This super healthy vegan couscous salad only takes 30 minutes or less to make. An ideal recipe for quick lunch, snack or dinner with friends.
Note: This is a special guest post recipe that has been developed and written by Robin Walrecht. Thank you Robin for your wonderful recipe!
Why Choose This Recipe
- Easy to make
- Packed with nutrients
- Delicious as lunch, snack or dinner
- Made within 30 minutes
- Easy to customise
The Ingredients
This couscous salad is super easy, and it’s all about the greens! You will need the following ingredients.
A few notes about the ingredients:
Peas: preferably frozen, but can be substituted for canned.
Almonds: these will be quickly roasted in the oven. To make your job even easier, you could purchase pre-roasted almonds.
Parsley: feel free to use either curly or flat leaf parsley.
Chilli flakes: if you enjoy spicy food, you can substitute chilli flakes for half a red chilli (keep the seeds if you’re feeling extra spicy!).
Olive oil: extra virgin olive oil is preferable (but not necessary).
Step-by-Step Photos
Below is a super short step-by-step guide which will help you get an idea of what you need to be doing at every step.
Remember that this is just a quick guide - full recipe with measurements and instructions can be found at the bottom of this page.
- Pre-heat your oven to 200°C/392°F. In the meantime, slice the red pepper.
- Transfer your pepper slices to a lined baking tray. Drizzle with oil, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Prepare your couscous.
- Blend your herb paste until smooth.
- When the oven is ready, roast your red peppers for 15 minutes. Add almonds 7 minutes into roasting time.
- Boil your peas and let cool.
- Chop up your spinach.
- Combine all the ingredients, adding the herb paste to couscous before mixing in the remaining ingredients.
- Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
Add extra flavour
Want to add some extra flavour to your couscous? Prepare it by using vegetable stock instead of boiling water.
Make it milder
To make the garlic flavour milder, blend the garlic and lemon juice first before adding other ingredients.
This will ensure a lovely garlic flavour throughout, but won't be too overpowering.
FAQ + Troubleshooting
If your herb paste feels dry, add a little bit of oil or water until you reach your desired consistency.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Store the roasted almonds separately to ensure they remain crunchy.
Yes, absolutely. Simply substitute couscous for your favourite gluten-free alternative such as quinoa or brown rice.
Some supermarkets also offer gluten-free couscous (such as Asda in the UK), but this might be less easily accessible depending on your location.
Read more about gluten-free couscous alternatives here.
Do you like the sound of this couscous salad? Then you'll also enjoy this vegan taco salad, vegan tabbouleh salad, roasted red pepper orzo or vegan pesto pasta salad.
If you've enjoyed this dish, let us know in the comments section or consider leaving a review below. We love hearing your feedback!
🍴Recipe
Mean Green Vegan Couscous Salad
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD
- 1 red bell pepper
- 140 g (¾ cup) couscous
- 120 g (1 cup) peas preferably frozen
- 30 g (¼ cup) almonds
- 60 g (1,5 cup) fresh spinach I used baby leaf spinach
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A drizzle of olive oil
FOR THE HERB PASTE
- 30 g (1.06 oz) mint leaves only
- 40 g (1.41 oz) parsley leaves only
- 1 small lemon or ½ large lemon, juice only
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by heating the oven to 200°C/392°F.
- First, remove the core and seeds from your red pepper. Slice lengthwise into thin slices.
- Transfer your pepper slices to a lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside as you wait for the oven to heat up.
- Prepare the couscous according to the package directions* and season with salt. Set aside to let cool. Tip: prepare your couscous in a large bowl which you can use later on to mix in all the other ingredients.
- Whilst your couscous cools down, start preparing your herb paste. Add all the herb paste ingredients (except water) to a food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth, then add water until your reach the desired consistency (you will need to add approx. 2-3 tablespoons).
- When the oven is ready, roast your bell peppers for 15 minutes. Important: After 7 minutes, add almonds and roast for the remaining 8 minutes (skip this step if you are using pre-roasted almonds). When ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
- If you're using canned peas, skip this step. If you're using frozen peas, prepare them according to package directions until they're ready. Set aside to let cool.
- Chop up your spinach and almonds.
- Assemble your salad. Start by adding your herb paste to the couscous and give it a good stir. Add in the peas and spinach. Lastly, add your roasted bell peppers. If desired, reserve some pepper slices for garnish.
- Add a generous portion to your plate and sprinkle with almonds. If desired, add an extra drizzle of oil or lemon juice, or sprinkle with salt or chilli flakes.
Notes
- * Most couscous packaging will include simple instructions on the back.
- In case your couscous does not include instructions, follow this couscous preparation recipe - place couscous in a heat proof bowl, add boiling hot water, cover and let stand for 5 minutes. For best results, I recommend using the following ratio: 1 part couscous and 1 ½ parts of boiling water. Add salt and stir before serving.
- Want to add some extra flavour to your couscous? Prepare it by using vegetable stock instead of boiling water.
- If your herb paste feels dry, add a drizzle of oil or water until you reach the desired consistency.
- To make the garlic flavour milder, blend the garlic and lemon juice first before adding other ingredients. This will ensure a lovely garlic flavour throughout without being too overpowering.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The nutritional information above is calculated automatically. The author of this post cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of this data.
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