Chicken Couscous with Bacon and Corn will be your new favorite one pot chicken dinner! I love that this one pot chicken and couscous recipe is a main course and side dish all in one, baked together in flavorful goodness. This delicious chicken couscous recipe takes little effort to make and there’s virtually zero cleanup!
Easy Chicken Couscous Recipe
Chicken Couscous with Bacon and Corn is an EASY one pot chicken dinner for any night of the week! You’re going to love this tasty chicken couscous recipe.
I love one pan dinners that all cook together, like my Ranch BBQ Chicken or Chicken Con Queso Skillet…and this chicken and couscous recipe with bacon and corn is my new favorite.
Less cleanup, less fuss, more time with family, more flavor! Win win win!
This One Pot Chicken Couscous Recipe will be your go-to when you need a tasty and impressive meal!
One Pot Chicken and Couscous Dinner
It’s hard to believe this delicious Chicken Couscous Recipe is all made so easily in one pan!
I haven’t had couscous very many times but every time I do, I know I need to make it more. It’s such a sturdy and healthy side dish and is so comforting at the same time. It’s like rice or polenta and goes with almost anything. Couscous is better for you than rice, since it’s a lower calorie option that can replace rice in so many recipes.
This one pot chicken couscous recipe is the perfect example of what you can do with couscous for a simple and tasty dinner. The flavors are SO DELICIOUS.
This is the ultimate meal to make for guests or just for a quiet night at home. Heck, make it tonight! Your family is sure to thank you. We make this and Henry chows down on the couscous, bacon, and corn, and we devour all the chicken. It’s perfect!
How Do I Make Couscous More Tasty?
Couscous can take on any flavor, which makes it the perfect grain to mix in with your meals. The bacon and corn in this one pot recipe adds a hardy, savory taste. By adding all these flavors into one pot, you end up with a tasty chicken and couscous dish for any occasion!
In general when making couscous, be sure to add plenty of salt and seasonings to give it flavor. It’s almost tasteless on its own, so you’ll need to add something to make it taste good. But that’s easy to do!
How to Cook Couscous
The first step of this recipe is to cook the couscous!
If you’ve never made it before, you’ll be surprised by how QUICK and EASY it is. Follow the directions on whatever package of couscous you buy for best results. But here is a general how-to.
If you want to make plain couscous, all you have to do is follow these simple steps:
- Boil water. Use 1 1/2 cups of water for every 1 cup of dry couscous
- Add any seasonings you want! Try butter or olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- When the water boils, remove it from heat. Add your couscous, cover with a lid, and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
- Once the couscous has soaked up all the water, fluff it with a fork and serve.
You can eat couscous hot or cold. Try mixing it in with your vegetable side dishes to make a quick meal or pair it with any chicken dish to create your own chicken couscous recipe.
This chicken couscous recipe is classy enough for the fanciest guests or homey enough to make for yourself and pack as leftovers. It’s simply delicious and deliciously simple! I just love chicken and couscous and I can’t wait for you to try it.
See the recipe card for details on how to make this one pot chicken couscous recipe. Enjoy!
If you like this chicken couscous recipe, try these other easy one pot recipes:
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
- Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
- 40 Clove Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
- Bacon Chicken and Ranch Potatoes
- Chicken and Rice
One Pot Couscous Chicken with Bacon and Corn
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup original Moroccan-style Couscous
- 6 chicken thighs we used bone in with skin but you can use whatever kind you prefer
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 8 slices bacon cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion minced
- 6 cloves garlic peeled but left whole
- 2½ cups heavy cream or half and half milk can be substituted, but it can curdle
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
- 2 cups frozen corn thawed (Green Giant Roasted Corn is great)
- 1 lemon (half will be used in the dish and half will be used as garnish)
Garnish:
- 2 radishes very thinly sliced
- Extra crisped bacon
- Chopped parsley
- Freshly squeezed Lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook couscous according to package directions.
- Season the chicken thighs, on both sides, with salt & pepper
- In a large skillet, cook the bacon pieces just until lightly browned and just crispy. Transfer bacon, with a slotted spoon, to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon grease, and refrigerate the remainder for later use.
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet with the rendered bacon fat.
- Heat the bacon fat/oil, over medium heat until the oil has a sheen.
- Place the thighs, top side down, in the skillet. Brown the chicken until golden, and transfer to another paper towel-lined plate.
- Add minced onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté until onion is translucent and garlic softens.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cooked couscous; cook until couscous begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir often.
- Add the cream, thyme sprigs, salt, pepper and all except 2 tablespoons crisped bacon; bring to a simmer. Stir.
- Add chicken thighs, crisp side up. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.
- Stir in corn and thyme leaves. Drizzle with the juice from 1 lemon.
- Cover and cook until liquid has almost evaporated, 15-20 minutes.
- To serve:
- Place a scoop of the couscous mixture on a serving plate and top with one chicken thigh. Garnish with radish slices, reserved bacon, parsley and squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
Firstly, this took a very long time to create; bacon, chicken, and couscous all to cook separately and be pulled out and later assembled. If you were to use three pans, the recipe might take the stated time but not the way it is written. The flavors are ok together but very much missing a punch of something. I would add cherry tomatoes for some acid as is is a pretty flat dish. It’s pretty and with fresh corn off the cob, it really helped. Worth trying but go in knowing you need a couple hours or three pans.
This one pot meal is one of our go to’s that everyone enjoys. We have used boneless/skinless and bone in, both turn out amazing. One pot meals make meal prep for a big family easy.
One pot meals really are the best!!
I’m sorry this one didn’t work out for you!
Yum! A delicious recipe. Other posters need to actually read the recipe plus the hints and tips before criticising.
I cut out all of the cream and substituted lemon juice. Also I added mushrooms in with the onion and garlic minced (don’t leave them whole as recommended it’s way to strong)
I also used chicken breast and cooked separately seasoning with garlic powder, light salt and pepper and chopped into pieces.
Lower calorie and my husband and I loved it.
So glad to hear that!
Those are not boneless,skinless thighs pictured.Is the cooking time accurate for whole thighs or b/s thighs?
The recipe calls for boneless, skinless thighs and yet it is pictured here with skin on the chicken.
Skinless?
The pictures sure look like skin-on thighs. And the recipe says to put the the cris side up. Ive never seen a boneless thigh be crispy unless it was really over cooked.
(I dont know why this comment is in all caps.)