Roasted Vegetable Couscous (Easy Weeknight Dinner)

We’ve been making this roasted vegetable couscous for almost ten years now and it never gets old. It’s one of those weeknight dinners we can practically throw together on autopilot, but it still feels special every time. While the paprika-spiced roasted veggies do most of the work, the couscous is the perfect base to catch all the flavor. Everything gets tossed with a bright and tangy lemon vinaigrette and crumbled goat cheese that gets melty when it hits the warm couscous. The result is a simple, comforting, vegetarian pasta dish that’s delicious and endlessly satisfying. 

Why You’ll Love This Vegetable Couscous

• Super easy to make. The sheet pan does most of the work in this recipe, making it fairly hands-off. 
• Can be customized to your liking. You can change up the kinds of vegetables depending on their seasonality or your preferences. You can also make this dairy free or vegan by removing the cheese.
• Quick weeknight dinner. This recipe only takes a half hour to cook, leaving the rest of your evening free so that you can relax or do other things. You can also make the dressing and cut up the vegetables the night before (if you prefer meal prepping), which will save you more time when you’re ready to cook and eat.
• Hearty and nutrient-rich. This dish is mostly vegetables, so you get a boost of nutrients in every bite. The dressing uses healthier extra virgin olive oil too, which is full of monounsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory properties.

What is Pearl Couscous?

Despite the fact that it looks like a whole grain like farro or barley, couscous is a type of pasta. There are two main types of couscous: pearl couscous and Moroccan couscous. Both types are usually made with semolina flour and water, but they differ mainly in the size of the individual pasta grains. When cooked, pearl couscous grains are about the size of cooked lentils. Moroccan couscous grains are much smaller, resembling the size of cooked quinoa. For pearl couscous, the flour is typically toasted before the couscous is dried, unlike its smaller couscous cousin. 

The difference in size of the couscous grains also impacts their cook time and method. When making pearl couscous, you’ll usually want to toast the dry pasta grains in a pot or pan with a small amount of olive oil for flavor and texture. Then, you’ll add boiling water to the pot, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for a few minutes. For Moroccan couscous, it’s often good enough just to let it sit, off of the stove, in a covered pot with boiling water. For more information about couscous, check out this article by America’s Test Kitchen. 

Ingredients in the Roasted Vegetable Couscous

For this roasted vegetable couscous recipe, you’ll need:

• Pearl couscous – this light and fluffy pasta is the perfect base for this dish. You can get it from most large grocery stores, like Trader Joe’s, or online.
• Yellow squash – be sure not to cut them too thin or they’ll cook too fast and become mushy. You can also use zucchini instead, if you prefer.
• Broccoli –  broccoli is one of the unsung heroes of this recipe. Its toasty edges give the couscous a nutty bite. Be sure to cut it into individual florets similar in size to the bell peppers, onions, and squash. 
• Red onion – we love the color that red onion brings, but we’ve also made this with sweet onion and it’s just as good.
• Red bell pepper – we prefer the color of red bell peppers in this dish, but you can use orange or yellow peppers too. Green bell peppers aren’t as sweet so we don’t recommend using them in this recipe. 
• Smoked paprika – this gives the veggies a subtle smokiness and sweetness.
• Olive oil – oil helps the paprika, salt, and pepper stick to veggies and ensures that they roast evenly in the oven.
• Crumbled goat cheese – the goat cheese melts with the warm couscous and veggies, making them creamy and tangy. You can buy pre-crumbled or crumble the goat cheese yourself. Feel free to leave the cheese out entirely if you don’t eat dairy.
• Lemon vinaigrette – this dressing is tangy, savory, and a little sweet, and it brightens everything up. It’s made of olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, spicy brown mustard, and salt and pepper. 
• Salt and pepper – you’ll season the vegetables with salt and pepper when they roast, and you can add more seasoning to the couscous salad when it’s ready to eat.

How to Make this Roasted Vegetable Couscous

To maximize your time, we suggest mixing up the vinaigrette and cooking the couscous while your vegetables roast in the oven. 

