Is there anything better than a flavorful bowl of carefully crafted Greek Couscous? Perfectly cooked, lamb, of course! This recipe combines all of these flavors into a total hit in my house. Learn how to make Greek Couscous with Lamb with this easy to follow recipe!
What is Greek Couscous with Lamb?
Couscous itself looks and kind of eats like a grain, but it's actually more of a pasta. Most popular in Northern Africa (like Morocco), couscous is small balls of semolina flour. Often pan-toasted then cooked in stock, this bad boy can really soak up the flavor you lend to it. And flavor is not something we lack in this dish.
So, how do we take this traditional Moroccan dish and make it into a delicious bowl of Greek couscous? By adding some of our favorite Greek flavors, with lamb, dill, oregano, fresh veggies and of course, crumbly feta. The result is an easy to bite dish with a ton of flavor. So yummy!
Why I love Greek Couscous with Lamb
Okay, story time. Almost exactly ten years ago, when I was still in the early stages of dating my wife, I decided it was time to impress her. That's when I whipped up a batch of Greek Spaghetti with Lamb. Today, ten years, a house and a four-year-old daughter, she'll still swear that meal is when she fell in love with me. It wasn't my wonderful wit, or my princelike charm. It was a bite of lamb, pasta, perfectly paired veggies and seasonings that made her fall for me. It was literally a life changing meal.
But now, I've taken that core meal and flipped it into an awesome bite of couscous. The pearls of goodness pack even more flavor, but the best part is how much easier it is to eat. I love the flavors of Greek Spaghetti with Lamb, but sometimes it's a little tough to mix up like I want to in the bowl. With Greek Couscous, it's easy to mix everything well and get exactly the bite you're hoping to deliver!
When to make Greek Couscous with Lamb
In my house, this is a "when I want to make my wife happy" meal. Greek Couscous is always one of her first requests when I toss the "you in the mood for anything specific for dinner" question out. Plus, this is just flat out delicious.
It's definitely doable on a weeknight, but also makes a good Sunday dinner if you want to work at a slower pace. Especially if you want to sous vide your lamb, making sure you get the best results. I've also made this when family has come down to visit, since my wife thinks it's one of the best meals to show off my mad kitchen skills.
Greek Couscous with Lamb Tips and Tricks
- We're going to use Sous Vide to make our lamb with this recipe, but that's not required. If you do not have a sous vide machine (affiliate), simply sear the lamb in a cast iron or other heavy bottom pan for about 3-4 minutes on each side, seasoning first with salt and pepper. You want a good sear on your lamb, with some pink still in the middle since it'll finish cooking a little in the oven.
- This works much, much better with some fresh herbs. Fresh dill, fresh garlic and fresh oregano deliver much more flavor than anything out a jar. Go with the good stuff.
- If you can't get lamb at your grocery store, or are looking for a cheaper route, you can sub in boneless chicken thighs as well. The seasonings pretty much stay the same, you'll just want to cook them thoroughly before adding them to the couscous.
Let's Make Greek Couscous with Lamb
Mise en Place
Before we begin, let's get our Mise en Place ready, meaning having everything cut and ready to go.
- Dice onion and bell pepper, into a larger dice. We want to see the sauteed onions and peppers on our fork in the end. Place into a prep bowl
- Lightly crush garlic cloves and place in a prep cup.
- If you're feta came in a block, crumble it by hand. I crumble them into crumble about ¼ inch at its thickest. I want it crumbled enough it easily mixed, but thick enough that it has just a tad of bite in the end.
Cook your Lamb Option 1: Sous Vide
There are two options to cook your lamb. Here at Nerd Chefs, we obviously opt for the nerdier route whenever possible. For that, we'll cook our lamb sous vide. If you don't have a sous vide, no problem, go ahead and skip ahead. You'll season your lamb with salt and pepper and sear it down below.
For the sous vide, we'll set our water circulator to 131°. While the water is heating, season the lamb on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place lamb chops in vacuum sealing bag. Crush garlic cloves and add to bag, evenly distributing them around the bag. Seal the bag tight using an automatic vacuum sealer (affiliate) or the water displacement method. Place in water circulator for 3 hours.
Start making couscous
When your lamb has about 15 minutes left, it's time time get started on your couscous. Begin by preheating your oven to 450° while also preheating a 9-inch cast iron pan (affiliate) over medium heat on the stove. Add olive oil to pan and allow to heat for about 30 seconds before adding dry couscous. Stir couscous in pan until it begins to lightly toast, then remove to a heatproof bowl. Remove pan from heat.
Add diced tomatoes and oregano to pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and oregano. Place in center of preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
Develop a flavorful broth
While your veggies are roasting, bring your vegetable broth to a rolling bowl in a saucepot. I used the same burner I had the cast iron on just before. When broth reaches a boil, add 1 tsp kosher salt, dill sprigs, lemon zest and cumin. Reduce heat to keep at a rolling (not rapid!) boil and let cook for about 5 minutes, until ready to add to pan.
Roast the couscous!
When tomatoes are nice and tender, remove pan from oven and add vegetable stock (dill sprigs removed) and toasted couscous to pan. Fold together and cover pan tightly with foil. Return to oven for 20 minutes.
