Spiced Lamb Chops
with Harissa fried leftover couscous
A delicious adventure for your taste buds awaits with succulent lamb chops seasoned with thyme, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes served with harissa fried couscous on the side. You'll be shocked how much flavor can come from a few simple ingredients. A variation of this Middle Eastern inspired dinner was first featured in 2016.
Smarts:Leftover couscous from Monday's dinner helps this meal come together quickly.
Ingredients
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
- Thyme, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Cumin - 1/2 tsp
- Coriander, ground - 1/2 tsp
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
- Lamb chops, bone-in loin or rib - 4 (sub pork chops or your favorite cut of steak)
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Onions, medium and red - 1, diced
- Sun-dried tomatoes in oil - 8, chopped
- Broccoli, baby - 12 oz, chopped into 2" / 5 cm segments (sub regular broccoli)
- Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- Olives, pitted Kalmata - 2 oz, sliced
- Cilantro - 2 Tbsp, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Harissa paste - 1 Tbsp (sub tomato paste with a few drops of hot sauce)
- Cooked Couscous (leftover from Monday) - ~2 cups
- Lemon juice - 2 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make spice mix - Combine salt, black pepper, thyme, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Onions / Sun-dried tomatoes / Broccoli / Garlic / Olives - Prep as directed. Store onions and sun-dried tomatoes together. Store other ingredients separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Season lamb - Rub lamb chops on all sides with spice mix. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Cilantro - Chop cilantro.
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Make
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil (portion for lamb) and then lamb chops. Sear on all sides until golden brown and cooked to your liking (130F / 54C degrees for medium-rare, 140F / 60C for medium, and 150F / 66C degrees for well-done).
- Let lamb rest, covered, while preparing couscous.
- Return skillet to heat.
- To heated skillet add oil (portion for couscous) and then onions, harissa paste, and sun-dried tomatoes. Saute for ~2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add baby broccoli and saute until cooked to your liking, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and leftover couscous. Cook until couscous is warmed through.
- Finish couscous with olives, cilantro, and lemon juice. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Enjoy lamb with couscous on the side.
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
26 reviews
Made with steak- would use less thyme in the future. The couscous was spicy and amazing. Love that it was full of veggies. Would also be good with golden raisins or currants and toasted slivered almonds
0 HelpfulIt was soo good and helped me get excited about spices I dont commonly use. I did have to make the Harissa from scratch and opted to do a Harissa powder ( found recipe online) and it was amazing tasting and fragrant! I did not have couscous or sun dried tomatoes or tomato paste, so I used Quinoa and found how to make sun dried tomatoes in the oven (20 min @ 275F). The cooking process was longer because of missing items but either way it turned out amazing and a family hit!!!!
0 HelpfulLoved the couscous with the vegetables. Lamb chops we're tasty too. Need to find harissa paste
0 HelpfulThis was so good! I used steak because my store didn't have lamb chops, and ended up slicing the steak and serving it over the couscous like a grain bowl. I don't have couscous that often, but every time it's on the Cooksmarts menu I'm surprised at how much I like it - this is one I'll definitely make again!
0 HelpfulI served the broccolini on the side but did everything else as written except for using a splash of wine to deglaze the pan and I chopped up the cilantro stems in the fried couscous.
0 Helpful