Couscous Pour-Over with Peanut Dressing

Once I found out that couscous can be cold-soaked I knew I needed to create a recipe for you. Talk about ultimate convenience for meal prep… you don’t even need access to hot water! This couscous pour-over recipe can be made with cold water and will be ready to eat in 30 minutes. Or, use hot water and you can dig in after just 5 minutes!

Meal prep AND make at home options
Cold OR hot preparations
Full of flavour
Satiating
Customizable

How To Cold-Soak Couscous

If you’re like me, you may have thought that couscous was a grain; like rice, or a seed; like quinoa, but it’s actually a form of pasta. Check out this foodnetwork article, “What Is Couscous“, for a good overview.

For this recipe I am using “Moroccan style” couscous which is really fine. You may also notice “Israeli couscous” in your grocery store. Israeli, or pearled, couscous is larger (about the size of pearls). Since Israeli couscous is larger it does take longer to cook and the cold-soak method for this recipe won’t be an option.

The typical cooking method for Moroccan style couscous is to pour equal parts boiling water over the small balls of pasta and let it hydrate for 5 minutes. The reason this recipe can also be cold-soaked is that couscous is pre-steamed, dried, and packaged. It simply needs to be rehydrated before consuming. Although rehydrating in boiling water takes just 5 minutes and produces slightly softer and fluffier couscous, you can use cold water.

Cold-soaking couscous will take about 25 to 30 minutes for the pre-steamed couscous to absorb the cold water and soften enough to eat. This preparation does result in couscous that is slightly less fluffy and soft but it is still perfectly delicious.

Unlike rice or quinoa, couscous is made with semolina flour and is not gluten-free.

Ingredients For This Couscous Pour-Over Salad

I’ve decided to give this couscous pour-over salad a flavourful peanut dressing! Since my dressing is Asian inspired I’ve chosen to fill out the salad with edamame, carrot, broccoli and roasted peanuts. Dried seaweed snack sheets are a great topping too!

The 5 ingredient dressing can be mixed right in your meal prep jar and consists of:

1. Peanut butter
2. Tamari (or soy sauce)
3. Rice vinegar
4. Maple syrup
5. Chilli garlic sauce

If you don’t have rice vinegar you can use another acid like lime juice or apple cider vinegar. Any liquid sweetener could replace maple syrup and any hot sauce could replace the chilli garlic sauce.

Feel free to use whatever vegetables and cooked protein sources you love! And get creative with your toppings too!

Method

This couscous pour-over recipe offers so much flexibility. You can meal prep this salad in a jar so you can take it with you on the road OR make it at home!

For the meal prep option:

• Mix the dressing ingredients in the bottom of your jar. I use a 1 litre wide mouth and heat proof jar.
• Add the dry couscous over the dressing.
• Then layer your chosen vegetables.
• Finally add your toppings OR reserve them in a separate container until you are ready to eat.

When you’re ready to eat you have two options for hydrating the couscous :

1. Pour cold water into the jar. Wait 30 minutes. Stir thoroughly to mix the dressing through the salad and enjoy.
2. OR add boiling water to the jar. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir to mix and enjoy!

Alternatively, make this recipe at home and enjoy it cold or hot:

For an at home cold salad preparation:

• In a heat proof bowl, mix couscous and boiling water. The couscous will take 5 minutes to hydrate and you can prepare your vegetables and dressing in the meantime. Once the couscous has hydrated, fluff with a fork and toss everything together.

At home warm salad preparation:

• In a heat proof bowl, mix couscous and boiling water and allow to rehydrate for 5 minutes. While the couscous rehydrates, sauté the vegetables in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the dressing and rehydrated couscous to the frying pan and stir to coat. Cook for 2-3 minutes until everything is warmed through and coated in sauce.

How Many Does This Couscous Recipe Serve?

This couscous pour-over recipe serves 1-2.

For meal prep options Bryan and I typically share this amount and just dump the finished salad into two separate bowls when it has been rehydrated and is ready to eat. If you have a larger appetite this recipe could be just one serving for you.

If you have a smaller appetite you could meal prep this recipe and only eat half at a time, reserving the rest for a second meal. Alternatively, you can split this recipe into two separate containers.

Recipe Cost

This recipe costs me just over $2.50 Canadian. The couscous costs me about 55 cents, the dressing costs me about 60 cents and the vegetables/protein make up the remainder of the cost.

That’s pretty good for a flavourful, satiating, healthy and convenient lunch in my books!

Let me know in the comments how you customize this couscous pour-over recipe! I have a feeling you might love my other meal prep lunches. Try this Instant Noodle Soup In A Jar and my Pasta Salad In A Jar.

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