This tuna and couscous salad is a delicious, simple, light throw together couscous salad packed with flavors and made with a balsamic, herb and olive oil vinaigrette. Couscous is fast to prepare and simply toss together couscous, tuna, veggies, herbs and sprinkle with the balsamic dressing.
This colorful and great side, is so easy to prepare, because you just need to boil water to cook couscous. We often make this couscous and tuna salad as a stand alone dish in summer. A quick family favorite to prepare in summer, we love making this traveling, we just buy tuna, couscous and combine with veggies and spices we can find.
Want a light, veggie only side dish? See our Vegan friendly Couscous Salad.
How to make this light tuna and couscous salad
This is an easy throw together salad. Cook (rehydrate) the couscous. Make the simple balsamic vinaigrette by mixing in a jar with a lid that seals well and shake. Mix the all the salad ingredients; couscous, tuna, corn, bell pepper, olives, cucumber, parsley, basil and sprinkle with the balsamic vinaigrette.
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How to Prepare (rehydrate) Couscous
- Add couscous to sauce pan (150g) with an equal volume of boiled water(150 ml), put the lid on. (add some chopped parsley for flavor)
- Leave to hydrate for 5-10 mins until the couscous is soft.
- Fluff the couscous up with a fork, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper if you like.
- couscous is now ready to serve or use.
Add more flavor by preparing the couscous a vegetable stock or toasting the couscous in the pan before rehydrating. This will add a nutty flavor to the couscous. Just be careful when toasting that you do not burn the couscous, this goes quick!
How to make a Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette is made by mixing something acidic such as vinegar or lime juice with oil. Make this simple balsamic vinaigrette by mixing the ingredients below in a jar, screw the lid on tight and shake well.
- extra virgin olive oil (3 tbsp)
- balsamic vinegar (1 tbsp)
- parsley dry
- oregano dry
- salt & pepper
Tuna Couscous Salad Ingredients
Tuna couscous salad is an easy to prepare throw together salad you can change it up by using your favorite ingredients. Also consider; sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chickpeas or add some cheese.
Couscous – Couscous is not a grain, it is small steamed granules of rolled durum wheat (semolina), so it is closer to tiny pasta balls. Since couscous is made from wheat it is not gluten free. It is very quick and easy to cook and a great alternative to use for rice. Both pasta and couscous are types of durum wheat semolina, they are very similar nutritionally.
Tomato – most varieties of tomato will be good in this salad, important to go for ripe tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes cut in halves work well.
Corn – sweet corn from a can is good or corn of the cob if you want to go fresh.
Olives – we use black olives in this salad, they have a more mellow taste than green olives. Green olives is just olives that are not ripe yet and is firmer and more bitter than black olives.
Capers – they are edible flower buds of the caper bush, as a garnish they are quite salty and add a tangy, olive like and a lemony burst of flavor to the salad.
Bell Peppers – any color pepper is good, mix them up to make this salad fun and colorful!
Cucumber – present in most salads they bring a fresh and crispiness to this couscous salad, see our post showing how to cut a cucumber.
Onion – Red onions is delicious and look much nicer in the salad than the brown counterpart.
Herbs – we love fresh parsley and basil in any salad, chop up the parsley, only break up large basil leaves.
Tuna and Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- 150 gram couscous (2/3 cup)
- 170 gram tuna (2 cans)
- 100 gram black olives (1 cup)
- 50 gram capers (1/2 cup)
- 140 gram corn (1 cob/can sweetcorn)
- 350 gram cherry tomatoes (2.5 cups)
- 120 gram red pepper (3/4 cup)
- 200 gram cucumber (1 medium fruit)
- 40 gram red onion chopped (1/4 cup)
- 8 gram basil (1/3 cup)
- 10 gram parsley (3 tbsp)
Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 3 tbsp olive oil (45ml)
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (15ml)
- 3/4 tsp oregano dry
- 3/4 tsp parsley dry
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Prepare the Couscous – Put couscous in sauce pan (150g) add equal volume of boiled water(150 ml), put the lid on. Leave for 5-10 mins until the couscous is soft. Fluff the couscous up with a fork, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper if you like.
- Balsamic Vinaigrette – Add all the vinaigrette ingredients to a jar with a lid that seals well, shake well and sprinkle over the salad.
- Make the Salad – Add all the ingredients to a large salad bowl, splash with the salad dressing and toss.
Nutrition
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 6 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 286 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 12g | 15% |
| Saturated Fat 1.9g | 9% |
| Cholesterol 9mg | 3% |
| Sodium 614mg | 27% |
| Total Carbohydrate 33.7g | 12% |
| Dietary Fiber 4.4g | 16% |
| Total Sugars 4.8g | |
| Protein 13.4g | |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Calcium 45mg | 3% |
| Iron 3mg | 14% |
| Potassium 494mg | 11% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
More Awesome Tuna Recipes
Some more quick recipes to prepare with canned tuna.
What did you think of our Tuna and Couscous Salad ?
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