Easy Chicken & Couscous Skillet Dinner | Healthy Chicken Dinner Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How much couscous per person? ›

Like most grains and well, certainly pasta, it's easy to cook way too much because let's face it, most of us never weigh it properly. You want to have around 60g of couscous per person.

Although couscous looks like a grain, it's technically a pasta – it's made with semolina flour from durum wheat, mixed with water. There are three different types of couscous: Moroccan, which is the smallest; Israeli or pearl couscous, about the size of peppercorns; and Lebanese, the largest of the three.

Cook the pearl couscous.

Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for about 14 minutes, or until the couscous is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat. At this stage, you can serve the pearl couscous as is.

Regular couscous isn't considered a whole grain but can be part of a healthy diet when properly portioned. One cup of cooked traditional couscous has about 175 calories, 6 grams of protein and 1gram of fiber.

While couscous and white rice have almost the same amount of calories per 100 grams, couscous contains more protein and higher amounts of vitamins and minerals so can be considered a healthier option in those departments. Both grains can support weight loss when incoporated into a balanced, healthy diet.

Couscous (Berber languages: ⵙⴽⵙⵓ, romanized: seksu) – sometimes called kusksi or kseksu – is a traditional Amazigh (Berber) dish of small steamed granules of rolled semolina that is often served with vegetables and a stew spooned on top.

If you're making traditional wheat or whole-wheat couscous the general rule is to use 1½ cup of water for every 1 cup of couscous (a 1.5 to 1 ratio). For cooking pearl couscous, also known as Israeli couscous, you want to reduce the water to 2/3 cup for every 1 cup of couscous.

Once cooked, couscous pairs nicely with North African and Middle Eastern spices and ingredients. Fresh soft herbs like parsley, mint and coriander, tomatoes, spring onions, garlic, lemon, preserved lemon, olives, chilli, pomegranate, almonds and dried fruits are all good friends of couscous.

The main difference between pearl couscous and Moroccan couscous is the size. The grains of Moroccan couscous are much smaller, compared to the pea-size granules in the pearl variety (made memorable by their namesake). This, of course, affects the preparation and cooking time of each grain.

It makes a fluffy bed for veggies, fish, and meats, and perfectly soaks up hearty Moroccan chicken or lamb stews. You can even chill your couscous and toss it into a tasty Mediterranean salad! It's true what they say about it—it's the pasta so nice, they named it twice!

Is couscous healthier than rice? ›

While couscous and white rice have almost the same amount of calories per 100 grams, couscous contains more protein and higher amounts of vitamins and minerals so can be considered a healthier option in those departments. Both grains can support weight loss when incoporated into a balanced, healthy diet.

Like most Moroccan meals, couscous is traditionally served in a communal large round plate that everyone sits around to enjoy together. It's usually accompanied by small bowls full of extra broth to pour over the couscous.

Serve couscous under a stew of meat or vegetables. You could also eat it on its own mixed with dried fruit, like currants or raisins, and nuts, like almonds or pine nuts. Make a breakfast porridge by cooking couscous in milk and adding dates, honey, and cinnamon.