Crunchy Shrimp & Toasted Couscous & Ginger-Orange Sauce Recipe (2024)

CL once ran reader-recipe-contests & we made this about 10 years ago when it won. Finally made it a second time yesterday. This is actually easy to prep & cook, esp if you reduce the oj earlier in the day. The only change we made was to serve the sauce on the side for dipping rather than drizzling on top of the shrimp. Served with brown sugar glazed carrots. Excellent.

Really delicious dish! One star short of 5 just because I prefer simpler recipes, and this one is technically easy, but just too complicated to my taste. If I could have made it faster I'd love it more! If you have time though, MAKE IT. I also didn't have panko so I subbed it for regular plain breadcrumbs and it was just as yummy, I'm sure.

Whoa! Was this ever good! The shrimp came out great; loved the little sauce and the couscous was very good. Husband went wild for it. Leftovers disappeared in a flash at work. Will make again for sure!

I thought this dish was AMAZING! It took about an hour from start to finish on the first try, but now that I have made it and know what to expect, should be about 40 minutes.

Definitely takes a little while to prepare, and it took me at least 5 times of making it to really get the timing of each part down so that everything is done at the same time. But now I'm an expert at it and we love it every time we eat it. Ditto to other posters' notes about using the sauce for lots of things - it's really delicious!

I was a little let down with this recipe. I followed it exactly and I found that it lacked the pop of flavor that I expected. Perhaps it is because I used fresh squeezed orange juice instead of the store bought kind so it lacked the sugary acidic taste of the stuff in a carton. As well since I didn't have panko I used breadcrumbs, so the shrimp were not as crunchy as they should be. I didn't like the creamy texture the mayo gave the sauce, mainly because I don't like cream sauce. The couscous came out a little soggy as well, but I put it on the burner to cook out sme of the extra liquid. It wasn't horrible but I wouldn't make it again.

I have made this a few times, and it's really good. It's not hard at all, just need time to chop all the ingredients and to make each component. I use greek yogurt instead of mayonaise in the sauce. Think it helps with the texture. I also subbed in parsley when cilantro was not handy and added some lemon when cooking the shrimp--very good. I only have a problem with cooking the shrimp, it either is under cooked with the panko covering or burned when I try to finish. I wonder if it might be better to bake the shrimp to get it cooked evenly and still have the yummy crunch panko texture. Any ideas?

This is my husband's very favorite sauce of all time so we've eaten it on everything. It's refreshing and light and makes your mouth sing! Try it you won't regret it!

This is a go to recipe for me. I add spice to the sauce with extra red pepper flakes. My husband loves it!

We love this dish - one of our absolute favorite meals!!! Have made this many times and always tastes great! I double the panko breading and have never used watercress, but other than those minor changes, I follow the recipe as is. Takes a little while to prepare, but definitely worth it.

One of our favorites! We use arugula instead of watercress for a little extra bite. It's the closest I can get my hubby to eating salad LOL!

This recipe is phenomenal! You can easily make the sauce and couscous ahead and reheat when you make the shrimp. An important tip, however: be sure and toss the shrimp in corn starch or flour BEFORE dipping in the egg white otherwise your panko won't stick. I generally halve the couscous, keep the sauce quantities as they are, and cook as much shrimp as my husband and I care for. It's a perfect special dinner and not too much work if you do a little prep ahead of time. Cannot recommend this enough.

I love anything crunchy, especially from Japanese Tempura. I love anything lemony and tangy and it has boost up my mood. I will definitely make it again. I never use low fat of anything because it tastes horrible, in my opinion. SO I just use regular, and they taste great. Taste healthy to me anyway (normally I use large portion of fatty foods, this is just less in measurement)

My BF and I really enjoyed the citrus of the sauce and the nuttiness of the couscous. It really was pretty easy to fix compared to some of the other dishes I have made off of Cooking Light's website. I made sure to have all of the prep work done and was able to finish the couscous while the orange juice was reducing. They both sat fine while I finished the shrimp. The shrimp turned out great, but I would recommend adding a little bit of oil when you flip them. Other than that the recipe was perfect!! Oh, and I used frozen tiger shrimp which are perfectly sized and a little cheaper.

