Tabbouleh Salad
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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.
Ingredients
This recipe is loaded with fresh, bold ingredients making this dish a standout. Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump the Recipe” button at the top of the page!
- 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.
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 make tabbouleh salad
Three steps, that’s it!
- 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.
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
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 5 mins
Total: 15 mins
Serves: 4
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!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup bulgur wheat uncooked
- 1 cup water
- 3 bunches fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh mint chopped
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice 1 or 2 lemons, depending on size
- 1 cup tomatoes deseeded and finely chopped
- 1/2 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.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 254kcal (13%)Carbohydrates: 21g (7%)Protein: 4g (8%)Fat: 19g (29%)Saturated Fat: 3g (19%)Sodium: 36mg (2%)Potassium: 494mg (14%)Fiber: 6g (25%)Sugar: 2g (2%)Vitamin A: 4254IU (85%)Vitamin C: 74mg (90%)Calcium: 89mg (9%)Iron: 4mg (22%)
Roxann Mrochko says
Love all your recipes!
Roxann Mrochko says
I absolutely love tabboleh but not fond of bulgar wheat so I switched it out with orzo. I also loved a little more lemon and mint and tomatoes instead of cucumbers. That’s my go to lunch in the summer. I live on and love your site! Thank you for showing me how to cook with my ninja foodi with great taste. You truly are a great inspiration! Thank you!
jo says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear this! Jo
Sylvia says
I just finished making this salad for a noon potluck. It will chill in the fridge for several hours before serving. I doubled the amount of bulgur while increasing the olive oil and lemon juice to 1/3 cup each.
Jodi says
This was incredible my husband the chef asked me to make it again
I made it with the garlic sauce and the salad mentioned and threw in a Greek salad too
Made it with bone in skin on thighs then shredded it before we ate
This is a keeper soooooo good
Heather says
Love this recipe…do to my GF diet I use quinoa in place of the bulgur wheat still comes out wonderfully. We top our chicken shawarma with this salad and it’s heaven.
Mere says
I made this tonight. Very yummy! I caught myself going back for spoonful after spoonful before I put it in the serving dish:) I did substitute couscous for bulgur, no other changes were made to the recipe. Thank you!
Heather says
Recipe doesn’t specify how much parsley or mint (or if it does, it doesn’t show up on my phone.. Just looks like a number should be there but it isn’t). So I winged it. Tastes ok.
Joanna Cismaru says
Not sure what happened there, Heather, it must have got messed up somehow, but I just updated it for you.
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says
One of my faves here to be sure! I never make it though…so spoiled by a local Lebanese restaurant that has wonderful tabbouleh and spares me the chopping! But right now with the farmer’s market in full swing, I really should make it myself…going to try your recipe! 🙂
jo says
That’s great. Yeah I love the farmer’s markets right now. 🙂
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says
Me too! We belong to a CSA too…I love this time of year! Farm fresh veggies galore!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I love tabbouleh but guiltily, I always store buy it! You totally have inspired me to make it myself Jo.
jo says
Hope you try it Thalia 🙂
Chris Pereira says
You mentioned in the intro, that the salad had cumin and sumac in it, but I don’t see these in the ingredients list. Also, have you ever tried making this with Quinoa?
jo says
Hi Chris,
There’s no cumin or sumac in this recipe, I mentioned I love arabic flavors which include cumin and sumac. 🙂
mila furman says
YES~!!!! I love me a good tabbouleh salad!!! The mint and the parsley really do make it!
Guadalupe Holt says
I live in Dominican Republic and as we have summer weather the whole year my mother likes to makes tabbouleh often cause is so refreshing and effortless, but never tried before with mint on it, thanks for share this recipe, gotta try.
jo says
I’d love to hear how you like the mint in it if you try it. 🙂
Reduceri haine says
Looks simple, fresh and wonderfully tasty!
ks grandma says
This was one of my biggest “woe is me” moments when I began to have gluten sensitivity issues. Now I make it with quinoa and continue to enjoy it a lot.
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext says
Love tabbouleh – this looks perfect. I really like the light lemon olive oil dressing! 😀
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I love this tabbouleh. You’ve used a little cracked wheat and a lot of everything else – my favorite. It looks SO fresh and delicious.
jo says
Thanks Maureen, it was delicious and now it’s gone. 🙂