This spicy shrimp couscous with smoky, garlicky Spanish chorizo is a serious flavor party in under 30 minutes! A little bit Moroccan, a little bit Spanish, and all around delicious, the whole family will absolutely love this easy one pot dinner.
My family calls this recipe, “jazzed up couscous” for a reason! It’s a fun twist inspired by traditional Moroccan Couscous and Spanish Chorizo Pasta, with quick cooking shrimp and bold Mediterranean flavor-makers to marry everything together.
Pulling this one-pot wonder together is a healthy dose of onions and garlic, a little fresh jalapeno for a kick, and feel-good Mediterranean spices like turmeric, paprika and cumin. It’s smoky, spicy, savory, garlicky, comforting, and very satisfying but not too heavy. Use this vibrant recipe to spice up your dinner routine!
Table of Contents
Spicy Shrimp Couscous Ingredients and Substitutions
This recipe celebrates bold North African and Spanish flavors, with simple ingredients that are easy to find at most any grocery store. You’ll need:
- Spanish chorizo: Spanish chorizo is a pork sausage that’s heavily seasoned with smoked paprika, which gives it a boldly smoky flavor. Unlike Mexican chorizo, it’s dry-cured, so it only needs a quick crisp in a hot pan.
- Note: If you use Mexican chorizo or fresh chorizo, just be sure to cook it through (160°F) before removing it from the pan.
- Olive oil: I love our peppery Spanish Hojiblanca with this recipe, but any high quality extra virgin variety will work well.
- Onion and garlic bring their signature sweet and savory depth of flavor. I like the sweetness of yellow onion, but white onion or shallot work well too.
- Jalapeño complements the spice of the chorizo, adding a fresh kick. If you’re worried about the dish being too spicy, cut back to 1 jalapeño and remove the seeds.
- Spices: Turmeric, paprika, ground cumin add layers of earthy, warming, peppery flavor. Stock up at our spice shop.
- Kosher salt enhances the flavor.
- Shrimp: Use large shrimp or prawns. Frozen works, just be sure to defrost them first. For tips on sourcing, peeling and deveining shrimp, check out our guide to Buying And Cooking Shrimp.
- Couscous: Use fine to medium-grain couscous (not pearl, more information below).
- Parsley adds lifts the heaviness of the smoky chorizo and shrimp. The freshness is key–I wouldn’t substitute with dried herbs but cilantro or mint could work in its place.
Ingredient Spotlight
Couscous, pronounced “Koose Koose,” is one of North Africa’s most popular and most versatile ingredients. And although it looks like a grain, it’s technically a pasta made with semolina flour from crushed durum wheat (in other words it is not gluten-free). There are three main kinds of couscous:
- Pearl couscous: Thicker, named for its resemblance to small pearls.
- Lebanese couscous: A bit larger–about the size of peas.
- Fine to medium couscous: Often labeled simply “couscous.” This is what I use in this recipe, as its small size and delicate feel lets the shrimp and chorizo do all the talking.
- TRY IT: Try the Tunisian couscous from our shop, made from the finest durum wheat.
How to Make Spicy Shrimp Couscous
This easy recipe requires very little cooking: the shrimp takes just a few minutes, the chorizo is already cured, and the smaller-grain couscous just takes a 5-10 minute soak to cook through. Easy as that! It comes together quickly, so it’s best ot get all your ready before you start. Here are the steps:
- Get ready. In a small pot over medium heat, bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Thinly slice 1 yellow onion. Finely chop 3 garlic cloves. Chop 2 jalapenos. Ready yourself 1 cup of chopped parsley leaves. Peel, devein, and rinse 1 1/2 pounds shrimp. Slice 6 ounces of Spanish chorizo into thin rounds.
- Crisp the chorizo. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot with a lid over medium-high. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, just until crisp and brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Sauté the onions. Turn the heat to medium. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño and stir briefly until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
- Cook the shrimp. Add 1 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric, paprika, and cumin and stir to coat. Add the shrimp and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook the shrimp just until it is firm and pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp.
- Cook the couscous. Return the chorizo to the pot. Stir in 1 1/4 cup couscous, a drizzle of olive oil, dash of salt, and the boiling water. Immediately turn off the heat and cover. Let sit until the couscous has absorbed all of the liquid, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Serve. Uncover and stir in the fresh parsley. Transfer to serving bowls and enjoy!
What to Serve with Shrimp Couscous
The beauty of a one-pot recipe like this spicy couscous is that you really don’t need to add much more to complete the meal. That said, I always like to add something bright to start with, like a big Three Bean Salad or Fattoush. If you’re making this for a big party, make a 2 pitchers: one with Red Sangria, one with Non-Alcoholic Sangria Mocktails.
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Spicy Couscous Recipe with Shrimp and Chorizo
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups water
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 6 ounces Spanish chorizo, sliced into thin rounds (see note)
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 jalapeños, chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp or prawns, peeled, deveined, and well-rinsed
- 1 1/4 cup couscous (fine to medium)
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Get ready. In a small pot over medium heat, bring the water to a boil.
