This Tabbouleh Salad is a traditional Middle Eastern tabbouleh salad featuring bulgur wheat, tomatoes, cucumber and loads of parsley and mint dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. It’s also ready in just 15 minutes!
What is tabbouleh salad?
Tabbouleh is a traditional, Middle Eastern, vegetarian salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley. It includes tomatoes, mint, onion and bulgur, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. This easy salad is bursting with colour and flavor.
It’s so refreshing, and I love the mint and the lemon essence in it. I go crazy for Arabic flavors and ingredients to begin with. All the lemon, olive oil, fresh veggies, cumin, sumac, everything is just so aromatic.
Ingredient Notes
- Bulgur Wheat – A rice-like grain. Can be substituted with brown rice.
- Water
- Olive Oil – If you don’t have olive oil you can use sunflower, safflower, avocado or vegetable oil.
- Lemon – You can use fresh lemons or store bought lemon juice.
- Tomatoes, Cucumber, Green Onion – Make sure to deseed both the cucumber and tomatoes and chop them very small.
- Parsley and Mint – Fresh is must here.
- Salt and Pepper – To taste.
How to make tabbouleh salad
- Cook the bulgar: Bring water to boil, add the bulgur and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the bulgur cool.
- Prep the parsley and mint: Clean the parsley using a salad spinner first, then add the parsley and mint to a food processor. Pulse it until it’s all chopped very small, but don’t turn it into a paste.
- Mix in Ingredients – Add bulgur to a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients including the parsley and mint. Toss well and serve.
Why use parsley and mint?
Parsley and mint are staples in most Middle Eastern dishes. They bring bright flavor and beautiful aromas. I want to stress that you should NOT be afraid of them! This salad is ALL about the parsley and mint, don’t think about it as just a garnish. Parsley and mint are key ingredients in this recipe and without them it just would not be tabbouleh salad, which is why they must be fresh.
What is bulgur?
A rice like grain, bulgur wheat is one of the easiest to cook and most versatile of the whole grains. It has been around for at least 4,000 years and used in many Middle Eastern dishes. I chose to cook the bulgur in this recipe, but another option is to soak it in the lemon juice and olive oil. Bulgur is also a necessary ingredient in this salad, though many times it is replaced with couscous. If you want more of a traditional tabbouleh then go with the bulgur.
How to serve
Tabbouleh is a traditional vegetarian dish, but we are by no means vegetarians in this house. It can be served as a meal itself but I generally like to pair my tabbouleh with some sort of protein. The last time I made this I served it with my Chicken Shawarma! For another great way to serve this, check out my Chicken Shawarma Tabbouleh Salad!
Leftovers
You can store leftover tabbouleh salad in the refrigerator stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If your salad has too much dressing or too much liquid, make sure to drain any excess before refrigerating it.
More great recipes to try:
- Mediterranean Chicken Salad
- Easy Hummus
- Mediterranean Couscous Salad
- Easy Lentil Soup
- Asian Chopped Chicken Salad
- Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma
- Mediterranean Orzo Salad
- Baba Ganoush
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
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Tabbouleh Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup bulgur wheat uncooked
- 1 cup water
- 3 bunches fresh parsley chopped
- ½ cup fresh mint chopped
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup lemon juice 1 or 2 lemons, depending on size
- 1 cup tomatoes deseeded and finely chopped
- ½ cup English cucumber deseeded and chopped into small cubes
- 3 green onions finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the bulgar: Bring water to boil, add the bulgur and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the bulgur cool.
- Prep the parsley and mint: Clean the parsley using a salad spinner first, then add the parsley and mint to a food processor. Pulse it until it's all chopped very small, but don't turn it into a paste.
- Mix in Ingredients – Add bulgur to a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients including the parsley and mint. Toss well and serve.
Recipe Notes
- I like to use a salad spinner to clean the parsley, so I first cut out most of the big stems, then add it all to a salad spinner to wash it out, just in case there are bugs or dirt. The salad spinner is great for drying out the parsley.
- If you do not have a food processor, you can chop the parsley by hand using a well sharpened knife.
- You can store leftover tabbouleh salad in the refrigerator stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If your salad has too much dressing or too much liquid, make sure to drain any excess before refrigerating it.
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