Crispy Moroccan-Inspired Couscous Cakes Recipe

Couscous, while it's actually a type of pasta, is just as versatile as the grains it resembles. It has a light and fluffy texture, but its flavor is sufficiently neutral to be described as a blank canvas. Developer Tess Le Moing uses couscous in this recipe to paint a masterpiece of crispy cakes that are golden and crunchy outside while soft and tender inside.

The cakes are flavored with smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne, all warm spices that give the dish what Le Moing describes as "an aromatic flavor with a touch of heat." The cakes also get some color (as well as added nutrients) from grated carrots and chopped parsley, while Le Moing also adds raisins to add what she calls "a pop of sweetness" commonly found in Moroccan cooking. If you're not a raisin fan, you can use other dried fruits like apricots, dates, or figs.

Not only are these couscous cakes delicious, but they're also quite easy to make, with minimal hands-on prep involved. You can even make the cakes the day before you fry them or freeze them to have on hand whenever you like.

The cakes are made with couscous, carrots, parsley, and dried fruit and seasoned with salt, smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Additional ingredients include broth (chicken or vegetable), olive oil, lemon juice, eggs, and flour, while you'll need plain yogurt, lemon zest, and coriander for the dipping sauce.

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, coriander, and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small pot, bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together the couscous, 1 tablespoon olive oil, smoked paprika, salt, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne.

Add the couscous mixture and carrots to the broth, cover, and remove the pan from the heat.

Let stand for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Then uncover and fluff couscous with a fork.

Stir in the parsley, raisins, and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.

Stir in the eggs and flour. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour to allow the mixture to thicken.

Form the couscous mixture into 4 balls.

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil until shimmering.

Place the couscous balls in the skillet and using a spatula, press each into a patty.

Cook until golden on each side, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt if desired.

Serve hot with yogurt sauce.

If you'd like to use these couscous cakes as a main course, you could accompany them with roasted vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, or zucchini. They'd also go well with mixed greens tossed in lemon-tahini dressing as well as our healthy Moroccan carrot salad. Couscous is a pretty protein-heavy pasta, with the amount used for each one of these cakes coming in at around 3 ¾ grams (comparable to the protein in one tablespoon of peanut butter). Still, you may want to amp up the amount in your meal by serving the cakes alongside a protein-rich dish such as pan-seared halloumi, roasted garbanzo beans, or chickpea and roasted eggplant salad. Moroccan pumpkin stew or sweet potato tagine pot pie would be good choices too, since both dishes also include chickpeas.

If you make smaller versions of these couscous cakes, these would be an excellent appetizer for a Mediterranean-style meal. (Morocco, after all, has a coastline along the Mediterranean Sea.) They could even be part of an hors d'ouevres buffet alongside other dishes such as lemon hummus with pita triangles, baba ganoush, and falafel.

If you'd rather not pan-fry the cakes, you can air-fry them instead. Preheat the air fryer to 375 F, then either spritz the basket with cooking spray or use a brush to apply a thin coat of oil. Bake each batch of cakes for 8 to 10 minutes, stopping halfway through to turn them over. You may need to make multiple batches, since overcrowding the air fryer will make for poor air circulation and won't allow the cakes to cook evenly.

The couscous cakes can also be baked in the oven at 375 F, although they'll take 15 to 20 minutes to cook (once again, flip them halfway through). The advantage of using an oven, however, is that you can cook all of the cakes at once. To prevent the cakes from sticking to the pan, either line it with parchment paper or spray it with oil to help the cakes get crispy.

The oven can also be used to reheat leftover cakes, although the second time around, they should be baked at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes. You can also re-fry them in a pan, which will take about 6 to 8 minutes (3 to 4 on each side), or microwave them for the quickest results.