I can’t think of a better recipe to re-share in the new year than this beautiful, hearty, veggie-packed salad filled with warming flavors and wonderful textures.
I first shared this warm roasted vegetable couscous salad at the beginning of last year, and it quickly became an all-time reader favorite salad. This bowl of goodness has tender roasted butternut squash, crispy chickpeas, sweet and savory toppings, and the BEST maple apple cider tahini dressing.
Whip it up this winter when you’re looking to get some more veggies in (I know I am post-holiday season!) and enjoy as is or serve it with some roasted chicken for extra protein. I can’t wait for you to try this one if you haven’t already!
Ingredients in this harvest couscous salad
Gather up some winter veggies and warming spices, and get ready to make this dreamy couscous salad. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Produce: you’ll roast up butternut squash and a red onion, and toss them with kale, parsley, and cilantro.
- Chickpeas: this salad gets a boost of plant-based protein from a can of chickpeas. You’ll roast them right up with the veggies for extra crunch.
- For roasting: toss the squash and onion in olive oil, maple syrup, turmeric, coriander, thyme, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.
- Couscous: I love the extra heartiness that pearl couscous adds to the salad.
- For the dressing: the creamy cider maple dressing is made with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, tahini, maple syrup, garlic, dijon mustard, salt & pepper.
- To garnish: pull it all together with dried cranberries, roasted & salted pepitas, and crumbled feta cheese.
Customize this roasted vegetable couscous salad
There are tons of ways to really make this salad your own with your fav veggies and mix-ins. Here’s what I can recommend:
- For the squash: feel free to use honeynut squash or sweet potato in place of the butternut squash.
- For the dried cranberries: I also love dried cherries and chopped dates in here!
- For the feta: goat cheese would also be delicious.
- For the pepitas: try toasted sliced almonds, pecans, or walnuts.
Make it vegan or gluten-free
- To make vegan and dairy-free: simply skip the feta.
- To make gluten-free: swap the couscous for quinoa (or gluten-free pearl couscous if you can find it!) I suggest making 1 cup of quinoa according to the directions on the package.
Try an extra boost of protein
If you’re not vegetarian, this salad is wonderful with cooked, shredded, or cubed chicken. Feel free to use up leftover rotisserie chicken for ease!
Sliced, sautéed chicken sausage would also be delicious.
Don’t forget these kale salad tips
Raw kale is tough and slightly bitter, so use these tips to prep it for this harvest salad:
- Finely chop it. De-stem the large stems of the kale leaves, then use a sharp knife or salad chopper, or pulse the kale a few times in a food processor to get it nice and fine.
- Dress it first. You’ll toss the kale, couscous, parsley, and cilantro in half of the dressing so that the kale softens up and starts to soak in the flavors in the dressing.
Serving a crowd?
I like to layer the salad on a platter by adding the kale couscous mixture to a large platter, then topping with all of those lovely garnishes. This harvest couscous salad is delicious served warm or cold!
How to store this harvest salad
Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Kale doesn’t break down as easily as other greens, so it will still be flavorful and filled with textures after the first day!
Our favorite salad tools
- Salad chopper
- Salad spinner
- Mason jars
- Dressing containers
- Serving bowl with tongs
- Meal prep containers
Get more of my favorite kitchen tools here!
More salad recipes you’ll love
- Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad
- Brussels Sprouts Kale Honeycrisp Apple Salad with Maple Cider Dressing
- Curried Chickpea Couscous Salad
- Winter Butternut Squash Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad
- Asiago Arugula Pear Salad
Get all of my salad recipes here!
I hope you love this warm roasted vegetable couscous salad! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Warm Roasted Vegetable Harvest Couscous Salad
Ingredients
- For the roasted vegetables:
- 3 to 4 cups cubed butternut squash (or sub honeynut squash or sweet potato)
- 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional for a little kick)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the salad:
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale, destemmed and finely chopped
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- For the apple cider maple tahini dressing:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Toppings and garnish:
- ½ heaping cup dried cranberries or cherries (or sub chopped dates)
- ½ heaping cup roasted and salted pepitas (make sure to get them roasted and salted bc they have much more flavor!)
- 4 ounces feta (or sub goat cheese), crumbled
- Freshly ground salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roast the vegetables: Add the butternut squash, chickpeas and red onion to the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and pure maple syrup. Sprinkle vegetables with the spices: salt, turmeric, coriander, thyme, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper (if using), and a few grinds of black pepper. Use clean hands to toss the vegetables together until they are well-coated with spices, then spread out on the pan in a single layer. Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until vegetables are fork tender and chickpeas are crispy.
