Cranberry Couscous – Healthy and super easy

Simple and flavorful
Cranberry Couscous

Last Updated on January 15, 2021

couscous with cranberry

Cranberry Couscous

Cranberry Couscous makes a delightful and healthful side dish. It’s quick and simple to make. It’s ready in five minutes and you can add different spices, fruit, or vegetables according to your taste. Cranberries have also been shown to be very good for preventing urinary tract infections.

We just moved into our new apartment this week, and we had to have a celebratory dinner. We still don’t have a refrigerator, that’s coming tomorrow, so I was a little hindered in exactly what I could make.

Because we don’t have a refrigerator, and I’m limited in what I can make, I went to the local small store near my office and bought 2 lovely chicken breast halves. I already had Parmesan and garlic, so I made Nancy’s Garlic Parmesan Crusted Chicken and I wanted something fun and interesting to go with it. Couscous is a favorite of ours, and they had a nice box there at the store just as I was going crazy trying to find the perfect side dish for my chicken.

If you have never made couscous, it couldn’t be simpler. Couscous is a fine-grained pasta that can have any number of extra ingredients to make it tasty. I chose onions and cranberries.

This is fine-grain couscous, not to be confused with Israeli pearl couscous. However, if you want to try pearl couscous, you could easily adapt this recipe to use those instead. We also like couscous with spring onions, raisins, and pinenuts. Trader Joe’s makes a boxed curried couscous which is just delicious. Please enjoy this side if it’s new to you.

If you want to make this completely vegan, you can substitute olive oil for the butter.

couscous with cranberry

Cranberry Couscous

Simple and flavorful
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Sitting time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Course: Dinner, Side Dish
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Diet: Vegetarian
Difficulty: Easy
Newsletter: 2022-10-31
Allergen: Gluten
Servings (slide to adjust): 4
Calories per serving: 287kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 ¼ cup fine couscous
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • ¼ onion, chopped
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
Ingredients necessary for the recipe step are in italic.

Instructions

  • 3 tbsp butter, 1/4 onion, 1/4 cup dried cranberries
    Melt the butter in a separate pan and saute the onions, just until they start to brown. Add the cranberries and saute them just until they slightly soften. Set aside.
  • 1 cup water, 1 1/4 cup fine couscous, 1/4 tsp sea salt
    Bring the water to boil in a medium-sized pan. Add the salt. When the water is rapidly boiling, remove it from the heat and add the couscous. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the cover and add onions, butter, and cranberries. Use a fork to fluff up the couscous.

Notes

If you can’t find dried cranberries, raisins do a fine job.

Nutrition

Calories: 287kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 7gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 192mgPotassium: 113mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1g
Got Questions? Let me know!Mention @arbpen or tag #arbpen!
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About arbpen

As an award-winning and serious home cook, I seriously believe there is no reason why you can't have a restaurant quality meal at home. One of the good things about eating at home is to save money, so armed with a good menu plan, a shopping list, and an appreciation of good food, we can all have gourmet food on a budget.

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