Moroccan meatballs with herb couscous

Moroccan meatballs with herb couscous

4.756615

(189 ratings)

By

Cooking time

Ready in 1 hour

Skill level

Easy

Servings

Serves 4

If you usually serve meatballs with spaghetti, try this Moroccan version with couscous for a casual dinner party

Nutrition and extra info

Nutrition info

Nutrition per serving

kcalories
544
protein
30.2g
carbs
36.7g
fat
31.7g
saturates
15.2g
fibre
2g
sugar
-
salt
1.67g

Ingredients

  • 500g lean minced lamb
  • 1 red onion, grated
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2cm chunk root ginger, grated
  • a pinch dried chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • olive oil
  • 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
  • 200ml chicken stock
  • ½ bunch coriander, chopped

Herb couscous

  • 200g couscous
  • 50g butter
  • 350ml chicken stock, boiling
  • ½ bunch coriander, chopped
  • ½ bunch parsley, chopped

Buy Ingredients

Buy the ingredients for this recipe now via:

Want to know how this works? Read all about it here.

Method

  1. Put the lamb, onion, half the garlic, half the ginger and half the spices in a bowl and season well. Mix (clean hands are best) and form into little meatballs (you’ll make around 30).
  2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick pan and add the meatballs in batches, frying until browned all over. Scoop out, then add the rest of the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock and season. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add back the meatballs and cook for another 20 minutes until sauce is thickened. Stir in the coriander.
  3. To make the couscous put in a bowl with the butter and some seasoning. Pour over the chicken stock and cover with clingfilm. Leave for 10 minutes. Stir the herbs through and serve with meatballs.

Recipe from olive magazine, July 2009

Comments, questions and tips

Sign in or create your My Good Food account to join the discussion.

Comments

Show comments
abcdefghijord's picture
3

Made this tonight and was really excited to make it as everyone was raving over it and I sadly didn't like it! My partner absolutely loved it but I really just didn't. Maybe I made it different to the recipe, but hey ho you cannot win them all. Will give 3 stars as the other half loved it.

panhead1's picture
4

Very good recipe. The sauce was a great consistency. A little too much cumin for my taste. If I made again, I would only use 1tsp as it slightly overpowers everything else. Lovely buttery couscous.

yasmin70's picture
5

Love this meal. Have made it with both lamb and beef. Only thing I have changed is to double the couscous and omit the butter from it as I don't find it necessary. If you use spray oil to cook meatballs and no butter in the couscous makes a lovely syn free Slimming World meal.

lindypops's picture
5

Delicious, have cooked this twice now at the request of the family, even the fussy 12 year old loves it!

lucindamorrell's picture
4

The kids loved and wolfed it down. I added an additional tin of tomatoes and some more of the spice to feed more people and made it with a houllomi and chick pea side salad I found on BBC Good Food, was a lovely meal. Only giving 4 stars because it is a bit messy making the meatballs.

happylamb's picture
4

very nice but I think allowing the meatballs to settle with the onions in them to develop flavour... I also forgot to season them which did not help as they ended up bland! but overall if I make them again I think they will taste better and the sauce was delicious!

stellacsg's picture
5

I added harissa paste to the meatball mixture and the sauce and some brown sugar to the sauce. Also added some zucchini and carrot for a good dose of vegetables. Loved it.

pattiemac's picture
5

Had this for tea tonight, my husband cleared his plate and declared, "You can make that again, very tasty, one of your better efforts"! It really is that good.

aethomas2's picture
5

This was absolutely incredible. Really tasted like I was in Morrocco, really beautiful.

Mine didn't thicken very much at all, but was still very good.

Highly recommend.

carolinescho's picture
4

Really yummy meatballs and sauce. I'd put in a bit more spices next time as it is quite a subtle flavour, and either add a bit less stock or give it a bit longer to reduce as I would have preferred at thicker sauce.

joyzaphine's picture

Made this with some tagliatelle. I used tinned plum tomatoes. Was definitely nice and very simple. Potatoes would've been nicer with this however.

cfrickers's picture
5

Absolutely delicious! Froze some leftovers and am sure they will taste just as amazing when reheated!

jadedermody's picture
5

the meatballs were yummy but for 2 peop defo need to use two cans of tomatoes for the sauce

Pages

Questions

Tips