Couscous With Mussels and Shrimp Recipe (2024)

This delicious dish was a huge dinner party hit. So much easier than paella and just as tasty, I believe. I used hot Italian sausage (because I had it) instead of chorizo and Israeli couscous, which I think is what Florence meant by
"course-textured"? It's also beautiful!

my first try last week was great. so good that i make another batch today. this is a terrific recipe
this time i stuck to the recipe except:
used cooked New Zealand clams.
used a cup of their juice.
the stock was Knorr fish stock with the heads and shells from the prawns - plus of course the clam juice.
for the pepper i used 2 chopped typical emirate green chillies
and added 3 Emirati crab legs.
and used French medium couscous.
fantastic.
next time i will add Harissa.

My wife and I really enjoy this dish with a slight change in the preparation. I add the shrimp after I put the mussels since I do not like shrimp to be overcooked.

The mussels add liquid as they cook. Couscous was fine without any additional liquid.

It’s important to use good-size mussels here: I had to use a mix with mostly small ones recently and the dish wasn’t nearly as successful.

Cut in half for 2 people but still had leftovers. Added 6 littleneck clams. Did mussels, then clams, then shrimp but shrimp was still slightly overcooked. Added saffron and rosemary for more flavour, but next time do a sofrito as well. Used fresh chorizo and subbed paprika/cayenne/Aleppo mix for piment d'Espelette. Overall was very good, although I'm not sure if it was much quicker than making paella in the end. If out of bomba rice then this is a good alternative to paella.

This was amazing. Great flavor and texture. I also added the mussels before the shrimp. They all opened and captured the couscous and spices inside. I used tricolor pearl couscous and smoked hot paprika and adobo in place of the pepper because I couldn’t find it. Otherwise exactly per recipe and will make this again and again!

I second the comments here about putting the shrimp in at the same time as the mussels and cous cous. Putting the shrimp in before means the shrimp will cook too long and be rubbery… unless you like chewy shrimp.

This is just great! Made it for myself on a wintery night - so easy and delicious. If you have fish sauce around, a splash makes up for fish stock. And if you like, throw in a spoonful of capers

Fantastic dish. Made shrimp stock from shells. Add shrimp halfway through mussels cooking time, and more stock with regular couscous.

Great recipe. I used pearl couscous and Aleppo pepper since that's what I had on hand and upped the sausage instead of adding shrimp. I also added fennel and some mini sweet peppers. Ended up really tasty. Only issue was that the couscous needed more time to soften than the mussels needed to open, so I ended up taking the mussels out after they opened and letting the couscous simmer for an extra 10 minutes so as to not overcook the mussels. Delicious!

Just made this today for dinner! Fantastic flavor! Only change was per other cooks; added the shrimp after the mussels had been in for 6 minutes. Definitely serve the lemon! Will be making again for sure.

Tasted great but the mussels were not cooked within 8 mins. I think next time I’ll cook them in a separate pot and then transfer, maybe with some of their cooking water.

Followed the recipe using Dutch oven but couscous wasn't completely done at 8 minutes, nor were all the mussels cooked... I'll try again using a heavy duty pot

This dish was lovely. We will definitely make it again. Note, the mussels may take longer than 6-8 min to open as they lower the temp in the skillet when dumped into the sauce. Stir quickly, cover skillet with lid, and keep temp at medium.

Very nice. Watch it that couscous does not get too soggy!

Riffed on this using leftover jasmine rice instead of couscous. In addition to the garlic and onion, I added chopped celery leaves and criminology mushrooms. Probably used 1 cup wine. Amazing meal! I would serve this to company.

Lovely tasty dish, I used pearl couscous and used 1 and half cup of fish stock..used mild chille powder. I finished it off with some saffron which was socked in some warm water.Lemom definitely elevated the dish.

Cut in half for 2 people but still had leftovers. Added 6 littleneck clams. Did mussels, then clams, then shrimp but shrimp was still slightly overcooked. Added saffron and rosemary for more flavour, but next time do a sofrito as well. Used fresh chorizo and subbed paprika/cayenne/Aleppo mix for piment d'Espelette. Overall was very good, although I'm not sure if it was much quicker than making paella in the end. If out of bomba rice then this is a good alternative to paella.

It’s important to use good-size mussels here: I had to use a mix with mostly small ones recently and the dish wasn’t nearly as successful.

Not enough broth for the cup and a half of couscous. Recommend an extra cup of broth and 1/2 cup vermouth