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A spring Feta Couscous Salad that’s light and refreshing! Loaded with feta cheese, fresh parsley, sweet peas, and nutty walnuts and drizzled with the most delicious homemade basil vinaigrette! Serve it as a side salad or the main course.
Feta Couscous Salad tossed in the most delicious vibrant green dressing!
And more specifically a fresh spring feta couscous salad recipe that’s simple to make and loaded with so many (soo soo many) delicious flavors that come together to make one of the most refreshing side salads i’ve ever tasted.
Like most of the salads you see on the blog, this one also happens to have lots of toppings and um.. zero leafy greens like spinach, romaine, or iceberg lettuce. It’s also the perfect side dish or main salad to serve with grilled chicken, salmon, or shrimp. You can also add in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas and back it full of protein and fiber without having to use actual meat.
Color. Texture. Crunch. Sweet. Savory. It’s a tall order but this salad has all of that. All stuffed into one dynamite salad recipe. The crunch from the chopped walnuts. The saltiness/richness from feta cheese. The springtime goodness of flash blanched peas, and nuttiness from couscous all tossed together in the most refreshing fresh basil vinaigrette.
Ingredients for Feta Couscous Salad
- Uncooked couscous: we’ll use uncooked couscous for this recipe and then fluff it with a fork once it’s had a chance to soak up some warm liquid. You could also use whole wheat couscous or pearl couscous for this recipe, however, the cooking directions for the couscous portion will be different than what’s listed in the recipe.
- Frozen peas: I like to blanch the peas in hot water quickly and then dunk them in an ice water bath so that they maintain their vibrant green color. Of course, you can simply drain the peas and use them in the salad, but I do find blanching them first makes the salad bowltaste so much better!
- Fresh herbs: I keep the herbs pretty simple with just a handful of parsley in the salad and of course lots of basil in the dressing. You can also add it chopped mint, dill, or oregano and cut back on the parsley a tiny bit to give the salad a bit more dimension and bump up the herby flavor! Totally your call – toss in whatever you like!
- Feta Cheese: I like to use feta cheese for this recipe because the briny feta plays so well with the natural sweetness of peas and the basil vinaigrette. If you happen to have goat cheese on hand, you can also us that but I do suggest adding a briny element to the salad, such as, Kalamata olives so that you end up with a similar taste.
- Walnuts or pecans: You can even use chopped almonds or pine nuts if you prefer those in your salad recipes.
- Fresh basil: Is the heart and soul of the basil vinaigrette. Just combine salt, pepper, and all the other ingredients for the vinaigrette in a blend and blend until it’s smooth.
- Olive Oil: I like to use extra virgin olive oil for this recipe as we’re using the oil in the dressing and it won’t be going through any sort of cooking process. Feel free to use any olive oil that you typically use for salad dressings.
- Shallot: you can also use a minced red onion but I do find that the shallot provides a better flavor to the salad.
- Minced Garlic: adds a bit of flavor to end dressing. Feel free to use lemon zest or any other ingredients you typically like for your vinaigrette.
- Honey: honey adds sweetness, maple syrup or even some agave would achieve a similar result.
- White wine vinegar: I prefer to use a milder acid like white wine vinegar for the dressing, but red wine vinegar or even lemon juice would work here – though if you use lemon juice, you can’t really call it a vinaigrette 😉
- Red pepper flakes: add just a tiny punch of heat to the dressing.
- Kosher salt and black pepper: pretty typical vinaigrette ingredients!
Instructions for Mediterranean Couscous Salad Recipe:
- Fluff the couscous. Start by bringing a medium saucepan with water or chicken broth to boil. Once warm, add the couscous, remove the saucepan from heat, and cover. Let the couscous sit for several minutes so that it soaks up the liquid. Then fluff with a fork and let cool slightly before using in the recipe.
- Blanch the peas. Heat water in another saucepan until boiling. Add the peas and blanch them for a couple minutes until they’re bright green. Then add them to an ice water bath to stop them from cooking and so that they maintain their vibrant green color. Drain and let them dry before using in the salad.
- Make the dressing. In a blender, add the salt, pepper, basil, shallot, garlic, honey, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust with more honey, salt or pepper as desired.
- Combine the ingredients. In a salad bowl, add the couscous, peas, feta, parsley, and walnuts. If you want to serve the salad warm, dress immediately and serve. If you want to serve it cold, pop the dressing into a jar, cover the salad, and pop them in the fridge until cold. Toss with half the dressing and then more as needed before serving.
FAQs about this recipe
Couscous is a product made with durum wheat semolina flour that you fluff up with a fork once you add warm water or chicken broth. It’s commonly used Mediterranean, Middle East and in some African cuisines. Note that pearl couscous is different from the couscous used in this recipe.
For this recipe, you simply bring the cooking liquid to a boil and add the couscous, no need to toast in a skillet beforehand!