- Crisp the chorizo. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot with a lid over medium-high. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, just until crisp and brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Sauté the onions. Turn the heat to medium. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeno and stir briefly until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
- Cook the shrimp. Add the turmeric, paprika, and cumin and stir to coat. Add the shrimp and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook the shrimp just until it is firm and pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp.
- Cook the couscous. Return the chorizo to the pot. Stir in the couscous, a drizzle of olive oil, dash of salt, and the boiling water. Immediately turn off the heat and cover. Let sit until the couscous has absorbed all of the liquid, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Serve. Uncover and stir in the fresh parsley. Transfer to serving bowls and enjoy!
Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including the olive oil, cumin, and paprika used in this recipe.
- Make sure to use a dry-cured Spanish chorizo, sometimes labeled “hard” chorizo. If you’re working with fresh chorizo, be sure to cook it through (160°F) in step two.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. I prefer to enjoy leftovers at room temperature, though you can reheat gently if you’d like.
Nutrition
Try Our Tunisian Couscous!
Meticulously crafted using traditional methods passed down through generations, this Tunisian couscous is made from the finest durum wheat semolina flour.
*This post first appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in February 2016 and has recently been updated with new media and information for readers’ benefit.
I am making this for my husband’s family this weekend! I am so excited to try it!
This recipe is super tasty. My family adores it. I had pre-cooked shrimp pieces so I defrosted them an added them near the end and I found that quinoa is a good whole food substitute for couscous.
This was great!! It was fast and delish! We spritzed it with lemon and it was perfect! Many thanks for the tip about using Italian sausage rather than the Chorizo…one of my children can’t handle hot items like that so it was a terrific suggestion. Thanks, Suzy!!
So glad to hear it, Ann! Thank you so much
Great recipe. I have made this with bacon when I didn’t have chorizo and I like it better with the bacon.
Thanks for sharing, Ruth!
I can’t wait to try it
Yay!
Hi! I love your blog and can’t wait to try your recipe. But i have a question… could i substitute israeli couscous for regular couscous? thank you!
Thank you! So glad to have you here. Yes, Israeli couscous would work, but the cooking time will vary. I would consult the couscous package for that.
Hi!
I was wondering if the 1 and 1/4 cup of couscous in this recipe is a measurement of the dry couscous or cooked couscous? Thanks!
Hi there, great question! the couscous measurement is for dry, uncooked couscous. Typically, if an ingredient is needed cooked, the ingredient list would state, “1 1/4 cup cooked couscous.” Hope this helps
thank you so much for posting progress photos with the recipes, I cant wait to try several recipes from the website.
Aly,thank you for stopping by! I am glad the photos are helpful! Can’t wait to hear what you make next!
This Recipe looks amazing I can’t wait to try it! Will this dish last a few days in the fridge? (I’m thinking of making it for next weeks lunches for work!) Thanks!
Hi Kim, so sorry for my tardy response here, I’ve been away from my office and just now have a chance to connect my laptop. This recipe would be good for 3 days or so, if stored in airtight container in the fridge.
This recipe looks fabulous (as do all of your recipes, I’m just going to eat hear for a couple months!)
I have a question regarding the Chorizo. I can only find Mexican (soft) Chorizo here. I’m sure I will need the hard Spanish type, correct?
Hi Sandi!
Either Chorizo should work in this recipe. My family is in the middle of a move, so I am now catching up on comments. I hope you enjoyed this one! Can’t wait to hear what u think of other recipes here!
If I don’t have cous cous on hand, would basmati rice or quinoa work?
Sounds delicious, will be making tonight!
Sure, but you’ll want to fully cook the rice or quinoa separately first, then add everything together. In this recipe, the couscous cooks right in the pot of shrimp and chorizo, but that’s because quick cook couscous takes very little time. Enjoy!
Suzy,
I made it last night with the variations I had emailed you about. It was really good but I felt like it needed something that would give it that little kick. My wife wife tried it and said it good but you should have put cilantro in it, I said,fudge I forgot to put the cilantro in that’s what it needed which I forgot to add in my haste to make quickly. Lol oh well, very good will make again.
Peter
Hi Suzy, thanks for this recipe, I will definitely try it next week! And btw I love your blog, the pictures are very nice and recipes looks delicious.
Valerie, thank you so much for your kind note! So glad you’re enjoying the blog. Hope you love this recipe!
We’re vegetarians, though we do eat seafood occasionally. Do you have any ideas about a vegetarian substitute for the chorizo?
Thank you!
Leslie, I believe there may be some soy-based sausage or “imitation” chorizo out there, but I honestly don’t use them. Instead, I would try to add vegetables like red bell peppers and green onions, add more spices and cayenne pepper to compensate for the heat. Or add another seafood like pieces of firm white fish fillet …perhaps spice the fish in advance so the flavor would have saturated a little. Hope this helps some.
Was this made with Spanish or Mexican chorizo? Thanks
Spanish Chorizo, if it’s available to you. Otherwise, Mexican Chorizo would probably work as well. Thanks for the good question, Dianne!
Delicious sounding recipe! Pinned. Thanks for sharing.
Great, Mary! Thanks for stopping in. Hope you give this a try soon.