Chicken Thyme with Zucchini Couscous
plus Tomato Cream Sauce & Lemon
- Wheat
- Milk
This dish will quickly become one of your go-to faves, while also walking you through the basics of a game-changing pan sauce (it’s all about the sauce!). Pan-seared chicken seasoned with thyme is served on a springy bed of lemon couscous loaded with garlicky sautéed zucchini and scallions. Top with a buttery tomato-cream pan sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon for bright, juicy contrast. What time is it? Dinner thyme!
Ingredients
1 unit
Zucchini
2 clove
Garlic
1 unit
Tomato
2 unit
Scallions
1 unit
Lemon
2.5 ounce
Israeli Couscous
(Contains: Wheat)
10 ounce
Chicken Cutlets
1 teaspoon
Dried Thyme
2 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
2 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Trim and dice zucchini into ¼-inch pieces. Peel and finely chop garlic. Finely dice tomato. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Zest and quarter lemon.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini; season with half the garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned and tender, 4-7 minutes. • Turn off heat. Transfer to a plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Wipe out pan.
• While zucchini cooks, melt 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add couscous and remaining garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. • Stir in ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4) and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until couscous is tender, 6-8 minutes. • Drain any excess water if necessary. Keep covered off heat until ready to use in Step 6.
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels; season all over with thyme, salt, and pepper. • Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for zucchini over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes per side. • Turn off heat. Transfer chicken to a cutting board; tent with foil to keep warm. Let pan cool for 1-2 minutes.
• Melt 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in same pan over medium heat. Add tomato and scallion whites; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes. • Stir in stock concentrates and ¼ cup water (1/3 cup for 4). Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, 2-3 minutes. • Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream cheese until melted and combined. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slice chicken crosswise. • To pot with couscous, stir in zucchini, scallion greens, and lemon zest. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste. • Divide zucchini couscous between plates. Top with chicken; drizzle with tomato cream sauce. Serve with remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the bright, fresh flavors, especially the lemon and garlic in the couscous and the creamy tomato sauce 🍋
- Ease of prep: Some found it time-consuming with multiple steps, but others said it was straightforward and easy to follow
- Suggestions: Consider adding more vegetables like spinach or carrots; some preferred less thyme or salt to taste
- Portions: Several wanted more couscous and zucchini, especially for 4-person meals
- Texture: The zucchini-couscous combo was a hit for most, though a few found it too soft without crunch
Reviews from our home cooks
This was by far one of my favorites among the Hello Fresh meals! I told my husband to make sure he orders the Chicken Thyme with Zucchini Couscous more often! It was so so delicious!
Tomato sauce was a slightly odd combo with the thyme and and couscous with the lemon and garlic. Tasty sauce but I felt with the thyme and garlic couscous a lemon cream sauce maybe would have fit slightly better than the tomato sauce. Still a delicious meal however. A little more couscous would have been nice as well.
The sauce in this recipe was exceptional. When mixed in with the zucchini, couscous, and chicken the combination was outstanding.
This is amazing! The butteryness of the couscous with the hint of lemon paired with the thyme chicken is phenomenal. I love thyme as an herb and tasting it coupled like this has made me very happy
This is a 5 Star recipe. Simple but very tasty. The couscous and zucchini is a perfect complement to the chicken. The sauce is perfect.
I never add the green herbs like thyme to the chicken when pan frying - it just burns. I just add it to the sauce (and usually at least double the sauce amount, too, adding a bit of cornstarch thicken) I also have extra chicken stock concentrate, and I always add a dab to the couscous.
The recipe needs 1. half the salt & 2. twice the vegetables & 3. twice the herbs you allowed. I used all the thyme on the chicken, added an entire sprig of fresh oregano -- then used that same amount of herbs on the squash. It was perfect! And because of the sauce, you really shouldn't put any salt on the veggies at all, or else it will be too much. But the perfect ratio is: 1 zucchini, 3 yellow squash, 2 large heirloom tomatoes per 1 cup dry couscous and 4 chicken cutlets. And don't forget that oregano -- it really made all the difference!!
It was absolutely delicious! The creamy tomato sauce, the lemon, the thyme on the chicken, EVERYTHING was so good.
Love the lemony flavor. Paired great with Thyme and zucchini. Delicious combination I wouldn't have guessed.
So delicious! Nice portion size, loved the addition of the zucchini to the couscous. Cream sauce was outstanding.
