Moroccan Salmon with Couscous
Published Jan 24, 2022•Updated May 19, 2025
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A quick Moroccan marinade adds incredible flavor to salmon filets in this fresh, fast Moroccan Salmon with Couscous. While the salmon marinates and cooks, add a colorful mix of vegetables to the couscous.
Over the years when this was first published, this meal has become a favorite of mine both for weeknights and for serving guests.
Salmon and couscous are a perfect pair. Both cook quickly and, in this Moroccan-inspired meal add a ton of flavor the plate. The best part is, there’s a mix of veggies stirred right into the couscous, so there’s no need to add anything else to this meal.
And if you’re just in search for a great salmon recipe to serve for dinner tonight, check out sheet pan salmon with asparagus, air fryer salmon bites, or salmon sushi bowls.
How to Make It
- Marinate Salmon – Whisk together a quick marinade with vinegar for tart flavor, honey for sweetness, and a generous portion of Moroccan spice. Add salmon and marinate for 20(ish) minutes.
- Saute Vegetables – Get a bunch of finely diced vegetables and saute them in butter until very tender and golden brown. (Don’t rush this step – they’ll have the most flavor if cooked for a good long time.)
- Cook Couscous with Vegetables – Simmer vegetables in stock, stir in couscous, and set it aside.
- Bake Salmon – Finally, spread salmon out on a foil-lined sheet pan. Season it with some salt and pepper and bake until tender.
- Enjoy!
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Recipe Tip
The key to a great vegetable couscous is to dice the vegetables very small and make sure that they are nice and tender before adding the stock and couscous. The smaller the vegetables are diced, the more quickly and evenly they will cook, so let those knife skills shine and dice everything small.
How Long to Marinate Salmon
Salmon can be marinated for up to a day if the marinade doesn’t include citrus. Citrus will start to cook the fish (think ceviche), so marinades with citrus should just be combined with salmon about 20 minutes before cooking. In the case of this salmon recipe, the marinade doesn’t include citrus, so the salmon can marinate for anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours.
Ingredient Notes
- Moroccan Spice – There are many different types of Moroccan-style spice blends and any will work here. I like to use my homemade Ras el Hanout or a Tan-Tan seasoning I purchase from my local spice store. Any type of Moroccan-inspired blend will be delicious here, but you can also mix it up – see below for some ideas.
- Couscous – Couscous is a quick-cooking grain made from semolina. The recipe below includes slightly more water than what the recipe on the box likely will instruct you to use, but that is because the vegetables will simmer in the cooking liquid, absorbing some as they cook.
Variations
- Try a Different Spice – Feel free to use any spice blend you’d like here. If you want something other than Moroccan spice, try it with a BBQ spice rub, garam masala, or a Tex Mex blend. The spices you use will shape the dish, and almost anything will work.
- Change the Vegetables – Mix things up by using diced sweet potatoes, squash, leeks, or green beans in place of any of the vegetables listed below.
More Easy Salmon Recipes
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Moroccan Salmon with Vegetable Couscous
Equipment
- Shallow Baking Dish
- Large Saucepan
- Half Sheet Pan
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
Moroccan Salmon:
- 3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Moroccan Spice Blend (like Ras al Hanout, store-bought or homemade)
- 1 teaspoon Honey
- 4 Center-Cut Salmon Filets (about 6 ounces each)
Vegetable Couscous:
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 cup finely diced Carrots
- 2 cups finely diced Zucchini
- 1/2 cup finely diced Red Onion
- 2 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 small pinch Saffron
- 1 1/2 cups Couscous, uncooked
- 1/2 cup Golden Raisins (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1/3 cup Toasted pine nuts or sliced almonds (optional)
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)
- Greek Yogurt, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a shallow baking dish, whisk together vinegar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, Moroccan spice blend, and honey. Add salmon filets to the dish and turn them to coat.
- Leave salmon flesh-side down in marinade and refrigerate for 20 minutes while the oven heats.
- Preheat oven to 450°F / 232°C.
- While oven is heating, melt butter in a saucepan. Add carrots, zucchini, and red onion with a pinch of salt. Sauté over medium heat until carrots are very tender, 10 to 14 minutes.
- Pour stock over vegetables and bring to a boil. Add ground cumin and saffron. When stock is boiling, stir in couscous and salt. Remove from heat. Cover with a lid and let sit until ready to serve (at least 10 minutes).
- Remove salmon from the refrigerator.
- Line a sheet pan with foil. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray or brush with some oil.
- Place salmon flesh-side up on the prepared sheet pan (discard marinade). Season salmon with some salt and pepper.
- Bake salmon until it flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes (depending on thickness).
- While salmon roasts, fold golden raisins and lemon juice into couscous.
- Serve salmon over couscous with toasted nuts, parsley, and yogurt.
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