Sear that lamb!
Heat another pan over medium-high heat. Add a high-heat searing oil (I used Avocado oil). If you cooked the lamb sous vide as instructed, remove it from the bag. In either case, pat it dry with a paper towel. If your lamb was done sous vide, sear it in the hot pan for 30 seconds on each side, hitting every surface twice. If your pan is sufficiently hot, it should be well seared when it's done. Remove to a pan to rest.
If you did not cook your lamb sous vide, again, that's fine. Simply sear it for about 3 minutes on each side. Leave them undisturbed to help develop a nice crust. Again, remove to a pan to rest.
In either instance, when lamb is removed from pan, immediately add diced peppers, onions and the crushed garlic from the sous vide bag. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and place peppers and onions in heatproof prep bowl. Pick out garlic cloves and roughly chop, then add back to bowl.
Put it all together
After lamb has rested 10 minutes, cut loin chops into small bite size pieces. Make sure to cut around all bones and cartilage. Stir into bowl with peppers and onions, pouring in any pan drippings as well.
When couscous has cooked it's 20 minutes, remove foil and add lamb-onion-pepper mix as well as capers to bowl and stir in well. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, them remove from oven. Add feta cheese on top and broil on high until brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest about 2 minutes.
Spoon each serving into a wide bowl and finish with a spriled drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy immediately!
What to serve with Greek Couscous with Lamb
Most of the time, I just serve this on it's own. However, a nice caesar salad would be a good way to start. Or maybe even some baklava for dinner, if you're feeling fancy.
What to do with leftover Greek Couscous with Lamb?
This keeps well in the fridge for about 5-7 days. Simply reheat in the microwave until heated through and enjoy.
? Related Recipes
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- Greek Couscous with Sous Vide Lamb
- Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- Sous Vide Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
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- How to make Mashed Potatoes like a pro
Greek Couscous with Lamb
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 people 1x
Description
s there anything better than a flavorful bowl of carefully crafted Greek Couscous? Perfectly cooked, lamb, of course! This recipe combines all of these flavors into a total hit in my house. Learn how to make Greek Couscous with Lamb with this easy to follow recipe!
Ingredients
- 4 lamb shoulder chops
- 1 small yellow onion (diced)
- 1 red bell pepper (diced)
- 4 garlic cloves (diced)
- 2 sprigs fresh dill
- 2 sprigs fresh oregano
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 ½ cup pearl couscous
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 oz feta cheese (crumbled)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 tbsp Avocado oil (for searing lamb)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil (plus more for garnish)
Instructions
- Dice onion and red bell peppers into a larger dice, place in prep bowl. Lightly crush garlic cloves, place in prep cup. Crumble feta by hand, if necessary. Chop oregano leaves and place in prep cup. Chop dill sprigs and place in prep cup.
- Prep sous vide to 131°. Season lamb with salt and pepper and place into a vacuum seal bag. Place crushed garlic in bag and seal tightly using a vacuum sealer (affiliate) or the water displacement method. Place bag in sous vide for 2-3 hours. If you're not cooking your lamb by sous vide, simply continue with the step below.
- When your lamb has about 15 minutes left, preheat your oven to 450°. Also preheat a 9 inch cast iron pan (affiliate) over medium heat on the stove. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to pan and allow to heat for about 30 seconds. Stir couscous into pan until it begins to toast, about 3 minutes. Remove to a heatproof bowl. Remove cast iron pan (affiliate) from heat.
- Drain can of diced tomatoes and add to pan along with oregano. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Place in center of preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes. While your veggies are roasting, bring your vegetable broth to a rolling bowl in a saucepot.
- When broth reaches a boil, add 1 tsp kosher salt, dill sprigs, lemon zest and cumin. Reduce heat to keep at a rolling (not rapid!) boil and let cook for about 5 minutes, until ready to add to pan.
- When tomatoes are nice and tender, remove pan from oven and add vegetable stock (dill sprigs removed) and toasted couscous to pan. Fold together and cover pan tightly with foil. Return to oven for 20 minutes.
- Heat another pan over medium-high heat. Add a high-heat searing oil (I used Avocado oil). Remove lamb from sous vide bag and pat dry. Sear lamb in the hot pan for 30 seconds on each side, hitting every surface twice. If your pan is sufficiently hot, it should be well seared when it's done. Remove to a pan to rest.
- Immediately add diced peppers, onions and the crushed garlic from the sous vide bag. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and place peppers and onions in heatproof prep bowl. Pick out garlic cloves and roughly chop, then add back to bowl.
- After lamb has rested 10 minutes, cut loin chops into small bite size pieces. Stir into bowl with peppers and onions, pouring in any pan drippings as well. When couscous has cooked it's 20 minutes, remove foil and add lamb-onion-pepper mix as well as capers to bowl and stir in well. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, them remove from oven.
- Add feta cheese on top and broil on high until brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest about 2 minutes. Spoon each serving into a wide bowl and finish with a spriled drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy immediately!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Sous Vide
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 514
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 1,116mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 6.6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 64g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 20g
- Cholesterol: 42mg
Keywords: Sous Vide, Greek Lamb, Date Night Recipe