- Prepare the couscous: While the veggies, cook the couscous. In a medium pot, add the water, couscous and salt and bring to a boil. Stir couscous, then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed. Transfer to a large sieve and drain any excess liquid, then return back to the pot to keep warm.
- Make the dressing: While the couscous cooks, make the dressing. In a medium bowl, add the olive oil, tahini, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, dijon, and salt until well combined.
- Transfer the couscous, chopped kale, parsley and cilantro to a large bowl and pour in half of the dressing. Use tongs to toss until dressing coats everything well, about 1 minute.
- Assemble the salad: If you want to serve this ‘family style’ or on a platter: add the kale and couscous mixture to a large platter, top with the warm roasted vegetables, then garnish with cranberries (or cherries, or dates!), pepitas and feta.
- Serve the salad: Divide into individual bowls and drizzle with remaining dressing and garnish with extra flaky salt and black pepper. Salad is delicious served warm or cold.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on January 2nd, 2025, and republished on January 4th, 2026.
Hello, this salad looks delicious, thank you for the recipe! Quick question: how do you store chickpeas? I’ve tried every possible method, but no matter what, they always end up soft and dry after 1–2 days of storage.
The chickpeas will soften in the salad as it’s stored in the fridge, but you could instead store them in a jar at room temp with a loose fitting lid and just add your desired amount to your portion of the salad to keep them crispy!
This recipe is delicious!!! Made as directed, but I didn’t have pepitas so I left those off. I will definitely be making this again (and adding pepitas next time)! It’s so flavorful and nourishing and just makes me feel so good.
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
This was so good & filling! Reminds me of sweet greens salads. I omitted the chickpeas since they are well received in my house. Used quinoa vs couscous. I baked some chicken with it and looking forward to a yummy lunch the next few days! Does take some time to prep but perfect for a Sunday meal prep
Absolutely! Love this one for meal prep 🙂
This salad is amazing! I didn’t have pepitas, and didn’t substitute with anything in its place. I used cumin as suggested. This has a nice kick, and the layers of flavors that come through beautifully. While it looks like a lot of ingredients, the spices are all common and I had on hand. Everything else is easy to get and prep. We loved this!!!
Perfect!!
10 out of 10! Made this tonight minus the feta for my vegan husband, and we both LOVED it! Hardest part was peeling the squash and it was super quick to put together while assembling other meals for my 3 eaters (2 of which ate bowls of couscous ha)
Our new fav, too! So happy you both loved it 🙂
This was so flavorful and delicious! I swapped butternut squash for sweet potatoes and it turned out great! If you’ve been looking for a winter harvest bowl, this is it!! 👏🏼 it was a very quick recipe, too!
Love it!!
I made this for my meal prep this week and it is absolutely delicious! I chopped the squash the day before to cut down on prep time. I also subbed pistachios for pepitas since that’s what I had but otherwise made as directed and it was incredible!!
So happy to hear that! Great idea to pre-cut the squash 🙂
It was delicious, filling, and nourishing! The only sub I made was sunflower seeds for the pepitas because I accidentally used all those yesterday in a granola recipe. I used frozen diced butternut squash from our garden but I’d sub sweet potato or store bought diced squash if needed because I hate peeling squash 🤣 it was a breeze to make even with three kids underfoot. Quick and easy and not much clean up!
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
This is exactly what I was looking for and needed post holidays! I loved this salad so much! I ended up using a mix of cranberries and dates, sweet potato, and goat cheese, I do think quinoa (as mentioned) would be a great swap for the couscous. I will be making again!
Absolutely! This is perfect for customizing 🙂
This is one of the best things I’ve made in awhile! The combination of colors, textures, and flavors was perfect. Left me feeling very satisfied and nourished!
Glad you loved it! It’s our new favorite salad, too 🙂
This salad looks delicious and I’m eager to try it out! My partner is allergic to so many things and sesame is a big one. Do you have any suggestions on what to substitute the tahini with? Or if omitting it would be okay?
I wondered the same thing about a substitute for tahini – my daughter is allergic to sesame also. Can you just skip that ingredient – or need to add something else?
I cannot vouch for this recipe, because I haven’t made it yet, but I usually substitute almond butter for tahini and it seems to work well.
Almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter will work!
Cashew, almond, or sunflower seed butter should all be good!
Made for meal prep lunches for the week. Added chicken breast that I made seasoned with similar as the roasted veg and subbed farro for the pearl couscous and sweet potatoes for the butternut. Turned out amazing! Such a great salad that keeps well over the course of a workweek.
