This Roasted Vegetable Couscous recipe works great as a side or as a main meal. Packed with Mediterranean-inspired flavours and a little kick from the harissa. This couscous salad is filling and tasty.
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This couscous dish is so easy to make and is great for a BBQ, as a side dish, or as a main meal! Just make sure to save some leftovers for a tasty veggie lunch, as it's even better the next day.
I've made this with a little kick of heat due to the harissa, but it's packed with lots of flavour and is really filling. You can easily adapt this recipe, adding any veggies that roast well for a super tasty side dish.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Roasted Vegetable Couscous
- Easy to make!
- Perfect as a main or side dish.
- Great for meal prep, and the leftovers are great.
- Can be eaten warm or cold!
📝 Ingredients You’ll Need
- Couscous - I used regular couscous for this recipe, but you can use wholewheat, pearl couscous or even giant couscous if you like.
- Vegetables - This is a very adaptable recipe, so you can use most vegetables that roast well for this dish. I have used a mixture of butternut squash, red onions, aubergine (eggplant) and courgettes (zucchini).
- Beans - I've added cannellini beans to this for some extra protein. Canned beans are fine to use, or you can use dried beans and cook them first. You can use any white beans for this recipe, but butter beans work really well.
- Harissa - This gives the vegetables a little extra kick. Harissa is a spicy North African and Middle Eastern paste. You will find this in larger supermarkets, usually in jars, in the International food aisle.
- Other Ingredients Needed - I also add garlic, lemon, parsley, pine nuts, olive oil, salt and black pepper.
🍽 How to Make Roasted Vegetable Couscous
Please see the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and step-by-step instructions.
1: Roast the vegetables
Preheat your oven to 185°C (365°F). Toss the chopped butternut squash in olive oil, season with salt and black pepper, then roast for 10 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven.
Add the harissa to a small bowl, then add the olive oil. Stir well. Drizzle the harissa mixture over the veggies.
Toss the veggies in the harissa mixture, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Roast for 20–25 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until tender. Towards the end of cooking, pour in the cannellini beans and toss again.
2: Prepare the couscous
While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the vegetable stock. Add the couscous to a large heatproof bowl.
Pour the hot vegetable stock onto the couscous and stir briefly. Cover with cling film and leave to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, use a fork to fluff up the couscous. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, chopped parsley, lemon juice and lemon zest.
3: Combine and serve
Add the roasted vegetables and beans to the fluffed couscous. Mix gently, garnish with toasted pine nuts and fresh parsley, and serve warm or cold.
🔄 Variations
- Switch up the protein: Add chickpeas, black beans or feta cheese instead of the cannellini beans. Swap the pine nuts or chopped almonds.
- Use different veggies: Try carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli or red bell peppers.
- Add cheese: I love this with some crumbled feta on top. Halloumi would be great too.
👩🍳 Top Tips
- Make sure the vegetables are spread evenly on the baking sheet or roasting tray. This will stop the veggies from getting soggy.
- Let couscous sit covered before fluffing; this gives the couscous time to absorb all the liquid. But don't let it sit for too long, as it can get hard and lumpy.
- You can use other types of couscous, but I prefer fine couscous as it results in a lovely light, fluffy texture.
🙋 Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Store it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. It tastes even better the next day!
Traditional couscous is made from wheat, so it's not gluten-free. Use quinoa or millet for a gluten-free alternative.
Absolutely! It makes a refreshing cold salad for picnics or lunch boxes.
🍽 More Couscous Recipes
Roasted Vegetable Couscous
Ingredients
- ½ a small butternut squash peeled, seeds removed and then cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 2 medium courgettes (zucchini) roughly chopped
- 1 medium aubergine (eggplant) roughly chopped
- 2 medium red onions peeled and then cut into eighths
- 1 tablespoon harissa
- 1 teaspoon sea salt divided in half
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided in half
- 250 g / 1¼ cups of couscous (dry weight)
- 300 ml vegetable stock or broth Made with one vegetable stock cube
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced or put through a garlic press
- 1 large lemon the juice and zest of
- 2 tablespoon pinenuts toasted
- 1 x 400 g / 1 x 15.5oz can of cannellini beans drained and rinsed in cold water
- 10 g (a handful) fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped
Instructions
To Make The Roasted Vegetables
- Preheat your oven to 185°C (365°F). Toss the chopped butternut squash in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and black pepper, then roast for 10 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven. Add the remaining vegetables to the baking tray.Add 1 tablespoon of harissa to a small bowl, and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Stir well. Drizzle the harissa mixture over the veggies. Toss the veggies in the harissa mixture, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.Roast for 20–25 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until tender.Add the cannellini beans towards the end of cooking and toss again.
To Make The Couscous
- While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the vegetable stock.Add the couscous to a large heatproof bowl. Pour the hot vegetable stock onto the couscous and stir briefly. Cover with cling film and leave to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, use a fork to fluff up the couscous. Stir in half a tablespoon of olive oil, the minced garlic, chopped parsley, all the lemon juice and the lemon zest.
Combine and Serve
- Add the roasted vegetables and beans to the fluffed couscous. Mix gently until everything is combined. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and fresh parsley, and serve warm or cold.
Notes
- Vegetables - This is a very adaptable recipe. You can easily swap the veggies I have used for whatever you have in the fridge. I recommend using veggies that roast well.
- Beans - You can easily swap the cannellini beans for chickpeas, butter beans or leave them out altogether.
- Harissa - If you want this dish to be more on the spicy side, then add more harissa. If you prefer no heat at all, then remove it.
- Weights and measurements - For US readers, I use Cuisipro measuring cups and spoons, and a Pyrex measuring jug for liquids. These are the industry standards. Cup/spoon volumes can differ from brand to brand. For accuracy, I recommend weighing all ingredients if possible for the best results.
Susan Scott
We made this tonight (with a few revisions) and found it to be fabulous! I used homemade chile powder in place of the harissa. It was good, but next time I will up the spice a bit. I omitted to eggplant (we don't have any) and increased the garlic, and will up it more next time. This was incredibly tasty, and we will definitely be making it again in the future. I think I will roast up some red bell pepper strips to add in next time 😉
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Michelle Alston
Hi Susan, I'm so happy to. hear that you enjoyed it! I love your idea of adding roasted peppers to this, I'll definitely try this next time I make it x
Annette Chambers s
So delicious
Michelle Alston
Thanks so much x