Greek couscous salad that everyone will love! Perfect for any occasion, with meal prep options and tips to make it even easier.
The Best Greek Couscous Salad
Meal prepping has always been my go-to for quick, convenient meals. During college, I prepped every Sunday, making salads, overnight oats, and prepping veggies and grains for the week. It made eating well so much easier, even with a busy schedule.
This Greek couscous salad is perfect for meal prep—4 dinner servings or 6 meals for the week. Even if you’re not into meal prepping, this salad makes an ideal weeknight dinner or quick lunch. If you like variety, try switching up the dressing or veggies. It’s a simple way to have a satisfying meal ready whenever you need it.
Greek Couscous Salad Ingredients
- Pearled Couscous Mix: Cook it as directed on the package and let it cool before adding other ingredients.
- Cucumber, Bell Peppers, Red Onion, Cherry Tomatoes: Cut these all to a similar size so each bite is similar. Soak the red onion in cold water or lemon juice for 10 minutes to make it milder.
- Italian Parsley: Make sure you use flat leaf Italian parsley.Chop it finely so it mixes well in the salad.
- Chickpeas: Adds protein and a nice texture. For extra crunch, you can roast or air fry them before adding.
- Feta Cheese: Crumble it over the salad right before serving.
- Lemon Wedges: Adds a fresh, zesty kick. Serve with the salad to squeeze over just before eating.
- Dressing: This dressing brings all the flavors together. Mix in a jar and shake well before using.
How To Make Greek Couscous Salad
- Cook Couscous: Follow the package directions to cook the couscous. Let it cool.
- Chop Veggies: While the couscous is cooking, chop the cucumber, bell peppers, red onion, and cherry tomatoes. Finely chop the parsley.
- Prepare Chickpeas: Drain and rinse the chickpeas. If you want extra flavor, you can roast them.
- Make Dressing: In a jar, mix together red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Shake it well.
- Assemble Salad: In a large bowl, mix the cooled couscous with the chopped veggies, chickpeas, feta cheese, and dressing. Stir everything together.
- Serve: Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the salad and enjoy!
For meal prep: Divide the salad into containers, and keep the dressing separate until you’re ready to eat.
How To Make It For Meal Prep
- Get Containers: Use 6 meal prep containers and 6 small containers for the dressing. Keep the dressing separate to avoid soggy salad. You can use small Tupperware, bulk dressing containers, or even snack-sized plastic bags.
- Prep Couscous: Cook the couscous first. While it’s cooking, chop the veggies—bell peppers, cucumber, red onion, parsley, and cherry tomatoes. Divide them equally among the 6 containers. Feel free to swap out veggies based on your preference.
- Add Protein: Use chickpeas for protein. You can roast them for extra crunch with salt and pepper. Or, swap them with other beans or grilled chicken.
- Finish: Top with freshly cracked salt and pepper, a lemon wedge (to squeeze before eating), extra parsley, and feta cheese.
More Delicious Meal Prep Options:
- Italian Sausage and Veggies
- Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Sweet Potato Taco Bowls
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Ground Turkey Meal Prep
Greek Couscous Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 packages (4.7 ounces each) Pearled Couscous Mix (I use one made by Near East) Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil flavored
- 1 english (or hothouse) cucumber, coarsely chopped
- 3 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow), coarsely chopped
- 1/2 of 1 large red onion, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 2 cans (15 ounces EACH) chickpeas
- Feta cheese, to taste
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Salad Dressing
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the couscous mix according to package instructions making sure to add in the seasoning mix. If you don't use couscous from a package, you'll want to add some of your favorite seasonings because a lot of the flavor in this salad comes from that seasoning.
- While the couscous is cooking, prep the veggies: coarsely chop the cucumber, the peppers, the red onion, and cherry tomatoes. Finely chop the parsley. To take the "bite" out of the raw red onion you can soak it in cold water (or freshly squeezed lemon juice) for about 10 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. If desired, roast them in the oven (see the last paragraph in this post).
- Prepare the dressing by adding all of the dressing ingredients to a mason jar. (I add about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, but add to your personal preference). Seal the jar and shake until combined.
- TO SERVE AS A SALAD: Add the prepared couscous to a large bowl and allow to cool. Add in all of the veggies and chickpeas. Add in some feta cheese, freshly squeezed lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and the dressing. Only dress what you will enjoy as this salad doesn't sit well for a long time with the dressing on it.
- TO MEAL PREP: Divide the dressing evenly into 6 small containers. Divide the couscous evenly among 6 meal prep containers. Next add in equal parts of all of the chopped veggies and chickpeas. Add a lemon wedge, some feta cheese, and cover everything with some salt and pepper. To enjoy, add the dressing, squeeze the lemon over everything, stir together, and eat!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I donโt usually post reviews but this recipe is AMAZING! My boyfriend who is a junk food junkie loves it too but itโs so healthy and makes me feel great. So flavorful and light.
Oh yay!! SO thrilled this was a hit ๐ Thanks Maddie!
Tastes so good and looks appetizing too!! Definitely making it again!!!
So happy to hear that! Thank you ๐
Absolutely delicious!! Simple and veggie packed. Made this as my easy grab and go lunches for the week during the summer to beat the heat. I plan on using this as a meal plan in the fall when I go back to teaching. Thanks!
So glad to hear you’ve enjoyed this; thanks Lauren! ๐
Hello! Can I use tabouli instead of couscous?
Absolutely! It’ll sub in nicely! You might want to make up a bit more as it is smaller than the couscous! Hope you enjoy! ๐
The recipe sounds delicious. Is the majority of the sodium concentrated in the dressing? Thanks!
Hi there, how long will this keep in the fridge for ๐
4-7 days depending on how fresh ingredients are and how they are stored (airtight container, good temps, etc) Enjoy!
Just made this for my family and they loved it! Also, it definitely makes a lot of food so it will last us the whole week. Thanks!
This was SO good!! I literally craved it by the time lunch rolled around every day of the week. Never got sick of it!
Yay!! I love hearing that!! Thanks so much Kristin ๐
I made this and used it as a meal prep side for a week and didn’t change a thing other than only using a smaller amount of couscous. It was fantastic!
So happy to hear it! Thanks Taylor ๐
I am absolutely in love with this recipe! Since I am a college student, I love how cheap, fast, and easy this is to makeโnot to mention delicious! What is the size of each serving? I just want to be able to portion it out correctly.