Chicken couscous with tomato salad

If there’s one established truth for recipe writers, it’s that they always underestimate the time it takes to hit that magical 30-minute time. If a recipe takes 35 minutes or even 40 minutes, it rounds down to a 30 minute recipe. So when I tell you that this chicken couscous recipe is a 20 MINUTE recipe, you can believe it.

I would have no reason to exaggerate if I went under the classic 30-minute time. But this really is one of the quickest dinners I can think of.

Of course there are a few tricks to helping you stick to this time, but none of it is difficult and you’ll end up with a truly delicious dinner to be proud of.

Let’s dive in and see why this recipe is fast climbing up my list of quick weeknight dinner recipes!

Why I love couscous

Couscous is technically pasta. It’s made from flour and water, but I believe it feels more like grain when eaten. Nutritionally, that’s not true, but it somehow feels lighter than a bowl of spaghetti.

Especially on summer days, I love the ease of couscous and the way it can be served with a variety of proteins and veggies. You can use it to make a salad, like my Couscous Tabbouleh, or use it as a base for something like these Buddha Bowls!

Above all, I love couscous because it is prepared very quickly. Simply bring water to a boil (check the exact ratio of your couscous), season with some fat (butter or olive oil) and a pinch of salt, then add your couscous. Turn off the stove, cover the pot and in five minutes it’s ready. BOOM.

How to cook couscous

While you can substitute pearl couscous in this recipe, I prefer just the quick-cooking little couscous. Most packages will give you basic cooking instructions, but if you’re smart you can buy couscous in bulk for pennies and it’ll keep in your pantry for a while.

To cook it, bring water to a boil on the stove. A good guideline is 1.5 cups per cup of couscous. Once it’s simmering, add some fat (either a tablespoon of butter or olive oil) and a large pinch of kosher salt to the water.

Add the couscous, mix with the water, turn off the heat and cover the saucepan. After five minutes, you can fluff the couscous with a fork and it’s perfect.

How to prepare the chicken cutlets

This probably comes as no surprise, but the key to making this dinner a 20-minute recipe (or 15-minute recipe, to be honest) is to do a little multitasking.

The chicken is the biggest part of the recipe, so I like to start with that first.

If you’re starting with whole chicken breasts, consider slicing them by slicing the chicken breasts horizontally. This makes them much thinner and therefore cooks them faster. Two chicken breasts should yield four 4-5 ounce chicken cutlets.

If the chicken breasts are more than 1/4 inch thick, you can pound them thinner or simply use your knife to score them further by unfolding them so they are thin.

Then add the cutlets to the flour mixture. I don’t even bother to put the chops in an egg or something like that before adding them to the flour. Your goal here isn’t to create a thick fried chicken crust, just lightly coat the chicken to add some texture.

Then, in a large skillet, sear the chicken breasts in about 1/2 cup olive oil until golden and cooked through, 4–5 minutes per side.

Prepare the fresh tomato salad

While the chicken is cooking, cut your fresh tomato salad into chunks. I keep it very simple, but having a light, fresh topping for this chicken is important.

A few Roma tomatoes, some sliced ​​red onions, cucumber and some crumbled feta is all you need. I don’t even season this salad with more than a pinch of salt.

How to make an easy pan sauce

Honestly, this is a step you can skip if you want, but I have a hard time staring at a leftover pan after pan frying chicken and NOT making pan sauce.

It’s very easy and only takes a minute or two. Drain off excess oil and place pan on low heat. Add some butter and reserve any pieces of chicken in it. Once the butter is mixed in, drizzle in the chicken broth and use it to scrape any leftovers off the pan.

As the sauce simmers, it will thicken. Once the sauce has a light consistency, season with lemon, salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken couscous

If done right, you’ll be serving this chicken couscous dinner on the plate about 20 minutes into the cooking. Place some couscous on each plate, top with chicken cutlets and some pan sauce, then serve or sprinkle with the tomato salad.

Substitutions and Ideas

I could do a whole series on this chicken couscous idea alone. But here are some ideas.

• Refine the flour mixture with other spices. Try turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli powder or Italian spices.
• Skip the pan sauce and serve the chicken topped with a homemade pesto sauce.
• Instead of chicken, try very thin pork chops or even crispy tofu. (My Crispy Tofu Tutorial)

My quick chicken couscous with tomato salad recipe

Here are a few other quick recipes to try!