I love couscous.
We have some sort of couscous salad for dinner at least a couple times a month. The texture, the way couscous can act as a vehicle to make a whole bunch of delicious veggies into a meal…I could go on and on about why I love couscous so much!
Not too long ago I decided to think outside of the box with couscous, and ended up creating these couscous patties. These patties are kind of a cross between a veggie burger and falafel, and they’re definitely Mediterranean in flavor! My couscous patties are full of delicious fresh mint and parsley, pine nuts, and one of my all time favorite spices, smoked paprika!
Another of my favorite things, nutritional yeast, adds protein and a delicious flavor to these couscous patties. If you’re familiar with my recipes, you already know how much I love nutritional yeast! I won’t take too long singing its praises here, but please get some of this amazing stuff if it’s not already a pantry staple!
A little bit goes a long way, and with 8 grams of protein in ¼ cup, nutritional yeast is super healthy for you! If you’ve never cooked with nutritional yeast before, it imparts a slightly cheesy, nutty flavor to dishes. Delicious! But nutritional yeast can be expensive in the grocery store. Here is my favorite brand and deal for quantity and quality.
I like to serve these couscous patties with a side of hummus and my easy green beans, also included in the recipe below. These green beans are slightly garlic-y, slightly smoky, and super easy. Seriously, these beans come together so quickly! They are perfect for a night when you want to add some veggies to your meal, don’t want to spend a lot of time or effort, and don’t want to just throw some lettuce on your plate.
If you’re a couscous lover like me, or just looking for a different way to enjoy this amazing grain, give these easy couscous patties and green beans a try! Make this dish for dinner this week, and let me know if you and your family enjoy this meal as much as mine does!
Easy Couscous Patties and Green Beans
Ingredients
For the couscous:
- 1 ¼ cup couscous, rinsed
- 1 ¼ cup water or vegetable broth, boiling
- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil
Everything else:
- 2 eggs
- OR
- 1 flax seed egg, (3 Tbsp water + 2 Tbsp ground flax seed)
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
- 1 ½ tsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Olive oil, for frying the patties
- Feta cheese, to serve (optional, omit to keep the patties vegan)
For the green beans:
- 24 oz bag haricot verts, frozen (or green beans)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp onion salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
Prepare the couscous
- In a large mixing bowl, add the couscous, sea salt, onion powder, smoked paprika, and pepper. Don’t even worry about mixing them together, just put them all in the bowl!
- Now drizzle the 2 tsp olive oil over the top.
Boil the vegetable broth/water
- Bring the vegetable broth/water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Once boiling, remove from heat, and pour it over the couscous. Shake the mixing bowl a few times to distribute the liquid, then cover the bowl with a plate or a kitchen towel.
Steam the couscous
- Steam the couscous for 10 minutes. (If using the flaxseed egg, now is a good time to make it. Simply whisk the water and ground flaxseed together in a small bowl, and let it sit for 5 minutes until the mixture gets thick and goopy.)
- After the couscous has steamed for 10 minutes, remove the plate/towel from the top of the bowl, and fluff the couscous with a fork.
Finish and refrigerate the couscous mixture
- Now add in the eggs/flaxseed egg, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, parsley, and mint. Stir so that everything is really mixed together and well incorporated.
- Place the mixture in the fridge, and refrigerate for at least a half hour. We want the mixture to be chilled so that our couscous patties stay together when we fry them!
Form the patties
- Once chilled, use your hands to make hamburger-like patties out of the couscous mixture. These can be as big or as small as you want—you could even roll them into little balls like falafel or meatballs! I prefer to make them into patties about one inch thick and two inches in diameter.
Fry the patties
- In a large skillet, heat a few Tbsp of olive oil. Now add 3-4 patties to the skillet, depending on size of patties you made. (Don’t crowd the pan!)
- Fry the patties over medium-low heat until the side of the patty in the pan turns golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Now flip and let the other side brown, another 5-7 minutes. Remove the patties from the pan, and continue to fry in batches until all of the couscous patties have been fried. (I get 10-12 patties.)
Make the green beans
- While you fry the patties, make the green beans.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat for a few seconds. Add the whole bag of haricot verts to the skillet, followed by the sea salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and onion salt. With your spatula, carefully toss it all together to incorporate the seasonings.
- Cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until the liquid is mostly gone and the green beans are heated through. Toss the beans occasionally with your spatula while they cook.
- Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Taste, and add more salt or lemon juice to preference. Green beans are done!
Serve!
- Sprinkle some fresh feta on top of each couscous patty, if desired. Serve with the green beans and a side of hummus!
2 Responses
Ever since I’ve seen a photo of these beauties on Instagram, I knew I wanted to make them! They sound absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for sharing, Shannon!
Awwww Thank you Katerina!!!! You are too sweet! Hope you enjoy them! Thank you so much for your lovely comment, and for stopping by! Hope you have a fantastic weekend! ❤️