Tabbouleh is an easy, tasty, and healthy salad to make as a side dish or as an entree. Tabbouleh is vegan-friendly and great to make ahead of time for meal prep, or even to bring to a potluck.
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Where does Tabbouleh come from?
Tabbouleh is a parsley salad from the Middle East. The origin of this salad has been traced back to Lebanon and Syria. The great thing about Tabbouleh is that many countries in the Middle East have their take on this salad.
Turkey’s take on this salad is known for being more like the style we see in the United States where there is a higher ratio of bulgur wheat than parsley. This is the style our family does prefer, but you can always add more parsley and mint to the salad if you’d like that style instead.
What goes into Tabbouleh?
For our recipe today we will be using the following ingredients:
- Parsley
- Mint
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Shallots
- Bulgar Wheat (We like this Bulgar Wheat from Bobs Red Mill)*
- Garlic Cloves
- Olive Oil
- Oregano
Which kind of parsley do you use for Tabbouleh?
Typically, you’d want to use flat-leaf parsley as it has a more intense flavor making it the ideal choice for many people when making a Tabbouleh salad.
That being said, a pro for using curly parsley is it will add more volume to your salad even when it’s finely chopped.
Since we are making this salad amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, our choices were limited with what kind of parsley we could find. Due to this, we are using curly parsley. Though in the end, the kind of parsley you use is up to your discretion. You do just want to make sure to use fresh parsley and not dried parsley.
How long will Tabbouleh last?
Tabbouleh will save in the fridge sealed for 3 days. After that, the texture of the bulgur wheat will start becoming sticky and the vegetables will start becoming soft.
If you are making Tabbouleh to bring for lunches throughout the week or for a potluck you can make it the night before.
Can you freeze it?
Sadly I would not recommend freezing it. The integrity of the salad will not hold up when it thaws. The tomatoes and cucumbers will release excess liquid into the salad causing the herbs to become disintegrate and the bulgur wheat will become mushy and sticky.
Substitutions, Add-ins, and Cooking Notes:
Bulgar Wheat: Bulgar wheat is the traditional grain used in tabbouleh you are not limited to it. Other grain options to use instead of or in addition to bulgur wheat is quinoa, couscous, cracked wheat, or rice.
Olives: A great extra flavor for tabbouleh would be olives. Nice green olives diced into small bits is a great flavor addition for this salad
Tomatoes: To make sure your tomatoes stay fresh longer and don’t release too much liquid into the salad you’ll want to de-seed and salt them. De-seeding the tomatoes will get rid of most of the tomatoes liquid, but you can go a step further by sprinkling salt over the diced tomatoes. The salt will remove excess liquid from the tomatoes as well as remove any bitter flavor the tomatoes have.
Cucumbers: You’ll want to de-seed the cucumbers in addition to the tomatoes to prevent any excess liquid from mixing into the salad. While I used a regular cucumber for our salad, English or Persian cucumbers will have less water in them making them great options for this salad.
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Thank you for checking out our Tabbouleh Salad recipe and make sure to check out our other vegan recipes like this Vegan Double Chocolate Loaf, or our Vegan KFC Fried Chicken.
Tabbouleh Salad
Equipment
- Small pot
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- 1/2 a cucumber (de-seeded)
- 1/2 a shallot
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (If you use fresh squeezed lemon juice, go ahead and add some lemon zest too.)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/2 cup bulgur wheat
- 1 roma tomato
Instructions
Bulgar Wheat:
- In a saucepan add 1 cup of water, a pinch of salt, and the garlic clove.
- Bring the water to a boil and add the bulgur wheat. Stir the mixture well and turn the stove to medium heat.
- Cook for 10-12 minutes or until there’s no more water.
- Next, remove the saucepan from the heat and let it sit covered until there’s no trace of liquid. Fluff with a fork.
- The bulgur wheat needs to be cooled before mixing in the salad. I spread the bulgur wheat on a baking tray in a even layer allowing it to cool faster and without it sticking together.
Dressing:
- In a big bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, ⅛ tsp salt,optional lemon zest, and ⅛ tsp black pepper. Put the bowl aside.
Prepare the Herbs and Vegetables:
- De-seed and chop the tomatoes into small dices. Add them to a colander and sprinkle some salt them and let them sit until the rest of the ingredients and chopped and ready to mix. This will remove excess liquid allowing the salad to stay fresh longer. It also helps remove any bitter flavor the tomato might have.
- Finely chop the mint and parsley. Working in small batches to make sure the herbs are chopped small and evenly.
- De-seed the cucumber and dice into small pieces.
- Dice the shallot into small pieces.
Mixing the salad:
- In the bowl, we set aside earlier with the dressing add the now cooled and fluffed bulgur wheat to the bowl.
- Add the diced vegetables and herbs into the bowl.
- Carefully fold the mixture together, making sure to properly mix the dressing in the bottom of the bowl throughout the salad. Adjust any flavors you might want like salt, pepper, oil, or lemon juice. For the best flavor set the salad in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
- Store the salad in an airtight tupperware in the fridge for up to 3 days.