Colorful Couscous Salad #sidedishes

Summer is knocking on our doors which means meals start to be in the backyard for our family. Most meals include a protein prepared on the Traeger Grill – so a simple pasta salad that I can make ahead is perfect. It gives me the chance to actually hang out with the family while they work up an appetite in the pool. Pasta salad is a beloved side dish in our house, so of course, I have to play around with it. This time I made a Colorful Couscous Salad – a no mayo pasta salad so full of veggies – it’s like eating the rainbow!

Making your own dressings for pasta and potato salads is what really makes them stand out. When you really think about it – cold salads generally don’t require much “cooking” so the combination of the ingredients is the key. Most people use a mayonnaise based dressing for pasta and potato salads. Which I have no problem with at all, and make that sort too. But I also have 3 kids (so half of my family) that don’t really care for mayo. So I try to alternate making my dressings with and without mayo.

Knife cuts are another big part of making beautiful salads. One thing that I really try to do is cut everything to roughly the same size and shape as much as I can. With a small pasta like couscous (this style is specifically called Pearl Couscous or Isreali Couscous), I went with a dice on the veggies. If you use a short pasta like rotini or penne – you could do a julienne on the veggies.

I served this up with some simply grilled bone-in pork chops (just seasoned with paprika, salt, parsley, and garlic powder) and a homemade Mustard BBQ Sauce. It paired so wonderfully with a light bright couscous salad. This salad also keeps so well. So if you are lucky enough to have any left after dinner – you are going to be enjoying it for lunch all week.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

Print

Colorful Couscous Salad

Perfect for every BBQ and potluck – a veggie packed pasta salad.

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword bacon, bell peppers, couscous, couscous salad, cucumber, dijon, dressing, Pasta Salad, red onion, Salad

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb Pearl Coucous
• ½ lb Bacon cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper diced
• 1 English Cucumber peeled, seeded, diced
• ½ Red Onion diced
• ½ cup Fresh Parsley chopped
• 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes quartered
• 2 Garlic Cloves minced

For the Dressing

• ¼ cup Avocado Oil
• ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Lemon zested and juiced
• ¼ cup Honey
• ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
• ¼ cup Dijon Mustard

Instructions

• Prepare all of the ingredients.
• In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove to paper towel covered plate and let cool.
• Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl.
• Add the couscous and water to a pan (use measurements as listed on the package). Cook as directed on package (usually covered over medium-high heat). Drain in colander and rinse with cool water. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Add bacon, dressing and veggies to bowl with couscous. Toss to combine. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.