Is Aldi Spice Infusion Couscous High In Syns On Slimming World?

For many of us, couscous is a great staple in our dishes, it bulks them out and makes meals filling, and is even syn free on the SW plan, but the flavoured packets however do have syns.

Aldi's spice infusion couscous in particular has 1 syn for a 50g serving or 2 syns for the whole 100g pack, making it an excellent choice for people who are looking to have a low syn lunch or dinner. 

In our short guide below we will cover; why this couscous has syns despite couscous being syn-free, other syn values of Aldi's couscous, some low syn couscous alternatives from other brands and how to make your own syn free couscous dish on the SW plan.

Check this article out if you want to work out Slimming World Syn Values!

Why Does Aldi Spice Infusion Couscous Have Syns?

It can be confusing to find out that packet couscous has syns when plain couscous does not, this comes from the fact that packet couscous can often contain oil and extra fat/calories from the flavourings used.

They remain low in syns however, at 1 syn per serving you can happily enjoy them as part of your daily diet, as on average you have a syn allowance of up to 15 syns on the slimming world plan.

These flavoured couscous packets can be paired with your speed veggies or some lean meat to keep them low in syns, or you could even try making your syn-free couscous for an entire syn-free meal which we will get into later.

It’s worth noting that even if you buy plain non-flavoured couscous packets they can still contain syns if they have oil inside. If you are looking to get some packeted couscous from Aldi convenience, we have listed a few other low syn alternatives from the brand below.

• Aldi couscous lemon & coriander half pack - 1.5 syns.
• Aldi couscous roasted vegetables half pack - 1.5 syns.
• Aldi couscous sun-dried tomato and garlic half pack - 2 syns.

Low Syn Alternatives To Aldi Spice Infusion Couscous

Aldi is not the only brand out there with some easy make low syn couscous meals, it’s also worth checking out low-syn alternatives from other brands too.

We have listed a few to try out on the SW plan below.

• Asda Chosen By You coriander and lemon couscous 110g- 1.5 syns.
• Asda Chosen By You spicy herb couscous 110g- 1 syn.
• Asda Chosen By You Morrocan style giant couscous 110g- SYN FREE.
• Ainsley Harriet wild mushroom couscous - 2.5 syns per pack.
• Ainsley Harriet spice sensation couscous - 1 syn per pack.
• Ainsley Harriet aromatic Thai couscous - 2 syns per pack.
• Ainsley Harriet lemon, mint and parsley couscous - 2.5 syns per pack.
• Co-op Mediterranean and tomato couscous - 1 syns per 110g.
• Mug shot couscous chicken and mushroom 70g - 2 syns.
• Mug shot couscous roasted veg and tomato 70g - 1 syn.
• Morrisons coriander and lemon couscous - 0.5 syns a serving.
• Sainsbury’s savoury couscous harissa flavour - 5.5 syns.
• Sainsbury’s savoury couscous lemon and herb - 4.5 syns.
• Waitrose tomato and onion couscous dried - 1 syn a serving.
• Batchelors couscous sun-dried tomato and garlic - 0.5 syns.
• Batchelors couscous spice sensation - 0.5 syns.
• Batchelor's couscous Moroccan medley - SYN FREE.
• Batchelor's couscous deli box spicy chicken - 1.5 syns.

Syn Free SW Friendly Couscous Recipes

Since couscous plain and made up yourself is syn free, it makes sense to cook your own rather than buy packeted flavours to save you some syns, you can even make some up in bulk and use it for quick lunches/dinners and meal preps.

To give you a little inspiration for your SW syn free couscous, we have a couple of our best syn free couscous recipes to get you started below.

Syn Free Veg & Ham Couscous

This syn-free ham, veg and couscous meal can be a quick mid-day lunch and gets your required veggies in for the day too, the whole recipe serves four people.

Ingredients

• One red pepper diced.
• 200g of butternut squash chopped.
• One red onion chopped.
• 5 slices of ham chopped small.
• 250g of couscous.
• 250ml of boiling water with chicken stock.
• Seasoning.
• Parsley.

Method

1. First of all preheat your oven to gas mark 5 then roast the butternut squash, onion and pepper on a pan with some spray oil and choose the seasoning you want.
2. While this roasts for around 30 minutes you can then makeup your couscous with your chicken stock, allow this to stand for around 5 minutes or until fluffy.
3. When the couscous is ready add in the roasted veg and your ham, you can also add the parsley at this stage too then season and combine.

Morrocan Style Syn Free Couscous

For people who want a more interesting lunch with varied cuisine, you can make this Morrocan style couscous easily at home with a few simple steps for a syn-free meal, this will serve around 4 people.

Ingredients

• 250g of butternut squash in chunks.
• 150-200g of sweet potato in chunks.
• 3 cloves of garlic.
• One onion & red pepper.
• Small piece of ginger grated.
• 400g of chickpeas.
• 200g of chopped tomatoes.
• One tbsp of soy sauce.
• 120g of giant couscous.
• One tbsp of tomato purée.
• Coriander.
• Pinch of paprika.

Method

1. Heat your oven to around gas mark 6 or 7 then place your veg including the sweet potato, squash, onion and pepper on to a pan to roast for around 20 minutes.
2. Make up your couscous then place your garlic, ginger, paste, chopped tomato and paprika into a pan then bring to a boil.
3. Stir and add in any other ingredients after 10 minutes then combine with the veggies and giant couscous.

Final Words

Overall, although the Aldi spice infusion couscous does have syns, it contains a very little amount just like other brands, making a great low syn snack or addition to a meal.

We always recommend making your couscous to keep things syn free in our recipes above, this can be paired with an SW friendly chicken recipe or some speed veg.