This delicious tabouli salad recipe is heavy on fresh herbs and tomatoes. It's a herbaceous salad that's versatile and can be served in many way!
Tabouli is a staple salad in the Middle East and is often served as part of a mezze platter or as a side salad. It's an easy recipe to make and pairs with many dishes!
Emily's Recipe Notes
This tabouleh recipe is an authentic take on Lebanese and Syrian tabouli, prioritizing a large amount of parsley and a smaller amount of bulgur. I treat my tabouli as a herb salad with grain, not a grain salad!
I often have this salad for lunch with hummus and pita bread, but you can also serve it in romaine leaves or enjoy it alongside chicken for dinner. It saves well in the refrigerator for a few days, so you can make it in advance or use it as a meal prep recipe.
This recipe serves four to six as a side salad but can easily be scaled up or down.
Tabbouleh Ingredients
- Parsley - You'll need three bunches of fresh parsley - it's the star of the recipe! the parsley and allow it to try, then chop as much of the stems off as possible without removing leaves. Then, chop them to a fine dice. Use curly parsley for this recipe (not flat parsley or Italian parsley).
- Roma Tomatoes - You'll need 2 Roma (or plum) tomatoes. They are easier to chop than regular tomatoes because they're firmer and have fewer seeds. For best results, I like to remove the seeds as well, this keeps the salad from wilting.
- Bulgur Wheat - You'll use 3 ounces of fine bulgur (please see the notes on bulgur below if you have questions). It's a cereal grain that's made from parboiled oats. Some people like to make quinoa tabbouleh; you can substitute quinoa for bulgur if you'd prefer. I prefer the bulgur because it has a lovely nutty flavor.
- Mint - You'll use ½ cup of fresh mint leaves (stems removed). Dice them till they are the same size as the parsley.
- Shallots - You'll use 2 shallots. These will be finely diced as well. You can substitute this for 2 to 4 green onions if you'd like.
- Dressing - To dress the salad, use ⅓ cup of good olive oil and ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about two to three lemons worth).
- Spices - Finally, you'll use ½ teaspoon of ground allspice, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper.
- Alternative Add-ins - feel free to add some diced English cucumber or crumbly feta cheese to this salad.
See the recipe card for full details.
Instructions
Place the bulgur, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl. Stir to combine and allow the bulgur to soak for 20 minutes till it has softened.
Combine the chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, chopped mint, and diced shallots in a large mixing bowl, Stir to combine.
When the bulgur has softened, add it to the parsley mixture, spooning out any excess lemon juice and oil into the bowl as well. Add the allspice, salt, and pepper as well. Stir till fully combined.
Serve at room temperature or save for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Substitutions & Additions
- Quinoa - if you are gluten-free or would just prefer it, cooked quinoa is a great for bulgur!
- Cheese - adding a ½ cup of finely crumbled feta cheese or goat's cheese is a great addition.
- Onions - you can swap the shallots for 2 to 4 finely sliced green onions.
- Citrus - you can swap the lemon juice for lime juice.
- Cucumbers - you can add cucumbers for some crunch if you'd like - finely dice one large English cucumber or 3 small Persian cucumbers.
Storage
This salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. I do not recommend freezing this recipe. Tabbouli is best served at room temperature, so remove it from the fridge at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes About Bulgur Wheat
In the Middle East, tabouli is made with fine bulgur wheat (the redder kind found in Lebanon, not the paler kind found in Turkish cuisine). Usually, this is labeled as a 'type 1' bulgur, with the coarseness level going all the way up to type 4, which is whole bulgur.
This super-fine bulgur can be hard to find in grocery stores outside the Middle East! You have two options: You can either use coarser bulgur (which is totally fine), but it may require an additional 10 minutes of soaking or some cooking time. I recommend following package instructions for cooking or soaking. Or, you can visit a Middle Eastern grocery store, if there is one nearby, to find fine bulgur or buy it online.
Tabouli FAQs
It's so tempting to save time by using the food processor, but I don't recommend it as it's not as good as chopping the herbs by hand. A food processor will wilt the delicate herbs and break them down
Yes, tabouli saves well in the refrigerator for a few days. I prefer it served at room temperature, although it can be served chilled as well!
More Mediterranean Recipes to Try
Love these fresh flavor combinations? Check out some of our other favorite Mediterranean and Middle Eastern recipes.
- Mediterranean Summer Salad - a bright and fresh tomato salad with herbs
- The Best Fattoush Salad Recipe - another great Lebanese salad with tomato, cucumber, and radish salad with crusty bread
- Ful Medames (Egyptian Fava Beans) - a delicious fava bean dish that can be eaten as a dip with pita bread.
- Chopped Middle Eastern Salad - a basic tomato, cucumber, and pomegranate salad that's full of flavor and a great side salad.
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Tabouli Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup fine bulgur wheat also called cracked wheat
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 firm Roma tomatoes finely diced (seeds removed)
- 3 bunches fresh curly parsley finely chopped (stems removed)
- ½ cup finely chopped mint leaves stems removed
- 2 shallots finely diced
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the bulgur, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl. Stir to combine and allow the bulgur to soak for 20 minutes till it has softened.
- Combine the chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, chopped mint, dived shallots, allspice, sea salt, and black pepper in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- When the bulgur has softened, add it to the parsley mixture, spooning out any excess lemon juice and oil into the bowl as well. Stir till fully combined.
- Serve at room temperature or save for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
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