Pearl Couscous Recipe with Vegetables and Apricots
“Great recipe! I love the contrast between the spice and heat and the sweetness of the squash and apricots.” Linda
Smoky spices, sweet notes, and healthy veggies make this pearl couscous recipe a versatile, quick, and comforting Middle Eastern-inspired vegetarian side dish.

What to expect
The combination of pearl couscous, roasted vegetables and apricots, fresh spinach, and the richness of some butter (or olive oil if you prefer), creates a deep, flavorful, and very tasty side dish with lots of extra nutrients.
While Israeli couscous is often boiled like regular pasta and used in salads, this pearl couscous recipe infuses it with warm spices during cooking. Toasting the couscous beforehand adds a delightful nutty flavor.
Play around with the variations and shortcuts to suit your time, needs and tastes.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste

- Pearl Couscous – For this dish, buy pearl couscous (also called Israeli couscous), NOT regular couscous. Pearl couscous is a type of pasta made of small balls of semolina flour that look like pearls.
- Butternut squash: We’re using spiralized butternut squash for a bit of drama. You can dice it instead or use other vegetables.
- Spices: We use smoked paprika and a pinch of cumin and cloves. Experiment with your favorites – we have a few suggestions below.
Substitutes
- Couscous: Try orzo or acini de pepe pasta if you can’t find pearl couscous
- Vegetables: Roast other vegetables such as diced mushrooms, zucchini or red peppers instead of butternut squash.
- Spices: Try coriander, curry powder, nutmeg, regular paprika, thyme, etc. And add some heat with sriracha or red chili flakes if you like.
Add-ins and Garnish
- Lemon zest or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice will add some bright flavors as will lots of fresh herbs.
- Sprinkle the finished dish with toasted almonds, pine nuts or other nuts for crunch.
- Substitute dried cranberries or golden raisins for the dried apricots. These can be added while the couscous is cooking (not roasted).
- Garnish with fresh chopped cherry tomatoes and crisp cucumber. Or serve them on the side.
Step by step instructions





Tip
The dried apricots add great texture and a subtle sweetness. I tried roasting them with the vegetables and boiling them with the couscous. Both ways work fine. The only thing to add here is to be careful they don’t burn if you choose to roast (although I like a bit of char on mine).
What to serve with pearl couscous
Serve the couscous for dinner tonight as a main course if you like along with a salad and perhaps a ratatouille soup or vegetarian split pea soup. In this case, the recipe will serve two.
As a simple side dish, it pairs well with sous vide turkey breast, marinated flank steak, maple balsamic trout, rack of lamb on the grill, juicy grilled pork chops and balsamic glazed chicken. The couscous is a great way to add savory flavor to a meal.
Shortcut
- Skip roasting the vegetables and just sautƩ onions and another veggie to add to the cooked couscous e.g. mushrooms.

More pasta side dishes
- angel hair pasta with squash and kale
- orzo pasta salad recipe
- easy gnocci recipe au gratin
- Parmesan orzo with spinach
- pesto orzo and vegetables
- vegetable couscous
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thanks so much!
Pearl Couscous Recipe with Vegetables and Apricots
Ingredients
Roast vegetables, Note 1
- 1 cup diced onions, 1/4 inch/64mm (red onion or white)
- 2 cups spiralized/diced butternut squash (or mushrooms or bell pepper or combo)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and black pepper
Couscous
- 2 tablespoon butter (or oil)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoon minced or grated garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
- pinch ground cloves
- pinch cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon sriracha (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup toasted Israeli couscous
- 10-15 dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F/232C.
- ROAST VEGETABLES: Place onions, butternut squash (or mushrooms/red peppers) on a pan lined with foil and sprayed with oil. Drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Roast for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft and starting to caramelize to a golden brown.
- MAKE COUSCOUS: While veggies are roasting, place butter in medium saucepan on medium-high heat. When butter melts, add smoked paprika, garlic, cloves, cumin, sriracha. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous and apricots. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook covered for about 9-10 minutes or until couscous is soft (but still a bit chewy) and most of broth is absorbed (the remaining broth will absorb as it sits). If broth absorbs before couscous is cooked, add a bit more broth or water and continue cooking for another minute or two.
- ASSEMBLE: Add roasted vegetables and chopped spinach to couscous. Stir well until spinach wilts, about 30 seconds. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve immediately or set aside and then warm in microwave for a minute before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Variations and Substitutions
- Couscous
- For this dish, don’t use traditional couscous – only pearl or Israeli
- You can, however, substitute with orzo or acini de pepe pastaĀ if you can’t find pearl couscous
- Vegetables
- Roast other vegetables such as diced mushrooms, zucchini or red peppers instead of butternut squash.
- Spices and seasoning
- Play around with spices you like.Ā For example, try coriander, curry powder, nutmeg, regular paprika, thyme, etc.
- And add some heat with sriracha or red chili flakes if you like.
- Lemon zest or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice will add some bright flavors as will lots of fresh herbs.
- Add-ins
- Sprinkle the finished dish with toasted almonds, pine nuts or other nuts for crunch.
- Substitute dried cranberries or golden raisins for the dried apricots. These can be added while the couscous is cooking (not roasted)
- Couscous
- Shortcut: Skip roasting the vegetables and saute small dices veggies on the stovetop instead. This will save time heating the oven and sauteeing is a little faster than roasting.Ā
- Make Ahead:
- The couscous can easily be made a couple of hours ahead of serving. To reheat, just add a bit more broth or water and reheat covered in the microwave for about a minute. Toss then serve.
- Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 1-2 days in an airtight container. Reheat the next day in the microwave.
What a terrific recipe this is!
Very tasty and thoroughly enjoyed by us! š
I air-fried the vegies (cauliflower, red onion, sweet potato) and when they were done we air-fried a juicy pork chop! It worked really well adding the vegies to the cooking couscous mixture while the chops cooked. Followed the recipe but used my choice of veg mainly because that is what I had. We enjoyed the sweet pop of the apricots, a touch of heat from the spice and the fresh herbs on top. Lovely recipe thank you.
Itās a keeper!
Thanks for sharing your method Lorraine. So glad you liked the recipe!
I would like to try this recipe but wanted to clarify…it calls for “toasted” couscous? I am not just pouring it out of the package? I have to toast it first? And if so, how do I do that?
Thank you,
Andee
Hi Andee, Yes you are pouring it out of the package. Pearl couscous is typically sold as toasted pearl couscous (it’s already toasted).
This recipe is unreal! The flavor is incredible and perfectly balanced. I roasted mushrooms and bell peppers since butternut squash is out of season and I canāt wait to try this again once the squash is in season. Adding this into the weekly rotation!
Thanks so much Effie! Great veggie substitutes. We really appreciate you leaving a comment š
Was looking for a dish to go with fish for dinner and found this one. Easy to prepare as I had all the ingredients. Delicious! Highly recommend.
Not everyone has apricots lying around:) Glad you like the recipe Karyn. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
The recipe reads a bit confusing in terms of the when/how to add the apricots. You have it listed 3 different times:
Could you please clarify? Thanks!
Hi Michelle, So sorry for the confusion. I have updated the recipe now to make it clearer. The apricots should be added when cooking the couscous (not during roasting the squash and onions). Hope that helps.
I have not made yet but want to make for the holiday. I am wondering how well this recipe freezes?
Good question Jocelyn. Pearl couscous freezes well for a few months, but I haven’t tried freezing it with the cooked vegetables. I think the spinach may become slimy and the butternut squash a bit too soft or mushy, so I wouldn’t suggest freezing it. Probably not what you wanted to hear! You can try it of course (I’d love to hear how it worked), but with a holiday dinner, I probably wouldn’t risk it.
Not sure when to add the apricots. Can you clarify?
Hi Stephanie. If you look at step 3 in the recipe, you will see it there “MAKE COUSCOUS: While veggies are roasting, place butter in medium saucepan on medium-high heat. When butter melts, add smoked paprika, garlic, cloves, cumin, sriracha. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous and apricots“. Hope that clarifies it.
Thank you so much for the clarification, Cheryl!
I did make this and although it came out a bit sweet my husband and I still enjoyed it.(Iāll cut back on the apricots next time?
We used grilled summer veggies, cuz itās summer! What I really like about this recipe is that itās very versatile and forgiving. You could really change any of the herbs and spices to make it fit your palate.
Exactly. With a little experimenting, youāll find the flavours you love. Thanks for sharing.
Hi I’m making this as my side … do we roast the apricots first with other veggies or put them
In the couscous unroasted??? Hope you see this!!
Hi Barbara. I add the apricots to the couscous unroasted as per step 3. A bit of roasting may be nice, but I think they might burn at such a high heat.
Great recipe! I love the contrast between the spice and heat and the sweetness of the squash and apricots.
Thanks for leaving a comment Linda. Glad you liked it!