A comforting Israeli couscous soup in a tomato broth. It's a vegetarian soup and vegan friendly. This soup is a wonderful addition to your weeknight dinner, especially in the wintertime. The tomato broth is so flavorful, rich and garlicky, and is seasoned perfectly with healthy herbs and spices. Delicious and budget-friendly!
Why You'll Love this Couscous Soup:
If you are looking for easy soup recipes to make this winter, look no further. This Israeli couscous soup can be ready in less than 30 minutes, from preparation to cooking on a stove. You can also make this tomato-based in a slow cooker or instant pot.
Also, try this delicious slow cooker lime chicken with couscous recipe.
This aromatic Israeli couscous soup is made with simple ingredients that you can find in your pantry and loaded with vegetables: Israeli couscous, onions, carrots, tomatoes, chicken broth, mint, cumin, and coriander leaves (cilantro). It's delicious, nutritious, and very inexpensive to make. Now let's talk about all the ingredients used in this soup recipe.
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Israeli Couscous:
Couscous is a staple food in North African and Israeli cuisines. It’s usually served as a side dish or as a main dish. Couscous is made from semolina, which is the hard part of the grain of hard wheat. It contains gluten. There are three main types of couscous in the market: Moroccan couscous, Lebanese couscous, and Israeli couscous.
For this recipe, we are going to use larger couscous, which is also called pearl couscous and is known as Israeli couscous. Israeli couscous is a unique Mediterranean toasted pasta. Couscous is relatively quick to cook and therefore makes the perfect addition to any quick recipe for your busy weeknight.
Couscous is also inexpensive. I purchased a box of Israeli couscous from my local Trader's Joe for under $2.
Broth:
For the broth, I used a combination of chopped tomatoes and chicken broth. If you are a vegan, feel free to use vegetable broth as an alternative ingredient.
A combination of aromatic vegetables can give a subtle background flavor to broth or soup. For that reason, I use a generous amount of onion, garlic, and carrot to give the broth a great flavor.
Herbs and Spices:
In this recipe, I used a generous amount of fresh mint, ground cumin, cayenne pepper,and cilantro to add complex flavors to the soup fit for that region. I’m such a fan of ethnic food, and herbs and spices are always an integral part of capturing the right taste.
Adapted from The Soup Bible.
📖 Recipe
Couscous Soup
Ingredients
- 1½ cups Israeli Couscous, (dried, uncooked)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ cups diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 6 garlic cloves
- 6 cups broth
- 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
- 3 sprigs fresh mint leaves, (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 5 sprigs fresh cilantro leaves, (chopped)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot, add onion and carrots, then cook gently for about 10 minutes at low heat until softened.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, broth, mint, cumin, cilantro leaves, cayenne pepper, and couscous.
- Increase to medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for about 7 minutes or until the couscous is fully cooked but not mushy.
- Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and additional fresh herbs or spices if needed.
- Serve with your favorite toppings such as bread or fresh herbs.
Notes
- Follow step (1)
- Put all the ingredients (except the couscous) into a slow cooker or crock pot and stir well.
- Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours.
- Add couscous about 30 minutes before the end of cooking time or until couscous is cooked. OR cook the couscous separately and then pour into the soup before serving, stir well.
Sharon says
Tasty but way too much couscous. I did not use Israeli couscous, just what I could get at the grocery store. More like a couscous dish, not soup.
Rika says
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you found the recipe tasty. I appreciate the note about the couscous—using a different type can definitely affect the texture and ratio. If you try it again, you might want to reduce the amount of couscous to suit your preference for more of a soup-like consistency. Thanks again for sharing your experience!
Best,
Rika