Couscous vs Quinoa

I actually like both. And so does my husband.

If I need extra protein I opt for the Quinoa, if I need a small boost in carbs to hit my macros I opt for couscous.

I am currently working through the rest of my boxed couscous so that I can move into bulk and flavor my own. One thing I do like is making light "pasta" salad out of Israeli Couscous, so yummy

Here is a breakdown comparison for both. Seems quinoa has more vitamins and minerals.

http://skipthepie.org/cereal-grains-and-pasta/couscous-cooked/compared-to/quinoa-cooked/

Quinoa is NOT a grain.

It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the true grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach and tumbleweeds.

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on these two foods. I saw couscous at the store today and noticed it was about half the price of quinoa. Seemed like it had pretty similar nutritional info.

Any thoughts?

Couscous is pasta. Tiny little dots of pasta. So basically you are asking quinoa vs pasta. Which is better is entirely up to what your presonal goals and what else you are eating. But as a general question with no other information provided, I'd give quinoa the nod for nutrition.

Quinoa is NOT a grain.

It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the true grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach and tumbleweeds.

Thank you! Exactly!!!

This is interesting as quinoa is often pushed as a high protein food but this shows cous cous to be pretty similar. Being in the UK I tend to avoid quinoa because:

a) it is expensive having travelled half way round the world from South America = poor carbon footprint etc.

b) its the staple grain of the Bolivians and Peruvians and the increasing popularity of it among western countries has pushed up the prices so they can't afford to eat it in their own country anymore

^^^^Interesting angle to this debate. Thanks for sharing.

Quinoa = protein!
Couscous = not.

I hate that someone could ask a scientific question, yet get so many opinions in reply.

Scientifically: Quinoa has 48% of your recommended protein and fiber for the day - as opposed to 12% protein and 8% fiber for cous cous.

Point made.

No extra words needed.

One serving of quinoa (100 gms) has 4 grams of protein as does the equivalent amount of couscous. Quino does have 3 gm of fiber compared to1 gm in the couscous.

Not sure how much quinoa you're eating, but for most people, one would have to eat a lot of it to get 48% of recommended amount of protein.

i love quinoa - it has an awesome taste and texture and complete protein.

couscous is made with wheat, so i'm allergic, but i didn't used to like it as much as i liked rice, quinoa, pasta and barley - barley was my favorite!

I just inputted 100g of quinoa, 100g of couscous and 100g of bulgur wheat (all dry weight) into MFP to compare.

Calories-wise they were pretty similar (368, 370, 376).

Couscous and quinoa both had 13g protein whereas bulgur whear only had 10.
Couscous was higher in carbs and quinoa was higher in fat out of the 2.

I really don't think there's that much in it. Quinoa may have the advantage of being a complete protein, but couscous DOES contain a fair bit of protein so those saying it has basically no nutritional value are wrong. You can also get wholewheat couscous (just like you can get wholewheat pasta) and that would probably be a bit better too.

I'm a bit disappointed that bulgur whear doesn't have as much protein as couscous, because that's my personal favourite out of the 3. But I shall continue eating it nevertheless (and couscous regularly, and quinoa occasionally).

None of them are terrible for you so eat whatever you prefer and what fits best in your budget.