Looking for an incredibly healthy, light, and fresh salad? Look no further than this tabbouleh salad recipe; made of bulgur, fresh parsley, and the perfect combination of lemon and olive oil. It’s easy to make, and is a delicious side to most entrees. Here’s everything you need to know about making tabbouleh (i.e. taboubli or tabouleh).
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below and we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
What is Tabbouleh Made of?
Tabouleh salad is a Middle Eastern dish made of bulgur wheat, parsley, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon juice. Here are a few things to keep in mind when collecting your ingredients:
- Bulgur Wheat: Soaking the bulgur in lemon juice and olive oil allows the bulgur to soak up as much flavor as possible while softening the grain. That said, if you want your bulgur to be even softer, consider cooking it based on the package’s instructions.
- Pasley should be rinsed with extra care, as it’s victim to hidden dirt. I like to rinse my parsley the night before and wrap it in paper towels/place it in the fridge. This makes the parsley extra crisp when adding it to your tabouli salad! Pro tip: to quickly remove the leaves from the stems, hold the stems and slide your knife over the leaves. You’ll still need to remove some stems, but this will dramatically reduce your workload.
- Onions: if raw onions are too strong in flavor for your liking, consider soaking chopped onions in a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes before mixing them into your tabouleh salad.
Potential Swaps + Additions
- Substitute bulger for… quinoa for a gluten free option. Or cauliflower rice, ala cauliflower tabbouleh (perfect for low carb / keto!)
- Mix up the herbs: some tabbouleh recipes call for mint or even cilantro. Feel free to mix in what you’re craving.
- Add a bit of protein by adding chickpeas, or crumbled feta.
- Or more veggies, think pickled red onions, roasted eggplant, or turn this into an asparagus salad with poached asparagus.
Storing Tips
Tabouleh salad should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Bonus points? It tastes even better the next day, as the flavors have more time to marry.
What Do You Eat Tabouli With?
There’s no wrong way to eat tabouli salad. When we have a batch in the fridge, we add it to almost everything, including…
- With labneh, Greek yogurt, hummus, and fresh pita bread for a simple app.
- As a side salad to kibbeh, meat pies, or any other traditional Lebanese dish.
- Or other Middle Eastern classics, such as Mediterranean meatballs, Za’atar chicken, chicken kofta, oven baked chicken kabobs, and harissa honey chicken.
- This tabouleh recipe also goes great with simple grilled or baked proteins.
- Sprinkle it over eggs, like baked eggs, cottage cheese eggs, or frittatas.
More Salads You’ll Love
Tabbouleh
Print Recipe Pin RecipeServings :4 servings
Ingredients
- 3 Bunches Fresh Parsley I prefer curly
- 2/3 Cup Lemon Juice
- 1/3 Cup Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1/2 Cup Cracked Bulgur dry (can substitute for 1 1/2 cup cooked/cooled Quinoa, or 1 1/2 cup minced cauliflower)
- 2 Cloves Garlic minced
- 1/2 Sweet Onion minced
- 3 Tomatoes deseeded, minced
Instructions
- If you have time, thoroughly rinse the parsley (3 bunches) the night before. Wrap it in paper towels and place it in the fridge. This will make the tabouleh EXTRA crisp! If you don't have time to rinse the night before, be sure to get the parsley as dry as possible.
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil (1/3 cup), lemon juice (2/3 cup), salt (1 teaspoon) and pepper (1 teaspoon). Add cracked bulgur (1/2 cup) to the lemon juice/olive oil and let it sit for 30 minutes – 1 hour, depending on how soft you want the bulgur to be. (I usually do this for 30 minutes while I'm chopping everything else)
- Pick the leaves from the stems of the parsley. I do this by grabbing the bunch of parsley and sliding a sharp knife over the top, then picking out any large stems. Place leaves into the food processor. Pulse the parsley until it is finely chopped using 1 second intervals. Make sure not to pulse too much! Alternatively you can use a knife to chop the parsley.
- Add minced sweet onion (1/2), minced tomatoes (3 deseeded), minced garlic (2 cloves) and parsley to the bulgur and stir to combine. Add more salt/pepper to taste. Tabouleh is best served after resting in the fridge overnight. Enjoy!
Fans Also Made These Healthy Recipes:
Nutrition
Calories: 312kcalTotal Carbohydrates: 34gProtein: 6gFat: 19gSodium: 38mgFiber: 8gSugar: 6gNet Carbs: 26g
©Little Pine Low Carb. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media/website/blog is strictly prohibited.
Hey! Do I cook the Bulgur before I put it in the lemon juice and olive oil? I have never done it like you say here. Does it really get soft, if I just let it sit in the lemon juice? Thanks for your help 🙂
Hi! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂 It depends on how soft you want the bulgur to be, and how coarse the bulgur you purchased is. I purchased cracked bulgur and don’t cook the bulgur before adding it to the recipe. I let the bulgur soak for 30 min-1 hr in the olive oil + lemon juice (you can soak up to 2 hrs). If you are looking for a softer bulgur you can cook it before then skip the soaking of the grains. Hope you enjoy <3
Excellent bright flavor. I used green onions and replaced one of the parsley bunches with one bunch mint. But it would be good as is. So lemony!! Yum!
So happy to hear you love it Cheryl !! Such a great idea with the mint ?
Tried this recipe today and hubby said it was the best tabouleh ever! I also shared some with a friend and she loved it. It’s the perfect combination of sweet, sour and crunchy. Thank you so much!
Hello Archana 🙂 So happy you guys enjoyed it! ??
Hi Lindsey, I couldn’t find you on Facebook and just wanted to say that I found yours the most attractive among the Tabouleh recipes I looked up. I was particularly amused with your Instruction #6: “Serve your tabouleh with warm pita bread and Greek yoga, enjoy!” I hadn’t realized that yoga was something you could serve, nor that there was a Greek variety! May God bless you richly!!!
P.S. Perhaps you could add a link for connecting with you via Facebook if you’re still there.
Thank you so much Dave! hehe yes you can reach me on The Little Pine FB page: https://www.facebook.com/thelittlepine/ 🙂 🙂 🙂
Can you give me approximately how many cups 3 bunches of parsley would be? I grow an abundance of parsley and can’t wait to try your recipe!
Ohhh that’s SO awesome! 1 bunch equals about 2 cups ? Hope you enjoy, and I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Sometimes I put a tblsp or two of zatar in mine.
Also, on occasion I throw in about a 1/2tsp of sugar.. it brightens the lemon to me.
Thanks for the Tip Terry! 🙂
Curly parsley? Or flat?
Also, there is some overlapped text after gluten free salad.
Thanks!
Hi Tara! I prefer curly here as it adds more texture. Hope you enjoy!
Ohh yummy recipe. I made it yesterday, the taste was mind-blowing.
Yahoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed! ?
Hi, This is very helpful information for everyone. I love your post.
I’m so glad you enjoyed!?
I’ve been looking for a recipe that uses bulgur instead of couscous, and this one is perfect. The texture is amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jane! Amazing!! I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was a winner!😊
Oh. my. gosh. This looks delicious, especially your presentation shown in the recipe photographs. I’d like to make it that way. How did you do it? Thanks!
Hi Janet! Fantastic!! I love to hear that this dish turned out well for you and appreciate you making it😄