Jewelled Giant Couscous

  • 10MINS
  • 6MINS
  • Serves 6
  • 131KCAL

Inspired by Moroccan flavours, this Jewelled Giant Couscous is a fresh and easy salad that's great if you're counting calories or following a plan like Weight Watchers.

  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
  • Low Carb pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Jewelled Giant Couscous pinchofnom.com
4

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories131
  • Carbs21g
  • Fat1.4g
  • Saturates0.2g
  • Protein4.7g
  • Sugars9.3g

Jewelled Giant Couscous - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card below. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb!

This Jewelled Giant Couscous recipe is a fantastic addition to any BBQ or buffet and is suitable for vegans as well!

The sumac gives it that earthy, lemon flavour that’s typical of Middle Eastern cuisine and the pomegranate seeds add a little extra burst of freshness.  We’ve used giant couscous in this recipe which is a little bit different to normal couscous in that you do have to cook it first, but we think that it works much better than normal couscous does!

Our Jewelled Giant Couscous is a great vegetarian and vegan side dish or if you’re looking to make it more filling, then you can always add chicken breast, reduced fat feta cheese or even half an avocado!

What diets is this Jewelled Giant Couscous suitable for?

This Jewelled Giant Couscous recipe is suitable for dairy free, vegetarian and vegan diets. However, if you’re cooking for people on a vegan diet, then please do double check the following ingredients as they can vary;

  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Stock cube

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make this Jewelled Giant Couscous?

Sumac is a spice that has that lovely, earthy lemon flavour that can be found in Middle Eastern cuisine.  You should be able to find this in your local supermarket.

Giant couscous is just a larger version of traditional couscous, that needs to be cooked beforehand. You can find it in your local supermarket or, if you’d rather, you can substitute it for normal couscous instead.

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

Easy to make, full of flavour and so fresh and tasty!
I used grapes and watermelon instead of pomegranate. It meant I could use what I had in the house. Very versatile recipe, full of flavour. So tasty!

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

SEND US a HINT & TIP, Or QUOTE for this recipe

THANKS
we have your picture

The process

  • Check Now we have your Hint & tip
    we’ll check them over.
  • Review We’ll review your Hint & Tip, and see if its suitable to use on the website.

Your details

  • Name: %name%
  • Recipe: %recipeName%

YOUR HINTS & TIPS

Your “QUOTE”

SWAG!

Due to the large number of submissions we recieve we’re afraid we’ll only inform you if we use it on the Recipe page - then we’ll send you some swag…

(Please remember others may of had the same idea as you!)

Close

‘So easy to assemble. Looks amazing. I have packed mine up for 3 days lunches. This would make a fabulous centre piece for a family dinner.’

Diana

This post contains affiliate links: what this means

If you don’t already have one then you can grab a large saucepan from Amazon.

We like to serve this recipe on a serving patter like this one from Amazon.

How many calories are in this Jewelled Giant Couscous?

There are 130 calories per portion in this Jewelled Giant Couscous, which means it falls into our Everyday Light category. 

This Jewelled Giant Couscous is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet, and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers. 

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Add the giant couscous and stock to a saucepan and simmer over a medium heat for 6 minutes. When cooked, the couscous will have doubled in size and absorbed the water. Don’t overcook it as it will become gluey and stick together.

Step 1  pinchofnom.com

Step 2

Set the cooked couscous aside to cool.

Step 3

Mix the cooled couscous and the rest of the ingredients together.

Step 3 pinchofnom.com

Step 4

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Jewelled Giant Couscous - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with this Jewelled Giant Couscous?

This Jewelled Giant Couscous works really well when served as an accompaniment to any of the following dishes:

Moroccan Inspired Lamb Burgers pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 20MINS
  • 106KCal
Chicken Souvlaki and Tzatziki pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 40MINS
  • 343KCal
Slow Cooked Kleftiko Lamb pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 6HR 5
  • 417KCal
Ras el Hanout Chicken Tray Bake pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 40MINS
  • 384KCal

How do you know when Jewelled Giant Couscous is cooked?

You’ll need to cook your giant couscous for around 6 minutes or until it has doubled in size and absorbed the water.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Jewelled Giant Couscous in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you have any leftovers, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftovers of Jewelled Giant Couscous in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze Jewelled Giant Couscous?

No, we don’t recommend freezing this recipe!

ORDER Our NEW cookbook Air Fryer NOW

Jewelled Giant Couscous

Inspired by Moroccan flavours, this Jewelled Giant Couscous is a fresh and easy salad that's great if you're counting calories or following a plan like Weight Watchers.
  • Prep Time
    10 MINS
  • Cook Time
    6 MINS
  • KCals 131
  • Carbs 21G

Ingredients

  • 300 g dried giant couscous
  • 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 500ml boiling water
  • 1 large carrot coarsely grated
  • 1/2 cucumber diced into 1/2cm cubes
  • 300 g cherry tomatoes quartered
  • 200 g pomegranate seeds
  • 1 pepper deseeded and finely diced
  • 2 spring onions green and white finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp sumac
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • small handful fresh mint leaves finely chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Add the giant couscous and stock to a saucepan and simmer over a medium heat for 6 minutes. When cooked, the couscous will have doubled in size and absorbed the water. Don’t overcook it as it will become gluey and stick together.
  2. Set the cooked couscous aside to cool.
  3. Mix the cooled couscous and the rest of the ingredients together.
  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.



We agreed with Slimming World to remove their trademarked terms from our website

Find out why here

Recipe notes

Make this recipe even quicker by replacing giant couscous with the regular kind. It doesn’t need cooking, you just need to pour the boiling stock over it!

Love this Jewelled Giant Couscous recipe?  Tag us!

ORDER Our NEW cookbook Air Fryer NOW

If you like these…try these

Spicy Salmon Skewers with Couscous pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 20MINS
  • 429KCal
Moroccan Inspired Lamb Burgers pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 20MINS
  • 106KCal
Salmon Tabbouleh Salad pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 35MINS
  • 341KCal

10 comments

See what others have to say

EmilySaturday 13th January 2024

Which book is this recipe in please?

Reply

    Cheryl LloydWednesday 7th February 2024

    This recipe isn’t in any of the cookbooks, it’s just on the website 😊

    Reply

JoanneWednesday 30th June 2021

What is Sumac please? Is it called something else in the UK?

Reply

    HollyWednesday 30th June 2021

    Hey Joanne, sumac is a deep red coloured spice mix made from dried berries it has a lemon lime kind of tartness. You will find it down the same aisle with the herbs and spices in the supermarket or you can buy it online too. Hope that helps!

    Reply

CharlieFriday 25th June 2021

What do you mean by Giant Couscous?
Are you talking about Israeli Couscous?

Reply

    HollyMonday 28th June 2021

    Hey Charlie, most supermarkets sell giant couscous it can be called pearl couscous or as you have said Israeli couscous. Hope that helps!

    Reply

LisaTuesday 20th April 2021

Can I use normal cous cous instead of giant cous cous?

Reply

    HollyWednesday 21st April 2021

    Hey Lisa, yes you could use normal couscous and prepare it according to the packet instructions. Hope that helps!

    Reply

      Lorraine ClarkThursday 20th January 2022

      Would the calories be the same if using normal couc cous and would the amount remain the same?
      Thank you

      HollyFriday 21st January 2022

      Hey Lorraine, yes you could use normal couscous and prepare it according to the packet instructions you may need to alter the calories accordingly we have THIS article that talks through how to alter calories for our recipes. Hope that helps!

Join the conversation

Comment or ask our advice
4.14 from 96 votes (96 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Our newsletter

Get the latest pinch