The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.
As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Zippy harissa prawns with lemon couscous
Fancy taking your tastebuds to North Africa? We know a shortcut! A sprinkling of chilli flakes and dollop of harissa paste add warmth and smokiness to this simple dish of sautéed prawns, onions and red peppers. Just 20 mins later, serve with preserved lemon couscous to ‘souk’ it all up like a dream.
SWK: Source of fibre
SWK: High protein
Plants 5
quick cook
Serving size
Ingredients
- 4 tsp garlic paste (Garlic, Sea Salt, Citric Acid)
- 1 onion
- 1 pepper
- 1 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 20g preserved lemons (Sulphites) (Lemons (61%), Salt (10%). Packed in Water (29%))
- 200g prawns (Crustaceans)
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp harissa paste (Red Chilli, Garlic, Tomato Puree, Sea Salt, Coriander, Acetic Acid, Paprika, Cumin, Caraway, Mint)
- 200g passata (tomatoes, salt, citric acid)
- 1 vegetable stock cube (use half) (Celery) (Sea salt, potato starch*, sustainable palm oil*, sugar*, vegetables*(6,8%) [celery*, onion*, carrot*, parsnip*, tomato*], sunflower oil*, yeast extract, caramelised sugar*, herbs* & spices* ( lovage*, turmeric*, parsley*, black pepper*) *Organic ingredients)
- 125g wholewheat couscous (Wheat) (100% Whole WHEAT semolina)
Nutritional Information
Calories: 397
Protein: 30g
Carbs: 58g
Fat: 3.4g
Ingredients
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 onion
- 2 pepper
- 1 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 40g preserved lemons (Sulphites) (Lemons (61%), Salt (10%). Packed in Water (29%))
- 400g prawns (Crustaceans)
- 250g wholewheat couscous (Wheat) (100% Whole WHEAT semolina)
- 4 tbsp harissa paste (Red Chilli, Garlic, Tomato Puree, Sea Salt, Coriander, Acetic Acid, Paprika, Cumin, Caraway, Mint)
- 400g passata (tomatoes, salt, citric acid)
- 1 vegetable stock cube (Celery) (Sea salt, potato starch*, sustainable palm oil*, sugar*, vegetables*(6,8%) [celery*, onion*, carrot*, parsnip*, tomato*], sunflower oil*, yeast extract, caramelised sugar*, herbs* & spices* ( lovage*, turmeric*, parsley*, black pepper*) *Organic ingredients)
- 8 x garlic paste (Garlic, Sea Salt, Citric Acid)
Nutritional Information
Calories: 396
Protein: 30g
Carbs: 58g
Fat: 3.4g
Zippy harissa prawns with lemon couscous
Fancy taking your tastebuds to North Africa? We know a shortcut! A sprinkling of chilli flakes and dollop of harissa paste add warmth and smokiness to this simple dish of sautéed prawns, onions and red peppers. Just 20 mins later, serve with preserved lemon couscous to ‘souk’ it all up like a dream.
Cook time:
20 mins
Cuisine:
North African
Food group:
Shellfish
Allergens: Sulphites, Crustaceans, Celery, Wheat
Cooking Instructions
Before you start
- 1 large non stick frying pan
- mixing bowl
Get prepping!
- Peel and finely dice the onions. Deseed the peppers and dice into 1cm squares. Finely chop the parsley.
- Scoop out the middle of the preserved lemon and discard, then chop the rind.
Sort the couscous
- Put the couscous into a bowl and lightly season to taste with salt. Pour in enough boiled water to just cover the couscous, stir well, cover and leave for 5 mins, until the water is absorbed.
- Stir the parsley and preserved lemon through the couscous.
Spice & simmer the prawns
- Meanwhile, spritz a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and put it over a medium-high heat. Fry the onions and peppers for 5 mins.
- Add the prawns, both pastes and the chilli flakes (to taste) and cook for 2 mins.
- Pour in the passata and 100ml water (150ml for 4 portions) and crumble in the stock. Stir well and simmer for 5 mins until the prawns are pink.
Bring everything together
- Serve the harissa prawns with the couscous.