Couscous is an amazing side dish, pretty much the easiest one to prepare. Even with zero cooking knowledge you can serve fluffy couscous, favorite of many people, in literally 10 minutes. How to cook couscous, the easy and foolproof way.
You will only need a large bowl, the couscous, some salt, extra virgin olive oil and some hot water to prepare perfect couscous. And even the salt and olive oil are basically optional.
Some recipes suggest to use broth or stock instead of water. I think if you want to serve your couscous as a side dish, you don’t need the added flavor profile of the broth. But instead if you want to make a complete North African dish, adding some other ingredients, such as stewed vegetables and or meat, as well as cooking your couscous in a chicken or vegetable stock will definitely kick this dish up a notch.
The truth is, you don’t really need to “cook” couscous. You just need to pour hot water over your couscous and let it absorb it. In fact it is so easy to prepare the perfect couscous than a kid can make it easily.
The equation is also simple: you need 1:1 ratio of couscous and hot water. Just pour the hot water over your couscous, stir and cover with plastic wrap, and in 5-10 minutes your perfect fluffy Northwestern African side dish is ready to serve.