This Vegan Mediterranean Couscous Salad is fresh, flavorful, filling and perfect for lunches or a dinner side-dish. This is packed with delicious vegetables like tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach! The parsley pesto dressing takes this grain-based salad to the next level. For more meal-prep friendly salads, see my Quinoa Broccoli Salad, Vegan Mango Mama Salad, and Meal Prep Salad!
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Notes on Ingredients
- Couscous: I used pearl couscous as it’s larger than regular couscous. You can substitute any grain here (including gluten-free) like rice, quinoa, or farro. You could even use pasta!
- Spinach: You can use another green like arugula or baby kale.
- Parsley: Used for the primary herb in the pesto dressing but you can substitute another herb like basil or even a flavorful green like arugula.
Please take note that this is important information about the ingredients used in this recipe and the FULL recipe with measurements and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
How do you make Vegan Mediterranean Couscous Salad?
- Preheat the oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook couscous following box instructions, then fluff with a fork.
- While couscous cooks, roast chopped cauliflower the baking sheet with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin for 25 minutes or until fork tender and golden brown.
- Chop the spinach, halve the tomatoes, and chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Make the parsley pesto dressing.
- Add the couscous, cauliflower, and other veggies to a large serving bowl.
- Pour dressing over top and toss well! Enjoy and serve.
- Step 1: First, preheat the oven and cook the couscous according to package instructions.
- Step 2: Then, toss the cauliflower in spices and olive oil.
- Step 3: Roast cauliflower for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Step 4: Next, make the parsley pesto dressing.
- Step 5: Add couscous, chopped veggies, and dressing to a large salad bowl.
- Step 6: Finally, toss well until combined and serve.
Commonly Asked Questions
Store this salad in the fridge for up to 5 days. No need to reheat as this salad is best eaten cold!
While you can do either, this salad is best served cold. This is good news for meal-prep and leftover lovers. This salad actually gets better overtime in the fridge!
Yes! You can substitute broccoli or really any vegetables you prefer in this dish.
For breakfast, I recommend my Raspberry Chia Pudding (super high in fiber). Then, for dinner, make my Debloat Detox Vegetable Soup for a light and delicious dinner.
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Extra Helpful Tips
- Avoid overcooking the couscous. Once the water is absorbed, it’s done!
- Make a double batch of dressing and use the remaining for salads throughout the week!
- You can blend the parsley pesto dressing in the food processor or blender! I prefer a food processor, so it still leaves a little texture.
- Before roasting, toss the chopped cauliflower in some olive oil, garlic powder, cumin powder, salt, and pepper to season it.
How to Store
Store this salad in the fridge for up to 5 days. No need to reheat as this salad is best eaten cold!
If you tried this Vegan Mediterranean Couscous Salad or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 5-star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Vegan Mediterranean Couscous Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 oz pearl couscous
- 1-2 cups cauliflower roasted
- 2 cups spinach chopped
- ½ cups tomatoes chopped sundried
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Parsley Pesto Dressing
- 1 head parsley
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small pot, cook the couscous following box instructions, then fluff with a fork.
- While couscous cooks, toss the chopped cauliflower in olive oil, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper and roast on the baking sheet for 25 minutes or until fork tender and golden brown.
- Chop the spinach, halve the tomatoes, and chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Make the pesto parsley dressing in a small food processor.
- Add the cooked couscous, roasted cauliflower, and other veggies to a large serving bowl.
- Pour pesto parsley dressing over top and toss well! Enjoy and serve.
Robin Bear says
This was delicious!! Great fresh dressing brought this salad alive and the larger pearl couscous has a satisfying bite.
Jennifer Fleming says
very versatile and delicious. easy to substitute in squash for cauliflower or basil for parsley.
Meghan Walford says
If you were to include beans with this to add protein, what kind would be best suited? I was thinking either chickpeas or white cannellini beans?
Taylor From HealthyGirl Kitchen says
either of those would work!
Sarah Arora says
#Healthygirlkitchen recipes never fail to amaze me, this was another winner! Simply fresh, healthy and delicious. Toddler approved, my two-year-old son kept asking for more yummy couscous! I cannot wait for the new cookbook, my mom ordered me for my birthday!
Megan says
First time I have enjoyed couscous – thank you 🙂
I switched out pickled red/yellow peppers for the sundried tomatoes, and clearly my definition of a spinach ‘head’ in the UK isn’t the same as yours – I ended up having to add a cup of spinach in to thicken the dressing.
Still, delicious though!
Can I ask, could you please add a metric converter to your recipes? Its really tricky to convert every line if you’re from a country that doesn’t know what an ounce is 🙂
Cherie says
What kind of parsley and throw in stems and all for the dressing?
Taylor From HealthyGirl Kitchen says
I used Josie’s Organic Italian Parsley and did not use the stems, but you could!
Jordan Stacy says
This Mediterranean-flavored couscous salad is the perfect meal-prepped lunch or side dish for a cookout! The parsley pesto dressing adds delicious flavor and tons of micronutrients!