Nando’s Inspired Giant Couscous Salad
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This Nandos salad is the newest addition to my Salads That Last series, the same series that kicked off with my Mexican chicken salad, which has now racked up over 2.5 million views. It uses the same peri peri marinade from my peri peri chicken recipe, the one that was popular enough to make it into my cookbook, so you already know the flavour is a winner here.
Recipe Summary: Nandos Salad
- ✅ Recipe Name: Nandos Couscous Salad
- 🕦 Ready in: 35 mins
- 🤝 Serves: 5
- 🍴 Calories: 500kcal
- 🧑🍳 Main ingredients: giant couscous, roasted red peppers, chicken
- ✨ Summary: A smoky, protein-packed Nandos salad with peri peri chicken and giant couscous. Ready in 35 minutes and perfect for meal prep.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- High protein: With over 40g of protein per serving (as is mandatory to join the Salads That Last series), this will keep you full and energised throughout the day!
- Lasts throughout the week: The couscous is cooked just a touch longer than the packet says, so it holds its texture and all of the ingredients are chosen to not go soggy throughout the week in the fridge.
- Big batch, low effort: Cook once, create 5 servings, so you can share it or spread it across the week.
- Smoky, punchy flavour: The homemade roasted red pepper and chilli marinade gives you that Nandos-style flavour without needing a bottle of shop-bought sauce.
Table of Contents
Ingredients For Nandos salad
Here’s what we need to whip up this Nandos Salad:
- Roasted red peppers: The base of both the marinade and the dressing, giving that unmistakable smoky sweetness.
- Peri peri sauce: Stirred straight through the yoghurt dressing so every bite gets that classic heat.
- Chicken breast: Butterflied before marinating so it cooks faster and takes on more flavour.
- Giant couscous: Holds up far better than regular couscous once it’s been through a meal prep week.
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
How to make Nandos salad
Step 1: Blend the roasted red peppers, chillies, smoked paprika, garlic granules and oregano until smooth.
Step 2: Rub over the butterflied chicken breasts and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Step 3: Air fry the courgette for 15 minutes.
Step 4: Combine the ingredients for the dressing.
Step 5: Fry the chicken over a high heat with a griddle pan for the signature char lines.
Step 6: Combine all of the elements of the salad and divide into meal prep containers.
Tips for the best result
- Remove the chilli seeds for a milder heat. The marinade has a gentle kick with seeds in, so remove if you’re sharing with anyone heat-shy.
- Cook the couscous longer than the packet says. It firms up once rinsed under cold water, so the extra couple of minutes keeps it perfectly tender after 4 days.
- Butterfly the chicken before marinating. Thinner pieces cook faster, soak up more marinade, and stay far juicier in the containers.
Leftover Storage and Reheat Instructions
Refrigerator: Keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezer: Not recommended- the yoghurt dressing and fresh veg don’t hold up well once frozen.
Reheat: Best served cold or at room temperature, straight from the fridge. No reheating needed.
Nandos salad FAQs
No, the yoghurt-based dressing splits once frozen, so it’s best made fresh and kept in the fridge.
Up to 4 days when stored in an airtight container.
It has a gentle heat from the chillies and peri peri sauce. Remove the chilli seeds if you’d prefer it milder.
Yes, it’s designed for exactly that. Portion it into containers and it’ll hold its texture for days.
Prawns or halloumi both work well as a swap.
Looking for more high protein meal prep salads? My Mexican Chicken Salad and Peri Peri Chicken use the same flavour profile and are just as easy to batch out for the week.
Explore More High Protein Meal Prep Salad Recipes
If you tried this Nandos Couscous Salad, it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Nandos Couscous Salad
Ingredients
Nandos Chicken
- 100 g roasted red peppers
- 3 fresh chillies
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp oregano
- Salt & Pepper
- 700 g chicken breast
Salad Ingredients
- 2 courgettes, sliced into small cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 300 g giant couscous
- 180 g asparagus
- 100 g roasted red peppers, diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 2 x 200g cans of sweetcorn
- Fresh coriander
Dressing
- 300 ml fat-free yoghurt
- 4 tbsp peri peri sauce
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- Salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Method
- Blend 100g roasted red peppers (reserving another 100g for the salad), fresh chillies, smoked paprika, garlic granules and oregano until smooth. Rub the marinade over the chicken breasts and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Toss the courgette in 1 tbsp olive oil and air-fry for 15 minutes until tender and lightly golden. Set aside to cool.
- Cook the giant couscous according to the packet instructions, plus 2 minutes on the cook time. Meanwhile, steam the asparagus in a sieve over the couscous. When your timer goes off, rinse both until cold.
- Fry the marinated chicken over a medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through and charred, then set aside to rest and cool.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, peri peri sauce, garlic granules, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
- To the same bowl, add the remaining roasted red peppers, cucumber, green pepper, sweetcorn, red onion, roasted courgette and chicken (both now cool) Stir well to combine.
- Divide between meal prep containers and top with fresh coriander, if using.
Notes
• Cook the couscous longer than the packet says. It firms up once rinsed under cold water, so the extra couple of minutes keeps it perfectly tender after 4 days.
• Butterfly the chicken before marinating. Thinner pieces cook faster, soak up more marinade, and stay far juicier in the containers.
Nutrition
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