This Vegan Couscous Salad is a simple and quick lunch that you can meal prep easily to make a week of healthy meals with over 26g of protein per serving!
I love making salads for my weekly meal prep! Salads don’t have to be boring, just try my Vegan Taco Salad or Vegan Soba Noodle Salad! They’re full of flavor and loaded with protein to keep me going for a whole day.
I wanted something different for this week, something with Mediterranean flavors but still with as much natural protein as possible. For protein, nothing beats chickpeas, but couscous is surprisingly rich as well. So I combined both in a simple and delicious recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pearl Couscous – Also called Israeli Couscous. It comes in large pearls, almost as big as green beans but you can also use regular small couscous. For a high-protein gluten-free alternative, you can use quinoa instead.
- Chickpeas – I use canned chickpeas for this recipe.
- Carrots – Sliced in small sticks. You can swap for other crunchy vegetables.
- Olive Oil – Any oil works, but olive oil strikes a good balance of flavor and heat resistance when cooking the veggie.
- Spices – I used a combination of Paprika, Garlic Powder, and Cumin.
- Cucumber – I use English cucumber, but you can also use Lebanese cucumber.
- Green Bell Pepper – Or any bell pepper you have.
- Cherry Tomatoes – I used cherry tomatoes from my garden. You can also use regular tomatoes, but since they’d need to be sliced, it might make the salad last less.
- Baby Spinach – I love the taste and crunchiness of baby spinach, but you can also use arugula (called Rocket in other parts of the world).
- Plain Yogurt – I used coconut yogurt, but any plant-based yogurt works.
- Herbs – I used mint, basil and cilantro, or parsley.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh or bottled.
- Harissa Paste – Harissa is a chili paste from the North-African countries made with peppers and many spices. It’s super tasty and brings some zing to the dressing. If you can’t find any, you can either make your own with a harissa recipe or replace it with Sriracha or Sambal Oelek, they are both chili pastes but with different spices.
- Maple Syrup – For a touch of sweetness. You can alternatively use agave syrup or coconut nectar.
How to Make Vegan Couscous Salad
Making this salad is super easy, there are 3 main steps: the dressing, cooking carrots and chickpeas, and assembling.
Pour all the dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Stir the dressing until it’s well mixed.
Add the seasoning to the sliced carrots and canned chickpeas.
Place the veggies on a baking sheet on a single layer and bake them for 15 minutes.
Pour the dressing at the bottom of your meal-prep jars and add the cooked veggies on top.
Cook the couscous and place it on top of the cooked veggies. Add the fresh vegetables on the top.
Meal Prep Tips
This salad is a perfect meal-prep lunch because you can make a large batch and divide it into as many servings as you want. Here are my tips to make meal-prepping easy:
- If you’re prepping for more than 5 days ahead, keep the dressing, cooked veggies, cooked couscous, and fresh veggies in different containers. Assemble when serving.
- Otherwise, place the ingredients in this order to maximize the shelf life: dressing at the bottom, cooked ingredients above, fresh ingredients on top, and lettuce or spinach over everything. This prevents the dressing from turning everything into a mush and allows the lettuce to be changed if wilted.
- Make jars that match your typical serving size!
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Vegan Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pearl Couscous
Roasted Chickpeas and Carrots
Veggies
- ¾ cup Cucumber - finely diced
- ½ Green Bell Pepper - cored, finely diced
- 12 Cherry Tomatoes - diced
- 1 cup Baby Spinach - chopped
Harissa Yogurt Dressing
- ¾ cup Plant-Based Yogurt
- ¼ cup Herbs - finely chopped, I used mint, basil and cilantro, or parsley
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 2 tablespoons Harissa Paste
- 2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Cook the couscous according to the instructions. Drain and cool it completely before using it in the salad. I like to let it cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate it.
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, add the canned chickpeas, carrot sticks, olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, paprika, and cumin. Toss to coat them evenly.
- Transfer the mix to a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in the center rack of the oven until roasted.
- Let the roasted mixture cool down fully before adding it to the salad.
- Meanwhile, stir all the salad dressing ingredients together until smooth. Set aside in the fridge while you assemble the salad.
- If you are making salad jars, add the ingredients to each jar in equal portions in this order: salad dressing, roasted chickpeas, and carrots, cooled cooked couscous, cucumber, tomatoes, green peppers, and spinach.
- Store in airtight glass mason jars for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- Place a plate on the open jar and flip the lot upside down to serve and toss to combine.
Easy to prep and absolutely delicious!
thank you!!
Super delicious and easy to make.
Thank you!!