This recipe is delicious, easy, and simple to make. Tomato Basil Couscous Salad comes together in 15 minutes or less!
My Tomato Basil Couscous Salad is a great way to liven up any meal. Simple to make and full of flavor, your family will love it!
Let’s get right into it. What is couscous? Is it rice? A pasta? A grain? I get this question a lot from novice cooks. Long story short: it is a pasta of sorts.
Couscous is tiny granules of semolina made from durum wheat rolled in flour. When you bite into it, you get a very distinct texture from all those little pieces of al dente pasta. Pretty neat, isn’t it?
As it is cooking, it absorbs the water and plumps up. Some simply soak it in hot water, some steam it, and some have their own methods of getting it to the table.
One of the cons of couscous is that it is pretty bland. Some might say, flavorless. The good news is, I think of it more like a blank canvas waiting to be painted by you, the cook. Tomato Basil Couscous Salad is a perfect example.
Ditch the water altogether. I prefer to use chicken stock or a broth of some sort as my base. It adds a good base layer of flavor to the couscous and then allows you to add an infinite number of add-ins once it is fully cooked.
I make mine by bringing my stock or broth to a boil. Add a bit of olive oil and butter to for richness. Take the pot off the heat, add in your couscous, cover and let it sit for 5 minutes or so.
When you uncover the pot, simply fluff it with a fork and then gently fold in your extras. If you don’t want to follow this recipe, grab any leftover veggies or meats with complimenting flavors and fold them in.
My Tomato Basil Couscous Salad came to me while I was making my Parmesan Chicken. I wanted a side dish that had a bit of heft but didn’t want a heavy pasta.
Next came the raid through the fridge and pantry for things that would be tasty together. I had couscous, basil, some garlic, pine nuts, and sun-dried tomatoes. Easy enough!
And for those of you who have not cooked with couscous before, fear not. You do not need to rinse it as you would rice before cooking it and it is a very, very forgiving dish. Plus, it is fast and easy and we all love a good time saver.
While it is a short extra step, I highly recommend taking the time to toast your pine nuts before adding to the mixture. The natural oils and flavors are so much more robust and delicious with a light toasting.
If you loved this Tomato Basil Couscous Salad recipe, check out these other easy side dish ideas:
- Lonesome Dove Burnt Carrots
- Copycat P.F. Changs Spicy Green Beans
- Red Wine Vinegar Broccolini
- Cast Iron Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Cinnamon
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Tomato Basil Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup couscous
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons basil leaves coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth and olive oil to a low boil.
- As soon as the water comes to a low boil, remove from heat and add couscous. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Remove lid and fluff with a fork. Add basil, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and pine nuts. Fluff again. Cover for an additional 3 minutes.
- Serve warm and enjoy your Tomato Basil Couscous Salad!
I have read through all the comments and everyone says it looks like a great recipe and will have to try it. Well, I have actually made this twice and I am here to tell you it is one of the best couscous dishes I have ever eaten! This is how couscous is supposed to be made!! If you haven’t made it yet or are still considering making it, just do it!! It is a fabulous recipe and it is one that I will make again and again. Go ahead and make it. You won’t be sorry!!!
Thank you, Sharron! I really appriciate someone who has made it coming back to let us know. I love interacting with all of our readers and some just like to tell me they love the looks of it, but never come back to say HI after they do make it. <3
Hello. The IngrediEnts say basil and not spinach, but the Directions say spinacH and not basil. Can you correct it please?
This is such an easy side dish to make and it is delicious with the sun dried tomatoes, spinach and pine nuts – a Sicilian style side dish. Pinned/shared.
My favorite part of this wonderful Italian Couscous is the sun dried tomatoes! Yum!
I love cous cous! I never would have thought to give it an Italian flair!
YUm! Looks great! Easy too!
I’ve always wondered about couscous. Thank you for sharing the info and recipe. 🙂
Mmm, this looks amazing. I’ve never tried couscous.
I need to stop visiting all these great sites with wonderful recipes in the evening, especially this late at night! Sounds really good, I need to try this!
Couscous is something that I have been wanting to try for ages but just never had the chance to. Now I’m limiting my carb intake but I’d like to make this recipe for the family.
Don’t shoot me… I’ve never tried couscous before! It seriously freaks me out for some reason. I do love all the flavors in your recipe so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad after all.
Lol. Why? It is so plain, like a blank canvas waiting to be painted! Try it, you’ll be glad you did!
I would love to try Couscous. This recipe looks very good and fairly simple to make. I will have to try it very soon. Thanks for sharing.
G’day I have never heard of Italian couscous before, so thank you for allowing me to learn something new!
Cheers! Joanne
Italian Couscous looks awesome. I love how fresh all the ingredients look!!
I’d love to try this with chicken. It looks yummy.
Great idea!
Yum! That looks really good. 🙂 I’ve never had couscous though.
I just love couscous! This looks like such a tasty twist on it. I pinned it!
I haven’t had couscous in awhile. This looks like a great twist
This is another one of your dishes that looks reAlly good! Thanks for sharing!
I have never tried couscous before but it sounds good. I will have to try out this recipe.
Couscous is so light and fluffy! I love the Italian flavors you added!
Couple of months ago I purchased a bag of couscous. I still haven’t done anything with it. I think I fear I just wont like it.
This looks really good. I have actually never tried Couscous before.
Wow. I will have to try this. I have not heard of it.
It’s been a while since I had couscous. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve never tried Couscous before but I keep hearing about it, so I guess it’s time to head to the store and grab some huh? Thanks for sharing!
I have never heard of couscous. Sounds like something I would like to try. 🙂
I love couscous, but it’s hard to get my kids to eat it. Maybe it’s the consistency? I would love this recipe though!
I liked reading the recipe. Even more I liked your definition of what couscous is and how it is made.
Couscous is the best! I love that stuff. I’m going to give this recipe a try.
I’ve never attempted to make couscous before. It looks and sounds really good!
This sounds delicious. I’d love to give it a try on my family for dinner one night soon.
I just had pine nut couscous for dinner this week. My family loved it.
I love couscous, and it would be so amazing with sundried tomatoes and spinach as well. What a great recipe 🙂
Great recipe i have wanted to find a good couscous recipe to try. Thanks for sharing.
i like couscous but hate the clean up. I like adding cheese and lots of pepper to mine
This sounds really good. Bookmarking for sure!
I’e never tried couscous but it looks simple enough. I will have to try making this, I’m always looking for new recipes.
I absolutely love couscous. My son loves it too, so we eat it fairly often. I’ve never considered adding pine nuts to ours. (I usually add spinach and garlic.)
I have never had couscous before and I am not entirely sure I know what it is. It sounds good, though.