This one pot pearl couscous dish with veggies and chickpeas is an easy dinner recipe that will help you incorporate more beans into your diet this year! It comes together in about 30-40 minutes and you’ll mix in veggies, chickpeas, greens, and some coconut milk for extra creaminess. Serves about 3 people (or 2 people with one serving of leftovers!). Watch the recipe video and get the full recipe below!
Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 3
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 zucchini
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup dried pearl couscous
- 3 1/2 cups water or veggie broth
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 3/4 cup sliced sundried tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped spinach
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup of light or full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt (+ more to taste)
Equipment
- Frying pan or pot
Instructions
- Dice an onion, thinly slice zucchini, and peel and mince garlic cloves.
- To a frying pan or pot on medium heat, add the olive oil, diced onion and stir often, until translucent.
- After a few minutes, add the zucchini, sautéing until softened. Next, add the minced garlic and sauté for another two minutes.
- Add the pearl couscous and water/broth to the pot, then cover.
- Check on the pot every few minutes, removing the lid when the water/broth is almost all absorbed. Taste the couscous to make sure they are cooked through (if too al dente, add a bit more water/broth).
- Add in the chopped spinach, cilantro, chickpeas, and sundried tomatoes and mix well.
- Finally, add the coconut milk, nutritional yeast, and salt to taste.
Notes
*To speed things up, you can boil 3 1/2 cups of water before adding it to the pan with the couscous, then add in a vegetable bouillon cube for extra flavour.
*Pearl couscous is also known as giant couscous.
24 Responses
This looks delicious!! Can you suggest a good replacement for the couscous for GF folks? Quinoa might work but would have such a different texture? Maybe a pasta? Would love your thoughts!
Hi Sarah!
I would suggest a gluten-free orzo instead 🙂
Ummmm you left out when to add the chickpeas. I guessed and added after couscous was done. Also it says “giant couscous”. That a mistake? Haven’t tasted yet but I’m excited! Thank you!
Hi there. I’m working on your recipe right now, but I don’t see when it is that you add the chickpeas in your instructions. I’m planning to add them once the cous cous has finished cooking….but just wanted to let you know that this step appears to be missing 🙂
Hi Rennie!
Thank you for the comment. Sorry, must have missed that!! They go in with the greens and sundried tomatoes after the couscous has been cooked (step 6). Hope you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Mina
Follow up to my last comment. Omg that was AMAZING!!!! So so so freaking good. Thank you!!!
Hi,
Looks delicious, and can’t wait to make! I don’t see where the chickpeas get incorporated into recipe though. Can y Lu clarify?
Hi Joanna!
Thank you for bringing this to my attention – must have completely missed it when writing out the recipe! They go in with the greens and sundried tomatoes (step 6) after the couscous has been cooked through.
Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Warmly, Mina
Made this for me and my husband and it was a big hit! Thanks.
The ingredients say chickpeas, but I don’t see where to add them in the instructions. Can you update?
Hi Lindsey,
Thank you for your comment – I missed this step when writing this recipe out! They go in during step 6 with the greens and sundried tomatoes 🙂
Hope you enjoy the dish!
Warmly, Mina
Why did you delete my first comment? I asked when to add the chickpeas. I see you corrected this. I am making it again today it was that good! Just don’t understand why you deleted the comment I posted on 2/11.
Fantastic recipe! I switched out black beans for the chickpeas (because my son doesn’t like chickpeas) and the whole family enjoyed it.
I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed it!!
-Mina
THIS WAS SO GOOD TOO. second recipe I’ve made of yours and i loved it even more than the first!!!
OMG so happy to hear this!!!
Hope you’ll come back for a third 😉
-Mina
Wow! That has a lot of flavor! Sitting down enjoying some now.
Hi Kristin,
So happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
-Mina
I substituted the cous cous with Farro and it turned out great! Same amount of water (I used beef bone broth).
This dish is soooo DELICIOUS !! It was super easy to make as well. I didn’t have coconut milk so I used cream and it was fabulous. Definite 5 stars!
Just made this an it is AWESOME!! What would gone your thoughts about freezing it?
I haven’t tried freezing it but my thoughts would be to make the sauce separately from the couscous – you could freeze the sauce and cook the couscous when thawing the sauce 🙂
This is my third of your recipes I’ve tried and each one has been a hit!
The cool, fall weather hit here this week and this has been a delicious and warm meal for my lunches!
This was tasty, but I did not add the coconut milk and I used veggie broth. Opening a can of coconut milk for just a half cup was annoying lol, so I didn’t bother. Definitely use veggie broth. Just using water it would be very bland. Also, the coconut milk seemed an odd choice to me. The ingredients: sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas, zucchini, seemed to lean Italian. If I make this again I’d use basil instead of cilantro, lemon zest and juice to brighten it up. After adding the broth, I’d bring it up to a boil then add both the couscous and the chickpeas. This way the chickpeas absorb some of the flavor. Just stirring them in at the end didn’t give them a chance to live up to their full potential. I would also just use some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes to sauté the onion. Adds another layer of flavor.