Store the remaining salad in an airtight container. Keep any unused dressing separate from the salad in the refrigerator.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
- Marinated Feta Greek Salad
- Grilled Zucchini Salad with Corn and Red Bell Peppers
- Summer Panzanella with Grape Tomatoes
- Bright Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Feta
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Spring Pea Feta Couscous Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Couscous Salad:
- ½ cup uncooked couscous not pearl couscous
- ½ cup water or chicken broth
- 1 pound frozen peas
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Basil Vinaigrette:
- 1 cup packed basil leaves
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 shallot cut in half
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- COUSCOUS: In a medium saucepan, bring the cooking liquid to boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the couscous, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork.
- PEAS: While the couscous is cooking, heat a large pot of water to boil. In a medium bowl, create an ice bath with lots of ice and water; set aside. Add peas to the boiling water and blanch for 1-2 minutes or until bright green. Drain in a colander, and drop the peas into the ice water bath. Drain before adding to salad.
- COMBINE: In a serving bowl, combine the fluffed couscous, peas, parsley, feta, and walnuts.
- BASIL VINAIGRETTE: Combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a blender, using a big pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper as desired. Add additional honey if you want your dressing to be sweet, the 1 tablespoon was enough for us.
- ASSEMBLY: If you want to serve this salad warm, dress immediately with the desired amount of dressing and serve. To serve cold, refrigerate the dressing and the salad ingredients separately for at least 1-2 hours. Toss half the dressing with the salad and adjust with additional dressing, salt, and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
I love the recipe. I was able to use my leftover pesto and just mixed in vinegar and honey. Delicious!!!
How clever! Happy to hear you enjoyed it, Matty!
Just wow! I was looking for a recipe to use my fresh peas and favas beans, so glad I found this one. I will use it at my café, sure my customers will love it as much as I do. Thank you!
I forgot to buy parsley when I went for ingredients so left it out. Didn’t have feta so added parmesan at the end. It was AWESOME. Thumbs up from the whole family. That dressing is so good I was licking it off the spoon. Thank you for sharing!
This recipe was amazing the first time I made it! Has a great flavor and you can use the sauce on so many other things!
How long do you think it would keep in the fridge? I want to take it camping this weekend.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! The leftover sauce will last for roughly 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
Made this for Easter and it was a huge hit! I followed the recipe as instructed and it was great.
Veggie salad is one of my favorite to prepare. This make me more healthier and stronger. I can add this recipe in my diet meal plan. Thumbs up. I will share this to my friends.
Have made this a couple of times; with toasted walnuts and feta and then with toasted pecans and blue cheese. So easy and delicious! Love the basil vinaigrette.
HOLY MOLY! I am so glad I discovered this recipe. Mostly because of the dressing, we put it on EVERYTHING! Salads with quinoa cucumber and walnuts is a family favorite. I crave this dressing when we don’t have it in the fridge. It’s great on chicken and even tossed with some pasta. We’re big fans over here. My entire family loves it and asks for the basil dressing regularly. Thank you so much! I’ll be revisiting this original recipe tonight because the cous cous is so light and filling at the same time.
Delicious! I hate to change anyone’s recipes, but I only had pearl couscous and it was still yummy! Next time I’ll double 5e recipe because it was great left over
Made this with quinoa and a little extra champagne vinegar. It was absolutely scrumptious!
Any thoughts on substituting the walnuts for chickpeas?
I was just thinking the same thing! I have someone who is allergic to nuts. I bet chickpeas would be delish!
Delightful and fresh, and it actually froze well for me. I hate leaving leftovers to go bad in the fridge so they go in the freezer, labeled and dated. No problem thawing this and it retained the flavor. I’ll be making this one again.
This was SO GOOD!! What a fantastic recipe! The only thing I changed was putting in some toasted pine nuts instead of the walnuts b/c that’s what I had on hand. I also doubled the couscous and added extra vinegar.
LOVE this!!!!! Outstanding flavor! I would double the couscous though. The basil vinaigrette would be yummy on anything! Will definitely make this again & often!
This was fabulous. I thought the dressing was too sweet when tasted alone but on the salad it was great. It’s a keeper! I was lucky enough to have a friend who had a huge pea harvest so I had fresh peas for this salad.
Made this for Mothers’ Day. YUM!
I made this last week and seriously fell in love. I think i may make this on a monthly basis! This week I actually made my own variation of this recipe, that’s actually quite different- Summer Corn Couscous with Cilantro Avocado Vinaigrette Dressing. I have my own blog and linked to your blog (since this recipe was my inspiration!). Would love if you checked out my recipe and let me know your thoughts!!
XOXO
https://dallasmoderndayhippie.com/summer-corn-couscous-salad/
Absolutely Perfect!! Fresh and flavorful!!
Made this today and loved it! Great recipe. The only change I made was to substitute roasted, unsalted pine nuts for the walnuts.
Made this today, it was so good! I didn’t have a shallot on hand, so I used a half of a red onion, and I omitted the garlic. I added a small amount of chopped fresh kale. It was hard not to eat it straight from the pot!