Vegetable Couscous (One Pan)

A one pan veggie wonder

When time and energy are short, isn’t it great to combine two side dishes in one? In the case of this simple vegetable couscous recipe, you’ll roast Mediterranean style vegetables, sprinkle over couscous, pour over broth, and bake until you can fluff the dish up with a fork.

When it’s done, you drizzle over a very simple vinaigrette, then either enjoy as it is or top with halloumi, salmon, chicken, or whatever you choose to make it into a meal.

It’s also perfect for the meal preppers among you. It tastes just as good cold in a lunch box, or you can easily reheat it in the microwave. Leftovers are great with an egg on top!

About the ingredients

You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.

Peppers: I like to use three different colored peppers – a green one, a red one, and either a yellow or orange one. Chop them into medium to large pieces and throw them into the pan!

Zucchini: This is also a good choice to roast since it cooks in about the same time as the peppers. Simply slice it into large pieces and halve or quarter them (depending on how big they are).

Onion: Slice one medium to large onion into large pieces. I like red onion for the bright color and sweeter flavor.

Cherry tomatoes: Don’t skip these! They add lots of color and juicy flavor. Alternatively, you can chop up regular tomatoes and use those instead. You’ll add these for the final 10 minutes of roasting only so you don’t end up with mush.

Olives: I like pitted kalamata olives, but you can use any olives you like. They give the finished dish an almost ‘baked Greek salad’ vibe. Add these at the same time as the tomatoes.

These are my go-to veggies in this dish. You can however include anything that roasts in roughly the same amount of time. Think small cubes of sweet potato, eggplant or broccoli.

Couscous: The beauty of this one pan dish is that you’ll add the couscous raw. No need for any pre-cooking. It will soak up broth and cooking juices in the oven and fluff up beautifully with a fork.

Not a fan of couscous? The recipe will also work with brown rice, quinoa, farro, bulgur wheat or giant couscous instead. Note that if you do choose one of these, however, it’s best to cook them separately in broth before stirring through the roasted vegetables.

Oregano: We’ll add a generous teaspoon and a half of this to add characteristic Mediterranean flavor.

Broth (Stock): You’ll add this to the dish along with the dried couscous. If you want to keep the dish vegetarian, use vegetable broth. If you prefer, use chicken broth.

Dressing: The dressing is very simple – just olive oil, vinegar and lemon. You’ll toss it through the finished dish for fresh and zesty flavor.

Greek yogurt: I think that Greek yogurt on the side complements the couscous and vegetables perfectly. Alternatively, you could use tzatziki!

Protein (optional for a more substantial meal): You’ll see from my photos that I often top this dish with crisp pan-fried halloumi cheese. Alternatively, it’s great with salmon, chicken, or a different protein.

How to make vegetable couscous

Step 1: Roast the vegetables (apart from the olives and tomatoes) in a little olive oil for around 20 minutes). Then add the olives and tomatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Step 2: Take the dish out of the oven. Scatter over the cup of couscous and the dried oregano. Pour over the broth (stock).

Step 3: Tightly cover the dish with aluminium foil and roast for another 10 minutes until the couscous is cooked.

Step 4: Meanwhile, you can cook any protein you’d like to serve with your veggie couscous, such as halloumi or salmon.

Step 5: Take the veggies and couscous out of the oven and uncover the dish.

Step 6: Fluff everything up with a fork. At this point, you can also stir through the easy dressing.

Ways to vary it

As well as serving with some kind of protein (cheese, meat, fish…), you can:

vary the vegetables: You don’t have to use exactly the vegetables I suggest in the recipe. Try small cubes of butternut squash or sweet potato, broccoli or cauliflower, eggplant, mushrooms and different coloured peppers. Anything that cooks in around 30 minutes is great! If it cooks in less time e.g. asparagus, just add it towards the end of the cooking time with the cherry tomatoes and olives.

use a different grain: You could easily substitute the couscous in this recipe for brown rice, quinoa, farro, bulgur wheat or another type of grain. In these cases though skip the veggie or chicken broth. Use a pre-cooked package of your chosen grain. Stir through the roasted vegetables at the same time as you stir through the dressing. It’ll be just as delicious!

A few more Mediterranean style sides

• This Mediterranean pasta salad is one of my go-tos all summer long!
• You won’t believe how delicious this baked eggplant dish is!
• Something a little different – Greek stuffed onions!
• This vegetarian eggplant lasagna is also great either by itself or served with meat or fish.