This Instant Pot Couscous Recipe Uses All Your Pantry Staples

Instant Pot recipes are the perfect thing for times like these: when you want wholesome, comforting meals that can come together quickly.

This vegetarian dish from Milk Street: Fast and Slow by Milk Street Kitchen founder Christopher Kimball uses some of our favorite pantry staples to make a delicious meal that has all the comfort of a slow-cooked one without the time spent waiting for it.

One of our favorite tips in this recipe? It calls for toasting the pearl couscous in olive oil until it's golden brown. That simple step infuses even more flavor into the simple grain, even before you add the flavor base (in this case: onion, garlic, and cumin). We'll be trying this with some of our other favorite grains, too.

The other key components of the dish, butternut squash and canned kidney beans, form a balance of sweet and nourishing that makes this feel like a complete meal. And to stop it from becoming heavy, the dish calls for a topping of fresh lemon juice, dill, and feta cheese for a salty, acidic note.