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Browned Butternut Squash Couscous Recipe

Browned Butternut Squash Couscous
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: About 50 mins | Makes: 8 cups

Cumin-scented butternut squash, almonds, and scallions flavor this simple, healthy whole-wheat couscous dish.

This recipe was featured as part of our Fall Ingredients recipe gallery.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 1/4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat couscous
  • 3 medium scallions (white and light green parts only), thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted, salted almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Prepare the squash: Peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler. Trim the top and bottom. Cut the neck from the bulb of the squash. Halve each piece lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Cut the squash into 1/4-inch cubes and set aside. (You will need about 3 cups. Save any remaining for another use.)
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the squash and cumin, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash is browned and fork tender, about 30 minutes; set aside.
  3. Place the couscous in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring the broth or water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Pour over the couscous and stir in reserved squash. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until couscous is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in scallions and almonds.
    Write a review | 16 Reviews
  • Browned Butternut Squash Couscous Recipe
    5

    I made this tonight, with a couple adjustments, and got rave reviews. First, I tried to find whole wheat couscous, but the only kind I could find looked like the food pellets we give my son's hamster, so I passed. I used quinoa instead. I cooked 1.5 cups quinoa in 3 cups chicken stock for 12 minutes and then mixed it with the squash and simmered until the stock was fully absorbed. The other change was to use fresh thyme instead of cumin...my wife does not care for cumin. Otherwise, I generally followed the recipe as written and thought it was pretty darn good. We served it with stuffed and roasted pork loin...I'd serve it again with any roast chicken/pork/turkey dish.

  • Hi karykat.

    I followed this tip to soften the squash:

    http://www.chow.com/food-news/55381/h...

    Then I just cut off the skin with a knife.

    Deborah from CHOW

  • karykat, you can refer to this video for harder skinned squash: http://www.chow.com/food-news/54731/h.... For butternut squash, cut off the stem and very bottom. Then cut the "neck" from the base, and if the squash is tender enough, peel with a "Y" shaped vegetable peeler.

    Amy Wisniewski, CHOW

  • This sounds very good.

    But, any tricks on chopping the squash to make this easy?

    I always think that sounds hard. Heavy to break open and peel.

  • This recipe was truly a breeze to make, and was delicious to boot. My only suggestion would be to use more squash than is called for, maybe 4 or 4 1/2 cups; that would balance out the squash-to-couscous ratio, for my personal taste anyways.

    (Full disclosure, I work at CHOW, but am a beginner cook.)

  • oh - chinese five spice would be yummy, too

  • For those not digging the cumin, try:

    Coriander, nutmeg and/or a touch of cinnamon
    Thyme and/or sage

  • Any other suggestions as to a cumin substitute? We don't like cardamom either!

  • I make a very similar dish using ginger and a tiny bit of cardamom in place of the cumin, littlerockcb.

  • What can you use in place of the cumin? My husband & I are not cumin fans.

  • Hi sharonanne. We've reformatted the recipe, for hopefully easier reading.

    Deborah from CHOW

  • I find it easier to use recipes with an ingredients list so here's my revision:

    3 Tablespoons of olive oil
    3 cups small-diced butternut squash
    2 teaspoons ground cumin
    2 ¼ c vegetable broth or water
    1 ½ c whole-wheat couscous
    3 thinly sliced medium scallions
    ½ cup chopped, roasted salted almonds

    Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it shimmers, add squash and cumin, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and stir to combine. Cook until squash is browned and fork tender, about 30 minutes; set aside. Bring broth or water to a boil. Pour couscous over broth, stir in reserved squash, cover, and set aside until couscous is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in scallions and almonds.

  • I finally made this tonight and it's lovely. I use whole wheat couscous which has a little bit more flavor than regular couscous. I didn't have almond on hand, so I used toasted walnuts instead.

  • Yes, quinoa would work, and it would probably taste better. You will probably need to simmer the quinoa in the broth for a few minutes before adding the squash though, since quinoa takes about 10-15 min to cook vs 5-10 min for cous cous. I'm not a fan of bland cous^2.

  • I was wondering what gluten free grain would be a good subsititute for the couscous? Would Quinoa work?

  • cOULD YOU USE FARRO INSTEAD OF COUSCOUS?

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