This Spring Vegetable Couscous recipe is filled with Moroccan couscous, asparagus, baby peas, scallions, and seasoned chicken. An easy 30 minute meal, all made in one pot, that can be served for lunch, a salad for brunch, a simple dinner, or even a side dish. It’s light, bright, healthy, filling, and wonderful!
Do you all remember the Martha Stewart magazine Everyday Food? It was compact in size, but filled with easy, delicious weeknight meals. I loved it and put up a major stink when they stopped publishing it. That little publication provided me with so many great recipes – some I altered, some I never changed.
This Spring Vegetable Couscous recipe was in the 2011 issue (not to be confused with this Spring Vegetable Couscous recipe, which is also delicious.) I fell in love immediately and have been making it for my family ever since.
What is Couscous?
Most people think couscous is a grain, but it’s actually a pasta made of semolina wheat and water. It’s as if rice and pasta had a baby.
There are three main types of couscous: Moroccan couscous, Israeli couscous (used in this recipe), and Lebanese couscous.
- Moroccan couscous is the smallest – a few times bigger than cornmeal – and cooks in about 5 minutes.
- Israeli couscous (also known as pearl couscous), is about the size of a peppercorn and takes about 10 minutes to cook.
- Lebanese couscous (also called Moghrabieh couscous), is about the size of a baby pea and take the longest to cook.
Couscous is extremely versatile and can be flavored in so many ways, then served on its own or used in soups, salads, or even as a binder instead of breadcrumbs.
This couscous recipe embraces some of my favorite green vegetables – asparagus, baby peas, and scallions. It’s incredibly easy to make, only using one pot, and ready in 30 minutes, with the end result being so flavorful!
You can serve this as a main meal or a lovely side. Simply omit the chicken and you’ve got a vegetarian dish to accommodate almost everyone!
Other Couscous recipes to try!
- Spring Vegetable Israeli Couscous
- Eggplant and Basil Israeli Couscous
- Israeli Couscous with Cherries and Apple
I hope you love this delicious and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
{One Pot} Spring Vegetable Couscous with Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 scallions , white and green parts diced and separated
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pound asparagus , woody ends trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup frozen baby peas , thawed
- salt and pepper , to taste
- 1 cup plain Moroccan couscous
- 1/2 pound chicken thighs seasoned, roasted, and torn into bite-sized pieces (or leg and thigh meat from a rotisserie chicken)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add scallion whites and cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
- Add asparagus and peas; season with salt and pepper, and gently simmer for 3 minutes.
- Return to a boil and stir in the couscous.
- Add chicken and remove pan from heat; cover and let sit 7 minutes.
- Gently stir in the lemon juice, parsley, and scallion greens; season with a little more salt and pepper.
- Fluff couscous with a fork, serve, and enjoy!
Will definitely add this to my ‘to make’ list.
which brand of couscous did you use?
I usually just buy it in bulk, but I do like the Near East brand.
Love Couscous and this looks like a very filling MEAL with the chicken and veggies!! Can’t wait to try it out!! Thanks so much for posting something healthy!!
I made this for dinner tonight, and LOVED it! Even my husband, who is not a ‘health’ food lover, thought it was wonderful! This will be a great go-to meal during the summer months. Thanks!
Oh YAY! I’m so thrilled. And thanks for stopping by to let me know :D
A light meal like this is just perfect and it is so healthy too, love it!
This looks so good – a nice refreshing dish. Although I’m pescetarian, I really can’t wait to make this! (and I can always substitue the chicken with something else)
Greetings Noya – although I’ve never tried it without the chicken, I bet it would taste mighty fine with fish, or leaving out the animal all together. If you make it and sub, let me know how it turns out.
Mmmm, green veg and lemon. Something about that combo always screams spring to me. This sounds delish. And so…spring-liked.
My brain is fried, can you tell?
Spring is taking her sweet time getting to NY, with 40 degree temps and cold rain. Could you please tell her to get a move on? I want to crave dishes like this! Mmmmmm…
Definitely the cruel joke of the midwest and New England states. I remember living in Minnesota, it really didn’t warm up until June, and never got hot enough to use the pools until August. But couscous does not discriminate against the weather…don’t wait! Make it now!
Love this. It’s so in line with the foods I’m craving right now. It’s in line with my dinner party menu, too, but… no, no hahaha… DAMMIT don’t throw a wrench in there! :D
*snort* Ya, this would be a perfect addition. But don’t fix what ain’t broken!
this sounds amazing. and since the husband tried something “new” last week (and actually likes couscous-he’s worse then a kid with what he wont’ eat)..i will be giving this a whirl!!!
My sympathies go out to you. I can only handle one picky eater in my house (3YO). If my husband and 5YO were the same way, I might be committed.
Sounds perfect for this time of year; although I must admit, I might love pearl couscous too much to cheat on it and would have to use it in your recipe. :)
Me too, Barbara. After I discovered it, regular couscous got ignored for a long time. But this recipe really calls for it. The tiny grains absorb the flavored liquid better.
SO funny. I just ate something very much like this for lunch — only with quinoa instead of couscous.
Even if our weather isn’t quite there yet, I love it that I can EAT like it’s spring!
No doubt. Well Hell, as you know I just made soup 2 weeks ago when it was 70 degrees. I say certain food doesn’t discriminate to the season. If that were the case, nobody would eat ice cream in wintertime. And that’s just foolish.
Your photo is absolutely stunning!
Thank you so much, Christina! It’s the dish and all that pretty green that really did all the work.
Let’s not talk about capris. Or summer dresses.
Let’s just talk about what we (I) can do to fit back into them. This couscous seems key. Love how veggie-ful it is!
I know. But the tight capris were a glimpse of what’s in store when I have to put on a bathing suit in a few months. Damn Snickerdoodle cookies. *crying*
Amy, I think that every household needs more couscous recipes:) I use it only occasionally when I cook a tagine, but we all love it! As I always have leftover roasted chicken (you would think that two adults and two pre-teen girls can finish a poor bird), this recipe seems perfect.
BTW, I laughed really hard when I read your About page. My husband asked why I called him Paul (he is identical to yours, except that in his case it does not have to be Tabasco – he prefers Frenk’s Red Hot:)
Hi Lana – love seeing you over here. I adore couscous. Last year (or the year before ?) I discovered Israeli couscous and became slightly obsessed. Have you ever tired it? Larger, softer pearls…so fantastic. And p.s. – Paul also puts salt on everything. Even when a dish doesn’t need it. Drives me crazy. But he’s a really great eater, so I have to keep my complaints to a minimum ;-)