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.
Quickie Mediterranean prawn couscous
Dinner in as little as 20 minutes? Yes please! This simple dish is packed with the flavours of the Med – prawns, courgettes and tomatoes are lightly cooked in a garlicky tomato sauce, fragrant with lemon, basil and capers, and served on couscous to soak up every last delicious drop.
SWK: Source of fibre
SWK: High protein
Plants 3
quick cook
Serving size
Ingredients
- 200g prawns (Crustaceans)
- 1 courgette
- 200g baby tomatoes
- 1 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste (Water, Sun Dried Tomato (Sun dried tomatoes, Salt), Tomato Paste, White Wine Vinegar 12%, Salt, Ground Oregano, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid)
- 4 tsp garlic paste (Garlic, Sea Salt, Citric Acid)
- 200g passata (tomatoes, salt, citric acid)
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 handful of fresh basil
- 125g wholewheat couscous (Wheat) (100% Whole WHEAT semolina)
- 10g capers in brine (Capers (93.5%), Salt (4.5%), Water (1%), Grape Vinegar (1%))
Nutritional Information
Calories: 402
Protein: 31g
Carbs: 60g
Fat: 3.2g
Ingredients
- 2 courgette
- 400g baby tomatoes
- 400g prawns (Crustaceans)
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste (Water, Sun Dried Tomato (Sun dried tomatoes, Salt), Tomato Paste, White Wine Vinegar 12%, Salt, Ground Oregano, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid)
- 8 x garlic paste (Garlic, Sea Salt, Citric Acid)
- 400g passata (tomatoes, salt, citric acid)
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 handful of fresh basil
- 20g capers in brine (Capers (93.5%), Salt (4.5%), Water (1%), Grape Vinegar (1%))
- 250g wholewheat couscous (Wheat) (100% Whole WHEAT semolina)
Nutritional Information
Calories: 394
Protein: 31g
Carbs: 57g
Fat: 3.2g
Quickie Mediterranean prawn couscous
Dinner in as little as 20 minutes? Yes please! This simple dish is packed with the flavours of the Med – prawns, courgettes and tomatoes are lightly cooked in a garlicky tomato sauce, fragrant with lemon, basil and capers, and served on couscous to soak up every last delicious drop.
Cook time:
20 mins
Cuisine:
Mediterranean
Food group:
Shellfish
Allergens: Crustaceans, Wheat
Cooking Instructions
Before you start
- mixing bowl
- Large non stick frying pan
Prep the couscous
- Put the couscous in a mixing 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. Fluff up with a fork.
Start the sauce
- Meanwhile, dice the courgettes into 1cm chunks.
- Spritz a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and put it over a medium-high heat. Fry the courgettes and tomatoes for 2 mins.
Cook the prawns
- Add the prawns to the pan and cook for 3 mins, then stir in both pastes and cook for 2 mins.
- Tip in the passata and grate in the lemon zest. Squeeze the lemon juice (to taste) into the pan and add the capers, then stir and simmer for 3 mins until the prawns are pink.
Add your final touches
- Thinly slice the basil leaves.
- Stir half the basil into the prawns and serve with the couscous, then sprinkle the rest on top.