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This summer couscous salad combines couscous, crumbled feta cheese, sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and fresh parsley! It’s a filling vegetarian main dish or makes a refreshing side dish.
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Tired of your usual salad? Try this couscous feta salad instead. It’s a light, healthy, quick and easy-to-make salad recipe for summer!
It combines cooked couscous with crumbled feta, juicy tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, and fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley. Add a tangy dressing made with olive oil and lemon juice, and you are good to go.
If you like, you can add olives (kalamata olives are my favorite) and bell peppers, then it becomes a Greek couscous salad, almost like this Greek Quinoa Salad.
Couscous is a stable food made from semolina flour and typically served in Middle Eastern with Mediterranean dishes. It has a very soft texture. Here, couscous is the perfect accompaniment to bright veggies and tangy feta cheese.
The advantage of couscous is that you don’t have to cook it. It’s enough if you pour boiling water over it and let it sit for 5 minutes. After that, you just have to loosen the couscous pearls with a fork, and it’s ready to be used. If you don’t have couscous at hand, you could make this salad with quinoa, bulgur, or even pasta.
Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
- Couscous → Main ingredient! For a gluten-free version, use quinoa or couscous made of chickpea flour.
- Feta → The salty note of feta cheese goes especially well with summer salads.
- Cucumber & Cherry Tomato → I love to use mini cucumbers for this recipe, they are particularly crunchy. A English cucumber works too. Cherry tomatoes or your prefer kind of tomato is fine.
- Red Onion → Gives bite & flavor. Also works with yellow onion or two scallions (slightly milder in flavor).
- Dressing: Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Maple Syrup, Dried Oregano, Salt, Pepper → A mild dressing, perfect for summer. Also tastes delicious with a dash of balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes. For a more intense lemon flavor, add lemon zest (make sure to use an organic lemon for that). Feel free to add some minced garlic.
Visual Step-by-Step Instructions
This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a cooking beginner! 😉
- In a large bowl, mix couscous with ½ tsp salt. Pour the boiling water over it, stir briefly, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Loosen with a fork.
- Add sliced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, crumbled feta, and chopped parsley to the couscous.
- Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake well or whisk them together in a small bowl.
- Drizzle with the dressing and toss well.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. → Feel free to add more olive oil or lemon juice. A splash of balsamic vinegar goes well too in this recipe.
Vegan Couscous Salad
Following a vegan diet? Then you’re not missing out here either! There are two ways to make this couscous feta salad vegan.
- Make your own vegan feta cheese with tofu!
- Buy a vegan feta alternative at the supermarket!
I highly recommend making your own. The recipe is very simple and tastes really delicious. However, be aware that it must be marinated for at least 24 hours. That means you have to prepare the vegan tofu feta at least one day in advance.
Vegan feta alternatives from the supermarket do not taste good to me personally or I have not yet found the right one. 😉 If you have a recommendation, feel free to write it in the comments, other readers are certainly happy about it.
Make-Ahead & Storage Instructions
This salad can be made up to a day in advance and stored in the fridge until needed. Just give it a nice toss and it’s ready to be served! 😉
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 2 days.
More Summer Salad Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Couscous Salad with Feta
Ingredients
- 7 oz (200 g) couscous approx. 1 ⅛ cups
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water
- 3-4 mini cucumbers (or ½ English cucumber) sliced
- 1 cup (150 g) cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 ⅓ cup (200 g) crumbled feta or vegan feta
- 1 bunch (20 g) Italian parsley minced
Dressing
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 2 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tbsp maple syrup or sugar, honey
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix couscous with ½ tsp salt. Pour the boiling water over it, stir briefly, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Loosen with a fork.
- Add sliced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, crumbled feta, and chopped parsley to the couscous.
- Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake well or whisk them together in a small bowl.
- Drizzle with the dressing and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. → Feel free to add more olive oil or lemon juice. A splash of balsamic vinegar goes well too in this recipe.
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