Black Olive Couscous Wrap

This delicious black olive couscous wrap is filled with salad and a drizzle of hot sauce for the most lush lunchtime wrap.

This is my new favourite lunch wrap.

A flavourful vegetable couscous in a wrap with hummus and a spicy sauce. This black olive couscous wrap is so, so good.

Jump to:

• 💭 What is couscous?
• 💭 Is couscous gluten-free?
• 🥘 Making couscous
• 🌶 Adding flavour to couscous
• 🥗 Serve it as salad
• 🥙 Serve it on pitta
• 📋 Ingredients you need
• 🥣 Homemade hummus
• 💭 Black olives or green olives?
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Don't like olives?
• 👨🏽‍🍳 How to fold a wrap
• 🌯 Packing your wrap for lunch
• 🍅 What to serve with a wrap
• ⏲️ How long will these couscous salad wraps keep?
• 🌯 More vegan lunch wraps to try
• 📋 Want new recipes delivered to your inbox?
• ⭐ Pin it for later
• 🥦 Living on the Veg
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Step-by-step photos
• 📖 Recipe
• Comments

💭 What is couscous?

Many people think couscous is a grain, but it's actually a type of pasta.

It's a North African dish made from durum wheat semolina and water.

It comes in three different sizes.

• Smallest - Moroccan Couscous (the most common)
• Bigger - Israeli Couscous (also known as pearl couscous which are more ball shaped like peppercorns)
• Largest - Lebanese Couscous

💭 Is couscous gluten-free?

As couscous is wheat-based, it's not suitable for a gluten-free diet.

There are gluten-free substitutes made from corn or cassava, but some are not vegan as they are made from tapioca starch mixed with egg whites.

🥘 Making couscous

No need for a pot to make couscous, you just need a bowl and boiling water.

The water fluffs up the grains, finishing the cooking process.

Couscous can be quite bland when made with water, so it needs perked up.

For this wrap I made it with vegetable stock, herbs, salt and pepper, then added in salad and a tangy sauce.

🌶 Adding flavour to couscous

Here are some flavours to perk up your couscous.

1. Stock - Make it with vegetable stock
2. Miso - Add miso to the boiling water
3. Marmite - Add marmite to the boiling water
4. Pesto - Add pesto to the cooked couscous
5. Sundried Tomato Paste - Add sundried tomato paste to the cooked couscous
6. Pepper Paste or Pesto - Add pepper paste to the cooked couscous
7. Herbs - Add fresh herbs to the cooked couscous or dried herbs to the boiling water or stock
8. Chilli - Add fresh chilli or chilli flakes to the cooked couscous
9. Sriracha - Stir sriracha hot sauce through the couscous
10. Sweet Chilli Sauce - Stir sweet chilli sauce through the couscous

🥗 Serve it as salad

When you make the couscous for these wraps, you can use some of the couscous to serve as a salad.

Or why not double up the quantity and enjoy both wraps and couscous salad for lunches this week.

🥙 Serve it on pitta

The ingredients of this wrap are also delicious on a pitta bread.

It's very versatile.

📋 Ingredients you need

Here are the ingredients you need to make this tasty vegan lunch wrap.

• Large flour tortillas
• Hummus
• Couscous
• Vegetable stock
• Dried Oregano
• Chilli flakes
• Salt
• Black olives
• Spring onions (scallions)
• Cucumber
• Carrot
• Sundried tomatoes (or sunblush tomatoes)
• Mango Chutney (or sweet chilli sauce)
• Fresh parsley
• Hummus
• Salad leaves
• Sriracha hot sauce

🥣 Homemade hummus

The hummus is like the glue in this wrap.

A really generous thick layer. Mmmmm! Tasty!

I used shop-bought hummus but you can make your own if you like.

Want a recipe for a super easy hummus? Try my homemade hummus recipe.

💭 Black olives or green olives?

This lunch wrap is made with black olives, but you could use green olives instead if you prefer those.

Just make sure they are pitted.

Love olives? Try this white bean and olive pate. So tasty!

👩🏻‍🍳 Don't like olives?

Don't like olives? What? Oh ok then, you can tweak it.

Don't worry, you can leave them out.

There's enough salad veg and other flavours in this filled wrap, so you can skip them.

👨🏽‍🍳 How to fold a wrap

Folding wraps is always the thing people seem to struggle with, but with a few tips and a bit of practice, you will soon find them easy.

1. Lay your wrap on a cutting board.
2. Place the filling just above the centre of the wrap in an oblong shape, leaving a border free around the edge.
3. Fold the sides in slightly over the filling.
4. Roll the top of the wrap over the filling (and folded in sides) firmly.
5. Roll towards you (you can start at the bottom and roll away from you), tucking in as you go.
6. Cut in half and serve.

Love a tasty lunch wrap? Try this avocado and hummus wrap.

For more inspiration check out 101 Vegan Sandwiches - Back to School Kids Lunch boxes.

🌯 Packing your wrap for lunch

It's important to cover your wrap securely if you're eating it later in the day.

You can either wrap it firmly, burrito style in foil, then cut in half to serve, folding back the foil as you eat it.

This is probably the most secure way of wrapping it.

You could also wrap it in baking paper or wax-based sandwich wraps.

I would be happy wrapping it in baking paper and taking it to work if I popped it in a tub with something else in there (maybe some fruit) to stop it from moving about and unwrapping.

Also, check out my guide to wraps 50 BEST Vegan Lunch Wraps & Easy FIlling Ideas.

🍅 What to serve with a wrap

Of course, you can just serve it on it's own, but here are a few serving ideas to make it more of a meal.

Serve a couscous wrap with:

1. Salad
2. Crisps (chips)
3. Chips (fries)
4. Sweet Potato Fries
5. Potato Wedges and Vegan Mayo
6. Falafel, Beetroot and Hummus
7. Vegetable Crudites and Dip (try this creamy sriracha dip)

⏲️ How long will these couscous salad wraps keep?

If you can, make these wraps on the day you are serving them.

You could make them the evening before, but for best results make them on the day you are serving them.

My advice is to make the couscous salad ahead (it will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days), then you can quickly make the wrap in the morning before work.

Once the couscous is made the wraps literally take about 2 minutes to make.

Step 1

• First make the couscous.
• Add the couscous to a mixing bowl, then crumble in the stock cube, add the dried herbs (full printable recipe below), chilli flakes (if you are adding them) and season with salt and pepper.
• Pour in the boiling water.

Step 2

• Mix with a fork, then cover with a clean teatowel and leave to soak.
• Once cooked, fluff with a fork, than add the cucumber.

Step 3

• Now add the olives, sundried tomatoes, spring onion and fresh herbs and mix well.
• Add grated carrot and mango chutney. The mango chutney will help it hold togther better in the wrap and give lots of flavour.

Step 4

• Mix well.
• This couscous can be made ahead and kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.
• Now add a generous layer of hummus to a large flour tortilla and top with grated carrot.

Step 5

• Now add a generous layer of couscous salad, then add some salad leaves.
• Finish with a generous drizzle of sriracha before folding firmly.
• Cut in half and enjoy!