A bright, zippy, unexpectedly delicious couscous salad that’s packed with sweet potatoes, black beans, spinach, feta, and more – all tossed with a life-changing lime basil vinaigrette!
Couscous Salad with Lime Basil Vinaigrette
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You’re right, this was super delicious, and filling! Perfect summer dinner. The basil lime vinaigrette is my new favorite dressing!
Steffi
What a strange and delicious combination I’m about to feed you.
You’re looking at a beautiful, colorful, confetti-like bowl full of:
- Couscous
- Sweet potatoes
- Black beans – but any kind of beans are great!
- Spinach
- Feta
- Red Onion
- Pistachios – because I love them! but any nuts / seeds, or no nuts / seeds also work
- Lime basil vinaigrette
You think it might lean Mexican-inspired with the sweet potato black bean thing…. but then there’s feta and red onion… and some pistachios… and the lime basil vinaigrette is where things get pretty solidly quirky.
It’s so good, so nutritious (!!), and so nostalgic.
I used to make this salad all the time way back in the day, featuring a bottle of pre-made dressing, because that’s what my trusty five ingredient Cooking Light cookbook recommended. I was youthful and new to cooking and I loved easy recipes (still true, actually). Now I’m less youthful, more opinionated about things like making your own dressing, and ready for the still-easy but slightly more grown up version of this salad.
You still with me?
Our dressing here is a punchy lime basil vinaigrette. Which is kind of a lot going on flavor-wise because lime and basil are both big flavors. But big flavors get two thumbs up from me.
You have alternate dressing options if you’d like to stay closer to home on this: cilantro lime vinaigrette (use this same method but swap basil for cilantro). lemon vinaigrette (look here).
Or… you can trust me and plow forward fearlessly into the land of basil-heavy summery tasting green dressing.
Take a taste – do you need more of something? Salt? Oil? Lime? Basil? Tweak it till you get it just right and do not panic if it’s very very flavorful.
This is going to soak in with a bunch of otherwise plain veggies so we need it to be BOSSY.
Get all your stuff in a bowl, toss with dressing, salt and pepper, and muah. It’s summery, a little bit unexpected, and the best way to make lunch / veggies / nutrition / happiness all work together. If you’re hungry for more veggies (YUM) you’ll want to also add these recipes to your veggie rotation.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Couscous Salad:
Click here to see the step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
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Couscous Salad with Lime Basil Vinaigrette
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A bright, zippy, unexpectedly delicious couscous salad that’s packed with sweet potatoes, black beans, spinach, feta, and more – all tossed with a life-changing lime basil vinaigrette!
Ingredients
Units
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Couscous Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad
- 3/4 cup couscous
- 1 cup water
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 3 cups)
- one 14-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups baby spinach, cut into small pieces
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- half a red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios (optional)
- black pepper to taste
Lime Basil Vinaigrette
- 1 bunch of fresh basil (1/2 cup packed)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- juice of 1–2 limes (to taste)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, if needed
Instructions
- Pulse all dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth-ish.
- Cook couscous in 1 cup water, according to package directions. Fluff with a fork and cool.
- Place sweet potatoes in a skillet with about 1/2 cup water and a sprinkle of salt. Cover and simmer until fork-tender. Drain and set aside to cool.
- Toss all ingredients together with dressing, season with salt and pepper, and serve! (OR, store each ingredient individually for salads throughout the week.)
Equipment
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- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: couscous salad, meal prep salad, large batch salad, sweet potato salad, basil dressing, healthy lunch prep
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of magical black bean recipes. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Healthy Legume Lime Lunch Meal Prep Recipes Salads Spinach Sugar-Free Summer Sweet Potato Vegetarian
June 8, 2020
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Loved this one! Perfect quick and healthy dish. Works well with a cheeky little bit of Parmesan too…
That was so delicious!! I roasted the sweet potato in the oven. Will definitely make again!
I was just wondering if roasting the sweet potatoes would be a great option too!
Yep, we think that’d be delicious!
I was the first to love this post !!!
I am going to make this tomorrow (only thing I dont have is feta, might use Indian paneer cottage cheese cubes instead)
Sounds delicious!
This looks really tasty. Could you substitute quinoa if you are trying to keep it gluten free?
Sure!