Absolutely! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
Great recipe!
I never post on recipes but this one was so delicious I had to give it 5 stars.
So glad you loved it! Thanks for your note 🙂
I’m not a fan of kale, would fresh spinach work? If so, how much!!
Spinach will work but make sure toss everything together with the dressing (instead of dressing the spinach + couscous first) and note that the salad will only stay good for about a day as the spinach will wilt!
Delicious!! I used sweet potatoes and roasted and salted pistachios but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. So good will definitely make again and maybe add chicken
Love it!! This would be delicious with chicken, too 🙂
So good! Perfect meal prep lunch, i did use red kale as it was all i could find at my grocery store but nonetheless very good!!
One of my new favs! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I followed the instructions exactly. Came out perfectly and so flavorful and delicious. I used the sweet potato route.
So glad you loved it!
This salad is truly amazing! I’ve made it about 4 times in the past 3 weeks and it has yet to disappoint in any way. I have subbed toasted walnuts and sunflower seeds for the pepitas just to use what I have on hand and it has been delicious both ways. I have also used almond butter and peanut butter in place of tahini, both of which have been delicious. This past time, I upped the apple cider vinegar to 1/4 cup and it took it to the next level. I’m an avid salad girlie but these kale couscous salads are next level! Monique, thank you for this salad recipe that has been fueling my body so well these past few weeks, even through illness!
This one’s perfect for customizing! So glad you love it and hope you’re feeling better!
Oh my goodness, this is one of my new favorite salads. It is SO good! The seasoning for the veggies, the sauce, the toppings, all of it is perfect! I meal prepped it and ate it cold rather than warm, and it was still amazing!
So happy to hear that!!
Help. How much is “one bunch” of kale?
The produce section of the grocery store should sell them in fresh bunches that are about 1lb or 6-8 big leaves!
This recipe did not disappoint! So hearty, nourishing, and delicious! Can’t wait to make again (and again and again)
Absolutely! Glad you loved it 🙂
Swapped in sweet potatoes, dates, pistachios, and goat cheese since that’s what I had in hand. Great flavours!
Love it! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
I made this exactly as written. It was fantastic! I could not get enough of it. Thanks Monique for another amazing salad recipe.
So happy to hear that!
This is so delicious! I make a maple vinaigrette (sesame allergy precludes tahini dressings, sadly) and sub dates for cranberries. The spicy roasted veggies and all those textures! Really great, we’ve made it twice in under a month.
perfect! So glad you loved it!
Ok, can we just talk about this dressing?? Your dressings are always SO on point, but this is practically drinkable! Your sunshine dressing (and the paired salad) is my usual go to, but this is some serious competition! Delish mix of flavors, thank you as always!
Right?! I pride myself on homemade dressings haha 🙂
I made this for lunches this week, and tried a bit for dinner. It is amazing. I added some shredded red cabbage and carrot from the fridge for extra color, and cubed up and baked some extra firm tofu with the squash for extra protein. I am so excited to eat this all week, and will definitely add it to my regular rotation.
This one’s so great for customizing! Glad you enjoyed!
So delicious! I added chunks of red bell pepper to the roasting pan.
Love that!!
This dressing is to die for. I ended up skipping the couscous, just to keep carbs a little lower and this is still SO GOOD. Perfect winter salad without being too salad, if ya know what I mean.
The best!! I’ve seriously made it dozens of times already, too.
This is so good. The combination of all the flavors hits the spot! On our family’s regular rotation!
Our new fav, too! So glad it’s a hit in your house 🙂
Made your recipe it was delicious! I enjoyed the dressing with it. It will go with other salads.
Absolutely! Such a versatile dressing.
This is so good! I make it just exactly as you describe and look forward to it every time. It’s a go to salad for me and my family now!
One of my new favs, too! So glad you all love it 🙂
This is one of my favorite recipes of yours now. I keep making it on repeat! Sooo delicious.
