This one has lots of textures too, from the crunchy zucchini and pine nuts to the sweet dried cranberries. You can pretty much say that this couscous salad has it goin’ on, if there ever was such a thing 😉
Can Couscous Be Eaten Cold?
Totally! Matter of fact, this is a cold couscous salad recipe!
Can I Make This Salad Ahead of Time?
Yep! You can make a day ahead, store in the fridge to devour the next day. Enjoy leftovers within 3 days.
Tips and Variations
The cranberries work beautifully in this salad and adds a nice pop of sweetness to the other savoury ingredients. However, golden raisins work great too!
I prefer to peel the zucchini in this recipe, but if you don’t want to, don’t.
Pine nuts are delicious, but they are also expensive. Feel free to sub in another nut, like sliced almonds.
Instead of parsley, try cilantro (or a combo of the two). A little fresh mint is great too!
Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette
For this simple vinaigrette, I used turmeric, which is supposed to be great for ya with anti-inflammatory properties. Do not, though, get that turmeric on anything you don’t want ruined. That stuff stains…even your hands. Speaking from experience here!
The dressing ingredients for this salad are –
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Maple syrup
- Salt
- Pepper
- Turmeric
Simply place them in a mason jar and get shakin’! Pour over the salad and stir to combine.
What To Serve With This Salad?
Of course, you could totally enjoy this on its own, but if you want to make things more substantial, serve with any of the following –
- Soup
- Add in some grilled halloumi cheese
- Toss in some tofu
- Serve with your favourite protein
- I love to have some olives on the side
Other Easy Side Dishes you May Enjoy
Hope you love this pearl couscous salad!
Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon 🙂
~Dawn
P.S. If you think this couscous salad recipe will make your belly happy too, please be sure to hit that Pin button. Many thanks, you guys! XO
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Pearl Couscous Salad (with Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette)
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearl couscous -cooked per package instructions
- 1 cup zucchini -peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup tomato -chopped (I removed interior membrane of tomatoes)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 3-4 stalks green onion -chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley -roughly chopped
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
Instructions
- Cook couscous per package instructions. For mine, I placed 1.5 cups of cold water, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 cup of couscous in a medium pot. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and cook about 10 minutes. Turn off heat, leave covered for a couple minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain.
- Mix cooked couscous with zucchini, cranberry, tomato, pine nuts, green onion, and parsley.
- In a small mason jar combine olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, black pepper and turmeric. Cover and shake to combine. Pour over couscous mixture. Stir to combine. Enjoy!
Notes
- The cranberries work beautifully in this salad and adds a nice pop of sweetness to the other savoury ingredients. However, golden raisins work great too!
- I prefer to peel the zucchini in this recipe, but if you don’t want to, don’t.
- Pine nuts are delicious, but they are also expensive. Feel free to sub in another nut, like sliced almonds.
- Instead of parsley, try cilantro (or a combo of the two). A little fresh mint is great too!
Nutrition (estimate only)
I always forget how much I love couscous until I see an awesome recipe for it. This looks so tasty, though I think I’ll swap out the craisins so that the kids will eat it!
I love pearl cous cous – we usually enjoy it with salmon – but next time I have to try this recipe out. You have brought together so many flavors and layered in so many textures! Not only is this colorful but each forkful would be such a treat for my tastebuds!
Thanks so much for the inspiration, Dawn! Hoping your week has been wonderful – and happy almost weekend! xoxo
Thank you for the kind words, Shashi 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend ahead too! XOXO
This is a beautiful salad! And thank you for making an inspired dressing! I will actually unfollow a blogger if I see a bottle of Kraft Italian dressing in a photo. Please don’t tell anyone.
Lol! They’re just to easy to make and so much tastier, aren’t they?? Thanks Mimi 🙂
I really like the nice texture going on in your salad. Adding your vinaigrette to it must really give it a wonderful flavor.
Thank you Karen 🙂
I’m a huge fan of pearl couscous Dawn. And what a delicious list of ingredients you’ve got going on here in this salad. So refreshing. Perfect for lunch, dinner or snacking! Pinned!
Thank you Mary Ann! Hope you love it 🙂
I don’t cook couscous nearly often enough, so I’ll be changing that with this fabulous salad. So pretty and so many great flavours and textures going on. Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Yay! Thank you Jennifer! Enjoy 🙂
This is my kind of salad. I would love to eat a bowl of this for lunch all by itself. All those yummy flavors and all that healthy goodness – just what I need!
Happy to hear that! Thank you Kathy! It definitely is a yummy one for lunch 🙂
I love pearl couscous, but I haven’t used it for quite a while. I am also a huge fan of salads and interesting conversations in it. Certainly, the combo of couscous, zucchini, pine nuts, and cranberries sounds very delightful! Interesting dressing, too.
Thank you Ben! It’s a yummy one for sure 🙂
I love pearl couscous and I am loving the sound of these flavours! Delicious 🙂
Thank you Alexandra 🙂
I’m always up for pearl couscous salad and this one looks amazing, Dawn! That lemon turmeric dressing is really calling my name!
Thank you so much, Marissa 🙂
This salad sounds like a party in your mouth! What a great array of flavors and textures! It would be great as a lunch prep to take to the office, along with a protein! So tasty!
Lol! Sure is! Thank you Laura! It’s great with tuna too 🙂
YUM! I’ve always loved pearled couscous – it’s my favorite grain! LOL. This salad looks perfect for summer! Light yet filling and that lemon vinaigrette sounds amazing! Great recipe as always, Dawn! Happy Monday! 🙂
Thank you so much, Haylie! Have a great weekend ahead 🙂
Oh my! What I wouldn’t do for a big bowl of this for lunch! I love the punches of color and the combination of flavors! Simply amazing! Have a great week, my friend! XOXO
As a little girl I was frequently given cold pearl couscous with honey and feta cheese crumbles for breakfast. Have loved eating it cold ever since, this salad is on my list! Love the turmeric vinaigrette. Pinned.
That sounds lovely!! Thanks Milena! Hope you enjoy this one too 🙂
I love recipes like this one, Dawn! They’re simple and straightforward, but still packed with so much flavor. In fact, this would make for an excellent side dish for summer grilling. I haven’t made anything with pearl couscous in quite a while now…and I think it’s time to correct that – starting with this salad! It looks quite tasty, my friend!
Totally! Thank you David! Have a great week ahead 🙂
I love this for a fun summer side salad. It’s easy to pull together, and all the flavours and textures sound great together. And you know I’m all about homemade salad dressings, and I can see adding this lemony turmeric vinaigrette on so many different salads. Happy Monday Dawn!
Thank you Leanne! It’s a yummy one for sure 🙂 Happy Monday to you too!
I love pearl couscous! The texture of it is so unique. I haven’t made it in way too long!! Now i have a reason 😉 This salad looks awesome my friend! Perfect as a side dish this summer. Hope you had a great weekend my friend! XO
Thank you Katherine! Have a lovely week 🙂 XOXO
This sounds AMAZING! I absolutely love couscous, especially pearl couscous. And I love the addition of cranberries here. Have a great week, Dawn!
Thank you Kelsie! Me too! Have a lovely week as well 🙂
Dawn, this is a beautiful dish! I love the textures, flavors AND those colors! It’s festive. I haven’t used Israeli couscous in years — with two GF eaters in the house I never buy it, Your recipe is reminding me of how much I love it. I’ll have to make it for my dad, at his house. Hope you have a delightful week ahead. 🙂
Thank you very much, Valentina!! Hope your dad loves it! Have a wonderful week ahead too 🙂