The Best Easy Tabbouleh Recipe - bulgur wheat tossed with parsley, mint, lemon, olive oil - and ripe cucumbers and tomatoes for a delicious vegan salad bursting with Lebanese flavor!
This dish is a traditional Lebanese salad - and the fresh Mediterranean flavors are simple, delicious, and shine through!
Every year for Pascha (Orthodox Christian "Easter"), I have a few dishes I make a beeline for at our church's big picnic - and Tabbouleh is always one of them!
This salad is incredibly light, and absolutely loaded with parsley flavor, with tons of mint and lemon. It's great alongside other light meze-style appetizers and dishes, as well as hearty meaty dishes.
We're adding ripe tomatoes and a cucumber for extra crunch and flavor - but this salad can be made without them as well.
We're also adding plenty of garlic flavor - which is not strictly traditional, but we think the garlic helps add another crave-worthy layer of flavor.
We love serving tabbouleh alongside seafood, chicken, lamb, and beef - and while not incredibly traditional, we also love to serve tabbouleh with pork.
Tabbouleh is not gluten free - it's main component is bulgar, a type of wheat - but you can swap for quinoa to make a gf version.
Tabbouleh is loaded with fiber, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!
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Table of contents
What is Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is a fresh, vegan salad made of bulgur wheat, parsley, mint, lemon, and olive oil. It also can use other vegetables for additional flavor.
Tabbouleh is Levantine - meaning it is from the Eastern Mediterranean countries of Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Jordan.
Tabbouleh is also often called Tabouleh or Tabouli.
Tabbouleh Variations
We're going to run through some of our favorite twists on tabbouleh - so you have plenty of ideas of how to put your own delicious spin on this Mediterranean dish!
No Cucumber and Tomatoes
You can skip the cucumbers and tomatoes in this recipe, and make with lettuce instead - or just leave the bulgur, mint, and parsley to shine!
No Garlic
Traditionally, tabouleh doesn't call for garlic. We love the additional flavor - but you can omit for a more traditional take.
Gluten Free Tabbouleh
If you'd love to try tabbouleh, but can't eat wheat - swap the bulgur for quinoa!
Prepare according to package directions and drain well.
More Parsley Tabbouleh
We tend to use a little bit less parsley than some traditional recipes - the recipe shown here has one bunch of parsley, instead of a more traditional two bunches.
Add anywhere from 1-2 bunches of parsley, finely chopped or minced in a food processor, and mix in according to your tastes.
Semolina Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh can also contain semolina instead of bulgur traditionally -
What Kind Of Bulgur To Use In Tabbouleh
There are a few types of bulgur that can be used in tabbouleh - fine, medium, coarse, and very coarse.
For this recipe, we recommend fine or medium - preferably fine, but if you can only buy medium, it works just fine.
We used Bob's Red Mill Red Bulgur for our photos - we love the nutty flavor of the red bulgur. You can use whatever you can buy!
How To Cook Bulgur For Tabbouleh
For this recipe, you can use any variation of bulgur -
What To Serve With Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is great served with pita, hummus, vegetables, and other light dishes as a meze meal.
We also love the light, fresh flavor of tabbouleh alongside some of our favorite meat main dishes:
- Easy Air Fryer Lemon Garlic Salmon Recipe
- The Best Baked Garlic Butter Pork Tenderloin
- The Best Air Fried Chicken Drumsticks
- Garlic Parmesan Air Fried Shrimp Recipe
- Easy Chicken Schnitzel Recipe
- Easy Braised Leg of Lamb Recipe
- Easy Baked Pork Chops Recipe
- The Best Easy Air Fryer Cornish Game Hens Recipe
Other Vegan Dishes You'll Love
If you're looking for other delicious vegan recipe ideas, please check out some of our favorites below:
You can click here to find our complete vegan dish recipe archives.
Recipe FAQ's
Tabbouleh works really well as leftovers - it can last up to four days, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator.
Tabbouleh tastes even better cold - so making it ahead of serving and chilling is fine!
The Best Easy Tabbouleh Recipe
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The Best Easy Tabbouleh Recipe
The Best Easy Tabbouleh Recipe - bulgar tossed with parsley, mint, lemon, olive oil, cucumbers and tomatoes for a delicious fresh salad!
Ingredients
- 1 cup bulgur (I prefer red, fine-ground)
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 medium sized ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon kosher or coarse celtic salt
- 1-2 bunches of parsley, stems removed (1 bunch is pictured, 2 is more traditional)
- 1½ cups mint leaves
- 4 scallions
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Boil water.
- Pour bulgar into water and stir, remove from heat and let soak 1 hour.
- When bulgar is soft, strain and squeeze out any extra water.
- Place in large bowl, set aside.
- In a food processor, add mint, scallions, garlic, and parsley and mince (do not pulverize or liquify - this shouldn't be like pesto) - OR chop to mince finely. We prefer chopping by hand because we like a more rustic texture, some prefer more finely minced texture.
- Add to bowl with bulgar and stir.
- Stir tomatoes and cucumber into bulgar and minced herbs, toss to mix.
- In a small bowl, mix olive oil and lemon - stir well to combine.
- Drizzle olive oil and lemon over tabbouleh, tossing to evenly coat.
- Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 129Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 0mgSodium 292mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 3gSugar 6gProtein 2g
Nutrition is automatically calculated by Nutritionix - please verify all nutrition information independently and consult with a doctor or nutritionist for any and all medical and diet advice.
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