This Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous Salad With Tuna is full of fresh flavors and healthful ingredients, making it the perfect summer side!

Wooden serving bowl filled with couscous salad with serving spoons.

This post is sponsored by King Oscar | Thank you for supporting the brands I trust.

 

Tangy, Herby, and Incredibly Addicting.

Pasta salads are officially on hiatus. Instead, I bring you this beauty. Chewy Israeli pearl couscous gets tossed in a lemon pesto blend with tangy sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, fat chunks of feta, and King Oscar’s impressive gourmet tuna fillets. This recipe is fresh, light, and takes us away from the usual macaroni and tuna salads that are slathered with mayo. Not that those are bad; trust me, I love’em. But I’m not getting any younger, and neither are my arteries, so having healthier choices in my arsenal of summer salads will forever be a plus.

The Ingredients Are Few, but They Bring Big Flavor.

When you bring ingredients like pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta to the table, there isn’t much need for anything more in the flavor department. These ingredients are tangy, herbaceous, and bold. Adding a fresh spritz of lemon is imperative since the acidity adds a nice and bright flavor, and it sort of just makes everything sing. Here’s what to add to your shopping list:

  • Israeli pearl couscous (this couscous is bigger and chewier than Moroccan couscous)
  • King Oscar’s Yellowfin Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Sun-Dried Tomatoes
  • Basil pesto
  • Lemon
  • Feta cheese
  • Red onion
  • Fresh parsley
  • Sun-Dried tomatoes

Bowl of dry pearl couscous; ingredients placed around jar of tuna.

Cooked couscous tossed in pesto in a bamboo serving bowl.

King Oscar’s Yellowfin Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Sun-Dried Tomatoes.

Like any product from King Oscar, these premium tuna fillets are good enough to eat straight out of the jar. But they’re also an amazing addition to summer dishes, as seen here. The fillets are marinated in extra virgin olive oil along with large morsels of sun-dried tomatoes, a medley of olives, garlic, and various spices. In short: this is not your grandmother’s canned tuna. Further to that, this is a sustainable product backed by SeaChange™. This tuna is wild-caught and dolphin-safe, which is such an important thing to consider.

Jar of tuna on a countertop with lemons and serving bowl in the background.

How to Make Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous Salad With Tuna.

This is one of those awesome throw-it-all-together-and-let-the-flavors-do-the-work kind of recipes. There’s hardly any prep, very minimal effort, and things are kept simple so that the quality ingredients can shine. Really, that’s how summer salads should be. Here’s what you’ll do:

  1. Cook the couscous as per the instructions on the package. But swap the water for chicken or vegetable broth. This fills the couscous with extra flavor!
  2. Mix the pesto and the juice of half of a lemon in a small bowl. Set it aside.
  3. Once the couscous is ready, transfer it to a serving bowl. Drizzle the lemony pesto all over it and give it a good toss in order to evenly coat the grains.
  4. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, onions, feta, and tuna to the bowl. Hit everything with lemon juice from the other half of the lemon. Toss it again.
  5. Crack some black pepper over the salad and garnish it with fresh parsley.

Useful Tools for This Recipe:

Close up orf serving bowl full of couscous, tuna, feta, sundried tomatoes, onions, and parsley.

Wooden serving bowl filled with couscous salad with serving spoons.

Recipe Tips + Tricks.

  1. When cooking your couscous, boil it in chicken or vegetable broth instead of water for extra flavor.
  2. Pearl couscous is larger and chewier than the smaller couscous typically used in Moroccan cuisine. I like to use pearl couscous in this salad due to the chewy texture and the fact that it’s more substantial. If you have to use smaller couscous, or prefer to, you can. But the salad will have a bit of a different vibe.
  3. King Oscar’s fillets are packed with sun-dried tomatoes and olives, which you can chop up and throw into this salad!

Have You Made This Recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a STAR rating & commenting below with feedback!

You can also show off your creations on Instagram by tagging @killing__thyme

More Tasty Tuna Recipes to Add to Your List:

Wooden serving bowl filled with couscous salad with serving spoons.

Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous Salad With Tuna

This Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous Salad With Tuna is full of fresh flavors and healthful ingredients, making it the perfect summer side!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Dana Sandonato

Ingredients

  • 1 jar of King Oscar Yellowfin Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
  • 2 cups dry toasted Israeli pearl couscous
  • 1/2 cup basil pesto
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 1/3 cup shaved red onion, preferably sliced on the thinnest setting of a mandolin
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Instructions

  • Cook the pearl couscous as per the directions on the package. I like to use chicken or vegetable broth instead of water for extra flavor.
  • While the couscous is cooking, mix the pesto and the juice of half of a lemon in a small bowl; set it aside.
  • When the couscous is ready, transfer it to a serving bowl and drizzle the lemony pesto over it. With two large spoons, toss it to evenly coat.
  • Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, onions, feta, and tuna to the couscous. Drizzle lemon juice from the other half of the lemon over it all and toss it again.
  • Crack some black pepper over the salad, then garnish with chopped fresh parsley.