Crisp greens, tender chicken, juicy tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms, are tossed together with warm, nutty couscous and a paprika dressing to make this Summer Israeli Couscous Salad.
This unforgettable salad can be served warm or chilled, making it perfect for summer barbecues, potlucks, casual dinners, or weekday lunches.
The best part about this salad is that it’s delicious when you first make it, but it’s also fantastic cold. I like to make this salad and eat it for my lunches through the week.
My friend Lynne made this salad for Holly and me a few weeks ago while we were hanging out at my house for a #foodbloggersleepover. (always, always a fun time!) Holly and I went a bit nuts over this salad and we’ve both made it multiple times in our own kitchens over the past few weeks.
My youngest son blew me away by declaring this the best salad ever. As a non-fan of salads, take that for what it’s worth, he eats this salad like mad anytime it’s in the fridge.
Pearl (aka Israeli) couscous are tiny round balls of pasta. They are slightly chewy, slightly nutty, and nothing at all like traditional couscous. I’m not even a big pasta eater and I’ll eat pearl couscous all day long.
6mini bell peppersthinly sliced or 1 large pepper, thinly sliced
8button or crimini mushroomsthinly sliced
1/2cupchopped Italian parsley
1poundcooked chickensliced very thin or chopped small, 2-3 cups worth
4ouncescrumbled feta cheeseoptional
Instructions
Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside. In a medium size saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the couscous and cook until fragrant and golden, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the water and salt and cover with a lid. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, arugula, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, parsley, and chicken. Pour the dressing over the cooked couscous in the saucepan and stir to combine. Pour the warm couscous over the salad and toss to combine and slightly wilt the greens. Sprinkle with feta, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is easily adapted to what you have on hand. I've made this salad with traditional and with white balsamic vinegar. I've also used plain and smoked paprika. I've made this salad both with and without chicken. It works nicely as a meatless main dish or side dish. Thinly sliced grilled chicken breasts or thighs can be used. Alternatively, chopped rotisserie chicken will work as well.
Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.
This is so good I made it twice in 1 week! Second time I added sweet potatoes and lemon juice. Love it either way and is so filling. This will be added to my favorites.
I bet this was fantastic with sweet potatoes, Kurtis!
Amandasays
This salad recipe looks delicious! I was looking for a simple dish to bring to a pot luck and this is the one!! I’ll be making it soon. Thank you Barefeet In The Kitchen!
Rachel dodds says
Could you use quinoa instead of couscous for this dish?
Mary Younkin says
That should work fine, Rachel.
Kurtis Wilson says
This is so good I made it twice in 1 week! Second time I added sweet potatoes and lemon juice. Love it either way and is so filling. This will be added to my favorites.
Mary Younkin says
I bet this was fantastic with sweet potatoes, Kurtis!
Amanda says
This salad recipe looks delicious! I was looking for a simple dish to bring to a pot luck and this is the one!! I’ll be making it soon. Thank you Barefeet In The Kitchen!