An easy, flavorful summer salad with a Mediterranean flair featuring Israeli couscous and chopped summer vegetables.
This Israeli couscous salad with summer vegetables is an easy, flavorful dish with a mediterranean flair.
It has sweet cherry tomatoes, cool cucumbers, crunchy red peppers, salty feta and olives. It’s tossed with a zesty red wine vinaigrette.
The salad comes together quickly – you prep the veggies as the Israeli couscous is cooking – and your dish is ready in about 20 minutes.
Israeli couscous – also called pearl couscous – is larger and chewier than regular couscous. In fact, Israeli couscous is really pasta.
It is a small, pearl shaped pasta that is toasted before cooking. Toasting the couscous gives it a lovely nutty flavor. I used Israeli couscous that I bought at Trader Joe’s.
Tips for making this recipe:
- I used to skip the step of toasting the couscous and that was a mistake. By toasting the Israeli couscous, you give it a light nutty flavor that really enhances the recipe.
- After toasting the couscous, you are going to be adding water to the pan – it will boil/bubble right away since the pan is hot. Be careful because it may splash up and splashing hot water is not good.
- Once you add the water to the pan, turn down the heat to low right away. If you cook the couscous on medium or high heat, the couscous will end up being struck to the bottom of the pan.
- This Israeli couscous salad with summer vegetables refrigerates really well. Make a little extra so you can bring it to work for lunch the next day.
- I like to soak the red onion in a little water before mincing. This reduces the raw onion taste. So slice off a piece of onion and add it to a small bowl of water before you start dicing your other vegetables.
Looking for more family favorite recipes that are easy to make? Then try one of these:
- Tomato, Cucumber, Avocado Salad – The number one reader favorite recipe on my site.
- Orzo Salad with Asparagus and Spinach – Easy to make, packed with flavor and only uses one pot.
- Ravioli with Asparagus and Walnuts – Readers love this recipe – quick, easy and tastes delicious.
If you make this recipe and enjoy it, come back and let me know by leaving a comment below!
PrintIsraeli Couscous Salad with Summer Vegetables
An easy, zesty summer salad with a Mediterranean flair featuring Israeli couscous and chopped summer vegetables.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Ingredients
- 1 cup of Israeli couscous
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 veggie bouillon cube – roughly chopped up
- 1/4 red bell pepper – finely diced
- 1/2 cucumber – peeled and seeded – finely diced
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
- 2 tbs red onion – minced
- 1 handful of parsley – minced
- 10 olives – roughly chopped
- 2 oz of feta – diced
- 3 tbs olive oil plus 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp honey – a small squeeze
- 8 twists of black pepper from a pepper mill
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and add one tsp of olive oil. Once the oil is warm – about 30 seconds – add Israeli couscous and stir for a minute or two until Israeli couscous is slightly toasted.
- When couscous is toasted – add 1 cup of water and chopped up bouillon cube. Be careful, the pan is hot and the water will probably instantly come to a boil, pour carefully so it doesn’t splash up.
- Turn heat down to low and simmer couscous for the amount of time on package instructions.
- While couscous is cooking, dice red pepper and cucumber – you want the dice to be roughly the same size for both. Add to a large bowl.
- Next, slice cherry tomatoes in half and add to the other vegetables in the bowl.
- Mince parsley and red onion. Add to the vegetables in the bowl.
- Roughly chop olives and add to the bowl.
- Dice feta cheese and set a side.
- Whisk olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, black pepper and salt together.
- When Israeli couscous is ready, add to a fine mesh sieve and rinse so that the couscous cools. Shake the fine mesh sieve thoroughly so that the couscous is fairly dry.
- Add Israeli couscous to the bowl of vegetables. Add the dressing and toss to combine.
- Add feta cheese to couscous and vegetables and toss gently to combine.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 (of 4)
- Calories: 350
- Sodium: 480mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 9g
- Cholesterol: 5mg
Thanks for stopping by – hope you enjoy the recipe. You can find me on instagram and pinterest too!
Lydia
Loved this! Didn’t have a boullion cube so I cooked the cous cous in half chicken broth half water. Worked great. So happy with this recipe and going to go look for more here now 🙂
★★★★★
Geraldine
Thank you, Lydia, for letting me know! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for leaving a comment and rating – I appreciate it!
Rebecca
Salad was delicious! Loved how all the vegetables came together! This will definitely become one of my standard salads that I will always make! Thank you!
★★★★★
Geraldine
So glad you enjoyed it, Rebecca! Glad you are adding this to your standard salad list! Thanks for taking the time to let me know and leaving a 5 star rating!
Brianne
I love Israeli couscous and was looking for a nice summery recipe when I found this one. The dressing and ingredients are similar to another pasta salad that I make in the summer so I knew we’d love this. The texture of the Israeli couscous is so perfect with these ingredients and the dressing. I ended up cooking another cup of the couscous to add to it and will be doubling the amount next time. It’s almost addictive, my husband and I ate the whole batch for dinner.
★★★★★
Geraldine
Thanks for letting me know, Brianne! So glad you enjoyed it and a double batch is a great idea. Thanks for leaving a comment and rating – I appreciate hearing your thoughts on the recipe!
Erin
I love this recipe! I like to add extra veggies depending on what I have on hand (carrots, asparagus, etc).
★★★★★
Geraldine
So glad you enjoyed it, Erin! Thanks for leaving a comment and rating – I appreciate hearing from you!
Lisa
Delicious! Great summer salad without all the mayo! I added little extra red wine vinegar because I like the flavor.
★★★★★
Geraldine
Hi Lisa – glad you enjoyed the salad! Thanks for leaving a comment and rating!
Martha Dodson
My spouse and I loved it so much I’m making another batch 2 days later. Thanks for easy delicious and nutritious recipe. Martha in GA
Geraldine
Glad you enjoyed it!
Mary E. Nemec
This is absolutely delicious! Toasting the couscous really made a difference – never did that before! So glad I made extra! Thank you!
★★★★★
Geraldine
Hi Mary – Thanks so much for letting me know! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for leaving a star rating!
Ashley
This is my favorite salad recipe, so simple to make but so delicious!!! Once I make it I snack off it for days. I’ve been making this for years and finally had to comment. 😊
★★★★★
Geraldine
So glad you enjoy this salad so much, Ashely! Thanks so much for letting me know – I appreciate hearing from you and thanks for leaving a rating as well.
Mary Raven
I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner tonight. I also had so many baby tomatoes in all colours from my tomato plants. I was thrilled to use up some in this super quick & easy & delicious salad. I did not change a thing except I had the knorr homestyle stock which is liquid. It turned out great. Even my very fussy mother who hates tomatoes liked it. I paired it with lamb chops & the family enjoyed it. Thanks Geraldine.
★★★★★
Geraldine
Hi Mary – thanks so much for letting me know how much you and your family enjoyed this recipe. Love that you were able to use up some of those baby tomatoes! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and rating – I appreciate hearing from you!