So happy to hear that!
great salad , but made a few subs for the veggies, had a ton of yellow garden squash so used that , used garden carrots , and threw in some spinch for good measure, and it turned out great, looking forward to more of your recipes
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
I made this nourishing salad yesterday for dinner for 3 friends–everybody loved it & had multiple helpings! I made it with sweet potato, thinking it would be easier to peel and cut up than a squash but really I don’t think it was easier! One giant sweet potato made 4 cups of cubes, perfect. I purchased a 1 lb bag of finely diced curly kale (they didn’t have Tuscan) so I made sure to massage the kale about 5 minutes as recommended to soften it up a bit. I only used 1/2 of the bag, it was plenty. I completely forgot to put the Feta on but we had crumbled gorgonzola already on the table so we put that on…LOVED IT!! And since I had sunflower seeds I topped the salad with those. It does make a beautiful platter of tempting, healthful food. The only thing that gets me is that it ALWAYS takes me way longer to prep a recipe than what the directions say. In this case, instead of 30 minutes to prep, it took me FOUR HOURS!! There is an awful lot of cutting and measuring the ingredients.
I’m thrilled to hear that everyone loved it! Great idea to use sweet potato and gorgonzola 🙂 Sorry to hear that it took so long to prep! Feel free to pre-chop any ingredients you’d like next time to help speed things along. Once you make a recipe, too, it’ll just get faster!
This was delicious. We made it for dinner and my 14YO daughter and her friend loved it. I couldn’t find roasted and salted pepitas so I toasted them up and added salt. Bc my husband is GF we used the quinoa reco and it was a great substitute.
Amazing! So glad it was a hit!
This was amazing, flavours were perfect! I sub spinach for Kale and added chicken for hubby. Thanks, I will definitely make this again!
Love that! Glad you both enjoyed!
This is soooo good! And totally forgiving of substitutions. Can’t wait to make it again!
Absolutely! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 glad you loved it!
This salad was absolutely delicious! Normally I don’t like savory salads with dried fruit but this was so tasty! The spices along with the dressing and roasted butternut and chickpeas along with the pearl couscous was just so good. You take a little bite and can’t stop eating it. I gave some to my mom and she was floored. I think this will be my next potluck bring along.
So glad you loved this one!!
Absolutely delicious! We used some crumbled vegan cheese because I’m dairy free and added sliced grilled chicken breast. So filling, so full of nutrients and the flavors are amazing.
Perfect! Such a great lunch!
Came out great! Cant wait to make it again.
I’m so glad!
This was a hit at friendsgiving! I decided to use sweet potatoes and goat cheese instead of squash and feta, and it worked out well. Definitely will be making the dressing again just to keep in the fridge.
Perfect! So glad everyone enjoyed!
This is the most requested recipe when I bring it to gatherings. I didn’t change a single thing!
So good! One of our all-time favs, too 🙂
Wow. Don’t miss out on making this recipe. It is fabulous and healthy!
One of my all-time favs! Glad you loved it!
We just LOVE your website and your recipes! Congratulations on a job well done. Anyone can see that you have put your heart & soul into it. We wish you & your family a Bright, Happy & Blessed New Year!! Thank you for the love shared with one & all…
I’m so glad! Thanks you so much, and happy new year to you as well!
Wow! I have been trying to get my husband to adopt a more vegetarian diet for 5 months. This is the first thing I made that three bites in he turned to me and said this is a keeper. It is dam delicious!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. There is hope for this to work yet!
Amazing! So glad he loved it 🙂 One of our all-time favs, too!
This was such a delicious meal. I made this after a chilly afternoon XC skiing and it was warming and filling. I didn’t have couscous but used farro instead which was absolutely delicious. Honestly a very versatile recipe that can be made with all kinds of swaps depending on your tastes. Thank you for sharing
This one’s great for customizing! Sounds like the perfect meal after being outside 🙂
This salad checks all my boxes for being full of veggies and absolutely delicious. I also found it to be super adaptable- I was out of apple cider vinegar and subbed rice wine vinegar instead.. worked so well!! Also used arancini instead of couscous and it was another good swap. Definitely adding this to the regular rotation.
This one’s great for customizing! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’m obsessed with this salad. It is both delicious and filling. I meal prep and eat it cold, and it is just as delicious served cold as I’m sure it is served warm.
One of my all-time favs, too! Glad you love it 🙂
Truly the most delicious salad ever!!! We make this year round and never tire of this dish! The flavor is amazing and it feels so elevated while still being very quick to put together.
Amazing! One of my favs, too!
Absolutely amazing! My new favorite dish to bring to friend dinners & to new parents for a healthy nourishing meal!
So happy to hear that!
This was very delicious, the fresh herbs, make the parsley and cilantro added an element I wouldn’t have thought of. This was great to prep and eat for the next couple days.
The fresh herbs make all the difference! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I made the vegetable salad with couscous and chick peas. It was really nice but the chick peas did not stay crispy.
Glad you enjoyed! The chickpeas will soften as they sit in the salad, but will still be delicious and add a lovely boost of protein 🙂