Mediterranean couscous salad with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and parsley. Perfect as a side dish, for BBQ or as a main course.
This couscous salad is easy to prepare and is suitable both as a side dish and as a main course. The Mediterranean ingredients make the salad perfect for summer. But it is also suitable for any other time of the year.
This couscous salad is:
- Vegan or vegetarian (depending on whether you use vegan or animal feta cheese)
- Healthy and easy
- Tasty and versatile
- Full of nutrients
What is Couscous?
Couscous comes from North African cuisine, where it is considered a staple food due to its enormous flexibility and is also becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Couscous is made from grain that is ground, grated, and formed into small balls. This gives couscous a rice-like appearance. Couscous is often made from barley, millet or durum wheat.
This is how couscous is made
Couscous is super easy and quick to prepare. For this reason, couscous is ideal for delicious salads or as a quick side dish.
To prepare it, couscous is simply soaked in hot liquid. You can use water or vegetable broth for this. Couscous usually only takes a few minutes to swell.
In order for the couscous to be nice and fluffy, you should always fluff it up with a fork while it is soaking. It is also a good idea to mix the soaked couscous with a little olive oil or butter so that it is not too dry.
What ingredients do you need for the couscous salad?
- 250 grams of couscous
- 250 ml vegetable broth
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 jar sun-dried tomatoes (280g)
- 1 jar olives (I used black ones – 300g, 155g drained weight)
- 1 tsp marjoram
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 large bunch of fresh parsley
- 250 g (vegan) feta
- 1/2 cucumber
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- Salt pepper






How to make couscous salad
- Put the couscous in a bowl and pour hot vegetable stock over it, leaving it to stand for about 15 minutes. Fluff up with a fork from time to time.
- In the meantime, peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Drain and roughly chop the olives. Drain off the dried tomatoes, reserving the oil for the next step and chop into small pieces.
- Heat some of the olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons) from the dried tomatoes in a pan. Add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add olives and sundried tomatoes. Add oregano and marjoram and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Wash and finely chop the parsley.
- Wash the cucumber and cut into small cubes.
- Add the olive and tomato mixture, cucumber, and herbs to the couscous and stir thoroughly.
- Crumble the feta cheese over the salad, stir, and season with salt and pepper. Add a little more of the tomato oil if needed.
- Heat the used pan again briefly and briefly fry the pumpkin seeds in it, then pour over the salad and serve.
- The couscous salad tastes lovely warm, but also cold.
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Mediterranean couscous salad
PrintIngredients
- 250 grams of couscous
- 250 ml vegetable broth
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 jar sun-dried tomatoes (280g)
- 1 jar olives (I used black ones – 300g, 155g drained weight)
- 1 tsp marjoram
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 large bunch of fresh parsley
- 250 g (vegan) feta
- 1/2 cucumber
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- Salt pepper
Instructions
- Put the couscous in a bowl and pour hot vegetable stock over it, leaving it to stand for about 15 minutes. Fluff up with a fork from time to time.
- In the meantime, peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Drain and roughly chop the olives. Drain off the dried tomatoes, reserving the oil for the next step and chop into small pieces.
- Heat some of the olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons) from the dried tomatoes in a pan. Add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add olives and sundried tomatoes. Add oregano and marjoram and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Wash and finely chop the parsley.
- Wash the cucumber and cut into small cubes.
- Add the olive and tomato mixture, cucumber, and herbs to the couscous and stir thoroughly.
- Crumble the feta cheese over the salad, stir, and season with salt and pepper. Add a little more of the tomato oil if needed.
- Heat the used pan again briefly and briefly fry the pumpkin seeds in it, then pour over the salad and serve.
- The couscous salad tastes lovely warm, but also cold.

Have you tried the recipe?
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