Thank you for sharing this refreshing salad n dressing recipe
Really makes a difference
Delicious!! Will have to try them out
Lindsay, I made this salad today but used quinoa instead of couscous (because I didn’t have any on-hand), and I used Parmigiano Reggiano (because I didn’t have feta). It turned out sooooooooo fabulously and even Eddie likes it (although he pushes the sweet potatoes to the side). Such bold flavor with fresh basil and garlic. Kitty
So happy to hear this, Kitty!
Keep the healthy food blogs coming 🙂
Served this last night to dinner guests having never made it before and they RAVED. I used Arugala as I had no Spinach. Roasted the potatoes instead of steaming just cuz I love roasted things. And guess what? I totally forgot to add the Feta!! They RAVED. ( I loved it too.) Thanks. I do love all you and your team are about .
So glad this was a hit, Melinda!
Such a gorgeous salad!
Is this gluten free?
As is, this is not gluten-free because of the couscous. You could easily sub quinoa though to make it gluten free. 🙂
Made this today but used Quinoa instead of couscous and I subbed sweet grape tomatoes for the sweet potatoes. It was a hit!
Yummy!
This was so yummy!!! I’ve already made it twice this last week with quinoa and roasting the sweet potatoes. I think almost any veggie would be excellent in this. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
I’m happy I went food shopping yesterday and striving for excellence to revamp my diet because eating right is the best health insurance. 🙂
Could you substitute quinoa to make it gluten free?
Definitely!
This salad is delicious! Tasty and very healthy! Thank you…
So glad you enjoyed this, Danielle!
I love your Every Post.
If made to eat throughout the week, is it okay to have at room temp? Of course, I’d keep it in the fridge until I leave for work, but would it be okay to eat at room temp or does it need heated up? I’ve never had couscous and recently bought some to try….this looks delicious though!
Eating this salad cold or at room temp would be great!
Just made this meal prep style for lunches. I used quinoa instead of couscous, just because I had it on hand. I’m OBSESSED. Already planning to make it again next week.
Yay! So happy to hear this, Karen!
I made this tonight with quinoa instead of couscous and a cilantro vinaigrette instead of basil… it was delicious!!
Yummy! Glad you enjoyed this, Rachel!
Couscous salad its yumm. Do not have complete ingredients. Will be making it tomorrow. Loved this recipe . U can visit mine 👇
https://www.blogging-2020.com
I’m looking forward to making this! Does anyone have any recommendations on how to turn this into a dinner (without adding meat to the salad itself)? I’m gathering recipes that will be great for warmer summer nights, and this sounds perfect. Now I just need something to pair with it to turn it into a full meal, and I’m at a loss!
it really doesn’t need anything else…it is very filling and so delicious! maybe some watermelon to finish off the meal on a hot summer night…
You’re right, this was super delicious, and filling! Perfect summer dinner. The basil lime vinaigrette is my new favorite dressing!
We agree – the perfect summer meal right here! 😊
you could add cut up grilled chicken or some grilled shrimp … adds protein but it is very good on its own
I made this recipe and took it to a friends for dinner…let me say it was a HUGE HIT! I also made your green sauce and I decided to mix the two for my lunch this week…oh my goodness, it was a killer combination! now I cannot wait to try your white sauce! keep those recipes coming. Everything has been delish!
I substituted quinoa for the couscous. I’ve made this salad at least three times in the past couple of weeks.
💃
This is so so good! I used quinoa to make it gluten free, radishes in place of the red onion, and to reduce time, frozen sweet potatoes, steamed in bag. The flavors are so fresh, will definitely be making it again!
Yum! Love the idea of adding radishes here! Thanks for sharing, Libby. 🙂
Oh my goodness. This was SO, SO good! Honestly, for the first time in my life, I made a dish for “Meatless Monday”, and I was not disappointed! My husband was skeptical, but this is now a new favorite in our house!! I’m a frequent flyer to this blog, and have been for years, keep up the fantastic work!!
Yay! Love hearing this, Melissa!
Ok I tried this – I did not even have fresh basil- used dried and it was SO good! Everyone in my family loved it! Thank you!
Glad to know dried basil works well, too! Thanks for sharing, Margaret!
This salad was amazing! The whole family loved it and I will definitely make it again, definitely a crowd pleaser. It was even great as leftovers the next day!
We agree! So yummy as leftovers!