This Mediterranean Couscous Salad is – fresh, vibrant, and vegan. Bursting with colours, textures, and flavours, here is a wholesome salad recipe.
- What is Couscous?
- Ingredients Required For Salad
- How To Make Couscous Salad
- My Tried and True Tips
- More Salad Recipes
- Vegan Couscous Salad Recipe
What is Couscous?
Couscous is a type of pasta made from crushed durum wheat semolina. It’s popular in many cuisines, particularly in North African countries like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. It is not a grain or millet.
- vegan
- plant based
- contains gluten
Couscous is used as a base for stews, meat dishes, salads, soups, or vegetable casseroles. It’s a versatile and nutritious ingredient that you can use in a million creative ways.
With colourful array of vegetables, fragrant herbs, and zesty lemon dressing, this vegan couscous salad is sure to brighten up any mealtime.
This salad is:
- vegan
- easy to customize
- meal prep friendly
- perfect for lunchbox or office meals
Ingredients Required For Salad
- Couscous is the key ingredient of this salad recipe. Substitute it with bulgur wheat, broken wheat, or millets.
- Apart from onion, tomato, cucumber, you can add bell peppers, corn, or avocado.
- Kalamata Olives, Capers, and pickled vegetables add lot of flavour to the salad.
- Fresh Herbs like mint, parsley, cilantro or basil add breath of freshness.
- For making dressing , you need extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, za’tar spice mix, salt, and pepper. You can add brine liquid from the preserved olives or capers to the dressing. It is salty, sour, and has a delicious kick to it.
How To Make Couscous Salad
Prepare the Couscous:
- In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth or water to a boil.
- Pour hot water over the couscous in a bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a lid and let it sit for about 5 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb the liquid.
- After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains . Let it cool to room temperature.
Prepare the Dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced or crushed garlic, za’tar, salt, and pepper until well combined. Set aside.
- To the cooled couscous, add the halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced bell pepper, halved Kalamata olives, finely chopped red onion, chopped parsley, and chopped mint leaves.
- Drizzle the prepared dressing over the couscous salad.
- Toss the salad gently to coat all the ingredients with the dressing.
Chill and Serve:
- Cover the salad bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to come together.
- Once chilled, give the salad a final toss and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Garnish with additional fresh herbs or a drizzle of olive oil if desired.
Whether enjoyed as a side dish or a light main course, this vegan salad is a testament to the fresh flavours and wholesome ingredients that define Mediterranean cuisine.
My Tried and True Tips
- Customize To Your Taste: You can add ingredients like diced avocado, roasted red peppers, corn, capers or artichoke hearts, chopped nut for additional flavour and texture.
- Fresh Herbs: The combination of fresh parsley and mint adds brightness and freshness to the salad. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, you can use dried herbs, but reduce the quantity by half.
- Make it Ahead: This salad can be prepared a few hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator. It is a perfect meal prep friendly recipe. Just be sure to give it a good toss before serving to redistribute the dressing.
- Serve with Protein: For a complete meal, serve this Mediterranean Couscous Salad alongside grilled chicken, shrimp, paneer tikka , or falafel .
- If desired, sprinkle crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese over the salad for an extra burst of flavour and creaminess.
More Salad Recipes
- Lentil Salad
- Fattoush Salad
- Chickpea Salad
- Herb Potato Salad
- Greek Orzo Pasta Salad
- Summer Tomato Salad
Get all my Salad Recipes here and you can watch the videos on Instagram .
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 cup couscous
- ▢ 1 Cup water
- ▢ 1 small size red onion, finely chopped
- ▢ 1 large size tomato, finely chopped
- ▢ 1 english cucumber, finely chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup chopped mint leaves
- ▢ ¼ Cup fine chopped parsley
- ▢ ¼ Cup chopped olives
Ingredients for Salad Dressing
- ▢ ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- ▢ 1 large size lemon, juiced
- ▢ 2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
- ▢ 1 teaspoon za’tar spice mix
- ▢ ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ▢ ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Transfer uncooked couscous in a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth or water to a boil. Pour hot water over the couscous in a bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a lid and let it sit for about 5 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb the liquid.
- After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains . Let it cool to room temperature. Couscous is ready to use.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced or crushed garlic, za’tar, salt, and pepper until well combined. Taste, if required add more seasoning. Set aside.
- To the cooled couscous, add the halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced bell pepper, halved Kalamata olives, finely chopped red onion, chopped parsley, and chopped mint leaves.
- Drizzle the prepared dressing over the couscous salad. Toss the salad gently to coat all the ingredients with the dressing.
- Cover the salad bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to come together.