This is one of only a very few recipes I've ever given five stars to. It's good enough for entertaining or just a saturday night at home. I wouldn't call it a weeknight meal, but it certainly isn't as complicated or difficult as others suggest. I did take suggestions from other reviews and made the sauce and couscous ahead of time, then heated them up before serving. I used a blender to made the sauce and ended up with a smooth wonderful sauce. Also, I had to add a little extra oil when cooking the shrimp so they would all brown evenly, but not enough to make it bad for us. I will make this again very soon.

I made this last night. This one is a keeper. I used quinoa and it turned out perfect.

Absolutely outstanding. Truly crunchy. The combination of the shrimp, the watercress, the couscous and the stellar sauce work really well. This is a foodie quality recipe I'll soon serve to company!

Made this dish tonight before going to work. Took up more time than I had. 1st Jumbo shrimp cost me 18 dollars ( too expensive) I agree-the breadcrumbs did not stick well to the shrimp, and the sauce did not mix well. My boyfriend and I still enjoyed the meal. Will work on the sauce and coating the shrimp with the breadcrumbs in the future

This was a definite keeper! The presentation was great, and it would be appropriate for special occasions. I did not find this too complicated to make. I made this after work one day and it was not a problem. I meant to add chopped jalapeno to the panko crust, but forgot, and ended up following directions as noted in the recipe. I got rave reviews!

This is great. I didn't make the couscous because my children are weenies, but I made rice pilaf. It was a huge Christmas Eve hit. The panko will stick better if you refrigerate the breaded shrimp before cooking.

The breading didn't stick to the shrimp at all for me and just fell right off. It definitely isn't a very filling recipe but the people I made it for liked it enough. By the ratings I thought it would be a little more exciting. Definitely needed to whip the sauce a little

Wow - this was great. Don't be relucant to try because of the long list of ingredients or comments about too much work. I didn't think it was as difficult as some reviewers. Maybe because I made the couscous and sauce ahead of time and just re-warmed them in the microwave (separately). I also prepared the breadcrumb mixture ahead, that only left the shrimp to finish right before serving. Based on a a previous comments I used an emulsion blender to make the sauce smooth. Seriously good!

Holy Toledo is this ever good. It's seriously a restaurant-quality dish. It's not something I'd just throw together after a long day of work, but it's also not THAT much work so don't let that discourage you from trying it. I made it almost exactly as written and we enjoyed every last morsel. My next project is to try the sauce with other dishes because it is delish.

This recipe is delicious, but it takes a LOT of effort to prepare. Also, the watercress tastes good, but it's quite expensive in my area and I'm not sure I'd buy it again for this particular dinner.

I liked the recipe EXCEPT it was a LOT OF WORK and almost took every pan I had in the kitchen to prepare. I would definitely not make this again. I've cooking for years and cooking is my passion and I'd say that probably at least 1/3 or 1/2 of my dinners are from CL. I was very disappointed in this.

Perfect! Perfect! Perfect! Made this last night and it's our absolute new family favorite! Don't change a thing!

I made this exactly per the recipe and can't think of a thing I would change. This recipe has a great fresh taste. The citrus sauce along with the ginger makes a perfect light addition to the shrimp. The toasted couscous give it a great nutty counterpoint.

really yummy! sauce was clumpy - if my whisk were clean that would have been helpful. first time working with Japanese breadcrumbs and look forward to using them again.

I love to make just the shrimp and sauce and serve these as horderves. So so yummy. I even had a friend who HATES shrimp love this recipe.

I was so disappointed after reading all the great reviews. The basic shrimp & couscous were great - but the sauce turned out horribly. The mayo stayed clumpy and never blended into the sauce, ruining the whole dish (I should have tasted the sauce before drizzling it over everything!). That said, I will make it again without the sauce - because the breaded shrimp & couscous were great. Did anyone have similar problems with getting the sauce to blend?

oh man was this good! i strongly dislike cilantro, so i omitted it, but it wasn't missed. my husband went nuts for it. its so tangy and you would think all that orange juice would make it too sweet, but it didnt. great recipe and its going in my recipe file!