Easy Garlic Couscous - The Fiery Vegetarian (2024)

This delicious easy garlic couscous can be made in under fifteen minutes and is also egg-free and dairy-free (vegan!). It makes the perfect quick side dish and has tons of garlicky flavor.

Why you’ll love it

• It’s quick to make (under fifteen minutes)
• It has a ton of flavor (it’s so yummy my kids ask for it by itself).
• You can easily modify the recipe for a milder garlic taste, or to add different herbs, some lemon, some parmesan, etc. according to your personal preferences.
• Detailed step-by-step instructions with photos mean you’ll get it right every time.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Take a quick look at the ingredients below to make sure you have the correct ones, and scroll down to see notes on them, and substitutions.

Couscous: You’ll need Morrocan couscous for this recipe, which is the smallest couscous grain. If you’re not sure what type of couscous you have, check out this handy couscous guide. Other types of couscous like Israeli (pearl) and Lebanese couscous are more difficult to work with so I don’t recommend using them in this recipe.

Salt: Couscous, like pasta, needs to be well salted so don’t omit the salt, substitute with a low-sodium version if needed.

Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves are a must for this recipe and can’t be substituted. You can dial down the amount of garlic used for a milder flavor if you prefer but I don’t recommend increasing it as this is a strongly flavored couscous.

Garlic powder: If you don’t have this you can just omit it, and again, you can reduce the amount used if you want a milder garlic taste.

Parsley: Fresh parsley adds a nice light touch to this dish but you can omit it if you don’t like parsley, or substitute it with fresh basil or cilantro depending on what you’re serving your garlic couscous with.

Olive oil: The olive oil adds a lot of flavor so don’t substitute it, and use an extra virgin olive oil preferably. If you’re not vegan you can also use high-quality unsalted butter, like Kerrygold.

Vegetable stock: Don’t substitute this, you can use homemade vegetable stock, store-bought cartons of vegetable stock, or just make some up with bouillon or stock cubes.

Detailed ingredient measurements can be found by scrolling down to the recipe card.

How to make it

This is a simple couscous recipe but I’ve broken it down and am showing you all the steps in the images below in case you’re unsure of anything.

1. Take four of the cloves of garlic, peel, cut in half lengthways, and finely slice as in image one below.

2. Add two tablespoons of the olive oil to a medium non-stick saucepan or pot, and heat on medium-high. Add the sliced garlic when the oil is hot as in image two above.

3. Fry the garlic until it’s lightly browned (this should take about one to two minutes), and then tip out the garlic slices and oil to a small bowl or plate as in image three below.

4. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Crush the remaining two cloves of garlic and add as in image four above. Fry for about one minute or until the garlic has lost that “raw” smell.

5. Add the vegetable stock, garlic powder, and salt (as in image five below) and increase the heat to high and cover the saucepan with a lid. When the water is simmering and starting to boil, proceed to step six below.

6. Add the couscous and stir quickly, remove the saucepan from the heat. It should look like image six.

7. Quickly cover the pot with a tightly fitting lid. If the lid doesn’t fit snugly or there is a steam valve in it, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil between the lid and the pan to ensure no moisture or steam escapes, as in image seven below.

8. Leave the couscous to steam for five minutes. Finely chop the parsley, and then remove the lid and foil and add in the garlic slices (in their oil) and parsley, see image eight above.

9. Lastly, grab a fork and fluff up your couscous and mix up the couscous, garlic, and herbs (see the image below). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Equipment notes

You’ll need just a few simple utensils to make this recipe.

• A medium-sized non-stick saucepan with a lid.
• A silicone, plastic, or wooden spoon.
• A garlic crusher.
• A good sharp knife for slicing the garlic and the parsley.
• A small bowl or plate to add the garlic slices and olive oil to.

Expert tips

Morrocan couscous is always best made by steaming with a ratio of one-to-one couscous to liquid. Ignore any package instructions that say otherwise!

Recipe FAQs

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