Roast the Veggies

You’ll first want to get the veggies in the oven to roast. 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. In a large bowl, mix the veggies, olive oil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until the vegetables are fully coated.
3. Roast the vegetables for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing them halfway through to ensure even roasting and maximum toastiness. Remove from the oven and set aside. 

Cook the Couscous

While the vegetables roast, cook the couscous according to package directions. For ours, we did:

1. Toast 8 ounces (about 1 ⅓ cups) of dry couscous in about 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium pot for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the grains get slightly golden in color. 
2. Add 1 ¾ cups of boiling water to the pot of couscous. 
3. Bring the water in the pot with the couscous back to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. 
4. Remove the cover, take the pot off the heat, and fluff the couscous with a fork.

Make the Vinaigrette

1. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, spicy brown mustard, and salt and pepper to a jar or other container with a lid. 
2. Cover the container with the lid and shake the dressing until the oil and lemon juice are fully blended together and don’t separate (this means the dressing is emulsified). 

Bring it All Together

1. Add the cooked couscous and the roasted vegetables to a large serving bowl.
2. Mix in the crumbled goat cheese. It’ll melt a little and add some creaminess to the dish when it’s mixed with the warm couscous and vegetables. 
3. Add the vinaigrette (it may seem like a lot at first, but the couscous will soak it all up quickly) and mix everything to combine.

Serving Suggestions

• Enjoy this roasted vegetable couscous as a main dish with a refreshing glass of lemonade, a crisp white wine, or a hazy IPA (our favorite).
• Serve on the side of grilled chicken, like our Moroccan Inspired Spiced Chicken. It would also be great with our Sweet and Smoky Salmon, pork tenderloin, or even crispy tofu, like our Cacio e Pepe Tofu Bites. 
• Meal prep it and pack it for lunch. It’s delicious warm or cold.

Roasted Vegetable Couscous Recipe

5 from 2 votes

This roasted vegetable couscous recipe has been our weeknight favorite for nearly 10 years! It's easy, comforting, and full of flavor with roasted veggies, a bright lemon vinaigrette, and creamy goat cheese.

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Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy, Healthy

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Roasted Vegetables

• 1 red onion large diced
• 1 red bell pepper large diced
• 1 yellow squash quartered lengthwise & sliced into ¼ inch thick pieces (2 cups)
• 3 cups broccoli chopped into 1.5 inch florets
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Couscous

• 8 oz pearl couscous about 1 ⅓ cups dry
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ¾ cups water

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

Roast the Veggies

• Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, mix the veggies, olive oil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until the vegetables are fully coated.
  1 yellow squash, 3 cups broccoli, 1 red onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tbsp olive oil, Salt and pepper to taste
• Roast the vegetables for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing them halfway through to ensure even roasting and maximum toastiness. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Cook the Couscous

• While the vegetables roast, cook the couscous according to package directions. To do that, first toast 8 ounces (about 1 ⅓ cups) of dry couscous in about 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium pot for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the grains get slightly golden in color.
  8 oz pearl couscous, 1 tbsp olive oil
• Add 1 ¾ cups of boiling water to the pot of couscous.
  1 ¾ cups water
• Bring the water in the pot with the couscous back to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. 
• Remove the cover, take the couscous off the heat, and fluff it with a fork.

Make the Vinaigrette

• Add the olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, spicy brown mustard, and salt and pepper to a jar or other container with a lid.
  ¼ cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp spicy brown mustard, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper
• Cover the container with the lid and shake the dressing until the oil and lemon juice are fully blended together and don’t separate (this means it’s emulsified).

Bring it All Together

• Add the cooked couscous and the roasted vegetables to a large serving bowl.
• Mix in the crumbled goat cheese. It’ll melt a little and add some creaminess to the dish when it’s mixed with the warm couscous and vegetables.
  4 oz crumbled goat cheese
• Add the vinaigrette (it may seem like a lot at first, but the couscous will soak it all up quickly) and mix everything to combine.

Final Thoughts

For a decade this roasted vegetable couscous recipe has been one of our favorite, easy weeknight staples, and we still can’t get enough of it. If you make this recipe, let us know in the comments or tag us on Instagram! We’d love to see how it turns out!