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).
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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.
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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!
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Nutrition
Calories: 312kcalTotal Carbohydrates: 34gProtein: 6gFat: 19gSodium: 38mgFiber: 8gSugar: 6gNet Carbs: 26g
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