- Once chilled, give the salad a final toss and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Vegan Couscous Salad is ready to serve.
Recipe Notes:
- To prepare couscous, you typically add hot water or broth to the couscous, cover them, and let them steam for a few minutes until they’re tender. This method helps rehydrate and cook the grains quickly. Once cooked, couscous becomes light, fluffy, and slightly chewy in texture.
- You can add brine liquid from the preserved olives or capers to the dressing. It is salty, sour, and has a delicious kick to it.
- This salad tastes best after a few hours when couscous absorbs all the flavour of the dressing. Hence, it is best to make it a few hours before serving.
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
Vegan Couscous Salad Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Salad Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 Cup water
- 1 small size red onion, finely chopped
- 1 large size tomato, finely chopped
- 1 english cucumber, finely chopped
- ¼ Cup chopped mint leaves
- ¼ Cup fine chopped parsley
- ¼ Cup chopped olives
Ingredients for Salad Dressing
- ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large size lemon, juiced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
- 1 teaspoon za’tar spice mix
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Transfer uncooked couscous in a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth or water to a boil. Pour hot water over the couscous in a bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a lid and let it sit for about 5 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb the liquid.
- After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains . Let it cool to room temperature. Couscous is ready to use.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced or crushed garlic, za’tar, salt, and pepper until well combined. Taste, if required add more seasoning. Set aside.
- To the cooled couscous, add the halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced bell pepper, halved Kalamata olives, finely chopped red onion, chopped parsley, and chopped mint leaves.
- Drizzle the prepared dressing over the couscous salad. Toss the salad gently to coat all the ingredients with the dressing.
- Cover the salad bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to come together.
- Once chilled, give the salad a final toss and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Vegan Couscous Salad is ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- To prepare couscous, you typically add hot water or broth to the couscous, cover them, and let them steam for a few minutes until they’re tender. This method helps rehydrate and cook the grains quickly. Once cooked, couscous becomes light, fluffy, and slightly chewy in texture.
- You can add brine liquid from the preserved olives or capers to the dressing. It is salty, sour, and has a delicious kick to it.
- This salad tastes best after a few hours when couscous absorbs all the flavour of the dressing. Hence, it is best to make it a few hours before serving.
Nutrition
Soya Chaap Butter Masala is a vegetarian butter chicken – a truly restaurant style soya chaap makhani recipe.
- The Signature Butter Masala Gravy
- What is Soya Chaap?
- Ingredients Required For Gravy
- How To Make Soya Chaap Makhani
- Serving Suggestion
- More Indian Curry Recipes
- Soya Chaap Butter Masala Recipe
The Signature Butter Masala Gravy
The process of making soya chaap butter masala might look long but is the simplest one. It is a three steps process. First step, is to marinate and grill the soya chaap tikka. The second step is to make the butter masala gravy. The third step is to combine both and do the finishing touch.
For this butter masala recipe, you can use my pre-made, signature makhani masala or the no onion, no garlic Jain style butter masala gravy .
My cookbook has a vegan soya chaap tikka masala recipe that you can easily cook in an instant pot .
What is Soya Chaap?
Soya Chaap is mock meat or vegan meat made with soya beans. The soya meat is wrapped around wooden sticks to give a vegetarian leg-piece-like appearance. Hence, the name soya chaap.
Soya Chaap is readily available in the dairy section of supermarkets, grocery stores, and frozen or canned food sections.
It has a perfect meaty texture to compliment the rich and creamy Indian vegetarian curries such as Punjabi Soya Chaap Masala .
Ingredients Required For Gravy
- Soya Chaap: I use fresh or canned soya sticks for this curry recipe.
- Curry Base: Onion, Tomato, Garlic, Ginger
- Creaminess: Cashew, White Poppy Seeds, Fresh Cream
- Tomato Ketchup: It gives a delectable sweet taste to the butter masala gravy. You can use tomato sauce or tomato paste instead of ketchup.
- Spices: Kashmiri Red Chilies, Red Chili Powder, Salt, Kasuri Methi, and Garam Masala
- Cooking Oil: You can use butter, ghee, or refined oil for cooking the masala.
- Other Ingredients: Salt, Water
How To Make Soya Chaap Makhani
This Soya Chaap Butter Masala Recipe is a two-step process.
- Marinate and Fry the Soya Meat
- Prepare the Gravy
- Assemble the Curry
Marinate and Fry the Soya Meat
- Remove wooden sticks from the soya meat and cut the chaap into bite-size round or oval pieces.
- Marinate chaap with salt, ginger-garlic paste, curd, red chili powder, and turmeric powder. Mix to coat each piece with the marinade masala ( images 1 & 2 ). Keep aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can marinate them overnight as well.
- Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying. Once the oil is hot, fry the soya chaap till crisp and golden from both sides ( image 3 ). You can air-fry them as well. Transfer fried soya chunks to a bowl and set aside.
Prepare the Gravy
- Heat oil in a heavy bottom kadhai or wok over medium flame. Add dried red chili, poppy seeds, onion, ginger, garlic, and cashews. Fry the masala till the onion turn light brown ( image 1 ).
- Add chopped tomato and season with salt. Cook the tomatoes until they are mushy and the oil separates from the masala.
- Once tomato masala is ready, add water and stir to mix. Simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Transfer the tomato masala to a blender. Grind to a smooth paste ( images 2 & 3 ).
- Transfer the butter masala gravy to the pan after blending. For a silky smooth texture, pass it through a sieve ( image 4 ).
Final Simmer and Season
- Turn on the heat. Once the gravy starts simmering, add red chilli powder, tomato ketchup, garam masala , fresh cream, and kasuri methi. Stir to combine. Allow the butter masala gravy to simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning according to preference.
- Add the fried soya chaap meat to the butter masala gravy. Combine. Cover the pan with a lid, and simmer the curry over low heat for another 5 minutes.
- Garnish soya chaap butter masala with fresh cream and fresh coriander.
Serving Suggestion
This is a truly restaurant-style curry that tastes perfect with whole wheat naan , paratha, roomali roti, lachha paratha, or jeera rice .
Store the leftover soya chaap butter masala in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. While reheating, add ¼ cup of milk to get a curry-like creamy consistency.
More Indian Curry Recipes
- Dum Aloo
- Potato Curry
- Chana Saag
- Paneer Curry
- Cauliflower Curry
- Mushroom Masala
- Spinach Egg Curry
Ingredients
Ingredients for marinade
- ▢ 4 soya chaap sticks
- ▢ 2 tablespoon curd
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ginger and garlic paste ( see recipe )
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
Ingredients for Butter Masala Gravy
- ▢ ¼ Cup refined oil
- ▢ ¼ Cup cashews (kaju)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon white poppy seeds (khus-khus)
- ▢ ½ Cup chopped onion
- ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- ▢ 1 Cup chopped tomato
- ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ 2 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- ▢ 1 ¼ Cup water
- ▢ ¼ Cup fresh cream
- ▢ ½ teaspoon Garam Masala ( see recipe )
- ▢ 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
- ▢ 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves
Instructions
Soya Chaap Tikka
- To make soya chaap tikka masala first marinade the soya chaap.
- Gently remove soya chaap from the sticks. You can easily slide them using a fork. Cut the chaap into bite-size round or oval pieces.
- Combine soya chaap and the remaining marinade ingredients in a bowl. Combine to coat each piece with the marinade. Keep in the refrigerator overnight or for 30 minutes atleast.
- Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a pan for shallow frying. Once the oil is hot, fry the soya chaap till crisp and golden from both sides. Transfer fried soya chunks to a bowl and set aside. You can grill them on a BBQ, tandoor, oven, or air fryer.
Butter Masala Gravy
- To prepare the butter masala gravy, heat the remaining oil in a heavy bottom kadhai or wok over medium flame. Add dried red chili, poppy seeds, onion, ginger, garlic, and cashews. Fry the masala till the onion turn light brown.
- Add chopped tomato and season with salt. Cook the tomatoes until they are mushy and the oil separates from the masala.
- Once tomato masala is ready, add ¼ cup of water and stir to mix. Simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Transfer the tomato masala to a blender. Grind to a smooth paste.
Final Touch
- Transfer the butter masala gravy to the pan after blending. For a silky smooth texture, pass it through a sieve.
- Turn on the heat. Add 1 cup of water. Stor to combine. Once the gravy starts simmering, add red chili powder, tomato ketchup, garam masala , fresh cream, and kasuri methi. Stir to combine. Allow the butter masala gravy to simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning according to preference.
- Add the fried soya chaap meat to the butter masala gravy. Combine. Cover the pan with a lid, and simmer the curry over low heat for another 5 minutes.
- Garnish soya chaap butter masala with coriander leaves and fresh cream.
- Serve Soya Chaap Butter Masala with naan or lachha paratha.
Recipe Notes:
- I use fresh or canned soya chaap for making this curry. Do not use dried or dehydrated soya meat.
- You can grill soya chaap tikka in the oven or the grill mode of the microwave.
- If there is no time to marinade the soya meat, then at least try to marinade it till the time you prepare the gravy.
- For cooking, you can use ghee, butter, or flavorless refined oil.
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
