🍲 Couscous royal
Couscous royal is a generous version of couscous served with several meats at once: lamb, chicken and spicy merguez sausages, along with chickpeas and vegetables in a spiced broth. Harissa is served on the side for heat. The fluffy couscous, the different meats and the ladled broth make it a festive dish for sharing.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g lamb shoulder, in pieces
- 4 chicken thighs
- 6 merguez sausages
- 400 g couscous
- 1 can chickpeas (400 g), drained
- 800 g mixed vegetables (carrot, zucchini, turnip)
- 2 onions, 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp harissa plus extra to serve
- Ras el hanout, salt, 2 l water
Method
- Brown the lamb, chicken and onions in oil with the spices and salt.
- Add the water and simmer 1 hour, then add the vegetables and chickpeas for 30 minutes.
- Grill or pan-fry the merguez separately.
- Steam or soak the couscous with hot broth and fluff it.
- Serve couscous with the meats and vegetables, broth mixed with harissa on the side.
How to make it lighter
- Choose one or two meats rather than all three — merguez is the fattiest.
- Remove the chicken skin and skim the broth.
- Fill half the plate with vegetables and broth.
History
Couscous royal is generally regarded as a creation of North African restaurants in France, where it became popular in the second half of the 20th century. It builds on the traditional couscous of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and is now one of France's best-loved dishes.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Couscous royal and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →