Tabbouleh Salad Recipe (Tabouli)
- By Chef Billy Parisi
- Updated
This delicious refreshing Tabbouleh salad recipe is loaded up with parsley, bulgur wheat, mint, tomatoes, and cucumber for the ultimate light side dish. The flavors in this salad are nothing short of amazing.
If you are looking to explore some new and interesting flavors, then this salad would go excellent served up alongside Kofta or Kibbeh.
Tabbouleh Salad
Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern dish of bulgur wheat, tomatoes, onions, parsley, and mint, and is commonly served as an appetizer on Romaine hearts. It comes from the Arabic word “taabil” which means to season or spice. This centuries-old salad can be served as is or as a side dish to other Mediterranean-style meals.
When making this salad, know that it is much more of a parsley salad than it is a grain salad but you can add more bulgur to the recipe. It has subtle earthy flavors that are brightened up with acid and herbs.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Bulgur – Use fine #1 bulgur wheat for this recipe.
- Parsley – I like to use Italian flat leaf, but you can use curly parsley if you’d like. Be sure to rinse it and dry it well.
- Mint – Fresh mint will add a great refreshing flavor to this tabbouleh salad.
- Tomatoes – I prefer to use Roma tomatoes for this recipe.
- Cucumbers – Persian cucumbers are firmer and have less liquid and are perfect for this dish.
- Onions – Green onions are classically used in this recipe.
- Oil – A good extra virgin olive oil will add some great flavors to this.
- Lemon – You will need lemon juice in this to help preserve flavors and colors, as well as provide some much-needed acid to this recipe.
How to Make Tabbouleh Salad from Scratch
Use these simple-to-prepare instructions to make this tabbouleh salad from scratch.
Add the bulgur wheat to a medium-size bowl and stir in enough lukewarm water to completely cover it. Set aside for 20 to 25 minutes to soften it.
In the meantime, prepare all the vegetables and herbs for it and add them to a large bowl.
Drain the bulgur through a chinois or cheesecloth and press down to remove as much liquid as possible.
Add the bulgur to the bowl with the vegetables and add in the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and mix to combine.
Serve or keep cool.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this tabbouleh salad up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store: Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Chef Notes + Tips
- You can use any tomato in this recipe.
- Feel free to use an English or American slicing (burpee) cucumber, however, be sure to remove the seeds.
- Use a majority of the parsley stems.
More Salad Recipes
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, and if you’ve had a chance to make this then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below.
Tabbouleh Salad Recipe (Tabouli)
Email this recipe!
Enter your email and I’ll send it to you, plus new recipes and tips each week.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup fine bulgur wheat
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 5 sliced green onions
- 25-30 finely minced fresh mint leaves
- 6 filleted and medium-diced Roma tomatoes, see video
- 4 medium-diced Persian cucumbers
- 3 bunches of finely minced parsley
- 1 finely minced garlic clove
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the bulgur wheat to a medium-size bowl and stir in enough lukewarm water to completely cover it. Set aside for 20 to 25 minutes to soften it.
- In the meantime, prepare all the vegetables and herbs for it and add them to a large bowl.
- Drain the bulgur through a chinois or cheesecloth and press down to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Add the bulgur to the bowl with the vegetables and add in the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and mix to combine.
- Serve or keep cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Get the Latest Recipes
Join Chef Billy’s newsletter for the latest scratch-made recipes, cooking tips, and techniques.
ChefBilly tu so tasty good for me live the reciepy you created 😋🤩😁✔️
can you use quinoa for this recipe instead? If so same amount?
yes. Same amount as bulgur
Love it
Chef-I was wondering what mint is best to use.
spearmint, but that is what’s mostly sold in grocery stores in the US
I could live on this recipe. To make it into a meal, I add Parma ham & crumbled feta. Divine
Thank you for trying this!
I love this fresh tabbouleh recipe!
It always turns out good.
fantastic!
The best!
so good!!
This is the best Tabouleh Salad I have ever had! Will definitely be making this many times this summer. So light and refreshing. Everyone loved it! Thank you Chef Parisi. Another definite keeper recipe from you.
thanks for giving it a shot!!
This recipe is actually better than what I had in the Middle East. I really appreciate the video. Especially soaking the bulgar and the 10 plus minutes of chopping the parsley. I probably wouldn’t have chopped it so finely if I hadn’t watched the video. Excellent, fresh and delightful salad.
Wow, that’s high praise!
AMAZING ❤️
MUST HAVE SOME!
Dang near lived off this last year, it’s soo good!
Sometimes added shredded chicken and ate in a pita pocket 😘
Awesome!
Thank you for making these printer friendly. You and I are on the same page…Keep It Simple! Will make this week. Cheers