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Authentic Bulgur Tabbouleh is a parsley salad flavored with bulgur, mint, scallions, tomatoes, and a bright lemony dressing. It’s quick, fresh, easy, and absolutely delicious.
Sometimes the tabbouleh in front of you isn’t authentic. If what you’ve only eaten before was a pile of soggy bulgur wheat, flecked with little bits of cucumbers, parsley, and tomatoes, well, then, you’re really in for a surprise.
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At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Tabbouleh Salad Recipe Ingredients
- Bulgur wheat: Most well-stocked groceries should carry bulgur. I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill red bulgur. It just needs to be rehydrated with some boiling water.
- Curly parsley: Do not substitute flat parsley. It’s too wet and flat and will drag down the salad.
How to Make Tabbouleh Salad
- In a medium bowl, add bulgur. Add boiling water to cover by 1/2-inch and let soak until softened, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain well.
- To a large bowl, add drained bulgur. Stir in parsley, mint, tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Tabbouleh Recipe Tips and Variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups of Bulgur Tabbouleh, enough for 6 (1-cup) servings.
- Quinoa Tabbouleh. Throw in an equal amount of cooked quinoa (any color) in place of the bulgur. Learn how to cook quinoa perfectly every time, without any bitterness at all.
- Couscous: Moroccan, Israeli, and Lebanese style couscous are all good substitutions. Cook each kind according to the package instructions, and add an equal amount of any for the bulgur.
- Cauliflower tabbouleh: Riced cauliflower makes a great stand-in for grain, especially if you’re trying to eat more vegetables.
- Mix up your mix-ins: Cucumbers don’t usually show up in authentic tabbouleh, but many people add them for extra crunch. Or, add a pinch of cinnamon, a good dose of allspice, or a sprinkle of Lebanese 7-spices.
Tabbouleh Recipe Storage
Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The salad tastes better as it sits, and by the 4th day it will STILL be bouncy and delicious, and oh-so lemony.
Tabbouleh Recipe FAQs
For the best parsley texture, skip the appliances and chop the parsley by hand. It may feel unwieldy, but pulverized parsley will have a different taste and texture than what you want in this salad.
1. Remove the largest stems from the parsley.
2. Make a pile of parsley and chop it with your chef’s knife as if you were slicing a vegetable, rotating the pile as you go.
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Bulgur Tabbouleh
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup bulgur wheat (see note 1)
- boiling water
- 2 bunches fresh curly parsley stems removed and minced, about 4 cups packed (see note 2)
- 1/4 cup minced fresh mint leaves stems removed
- 2 Roma tomatoes seeded and finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 bunch scallions sliced (white and green parts)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add bulgur. Add boiling water to cover by 1/2-inch and let soak until softened, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain well.
- To a large bowl, add drained bulgur. Stir in parsley, mint, tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Bulgur wheat: Most well-stocked groceries should carry bulgur. I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill red bulgur. It just needs to be rehydrated with some boiling water.
- Curly parsley: Do not substitute flat parsley. It’s too wet and flat and will drag down the salad.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups of Bulgur Tabbouleh, enough for 6 (1-cup) servings.
- Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The salad tastes better as it sits, and by the 4th day it will STILL be bouncy and delicious, and oh-so lemony.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Oh my, this is the best! Lemony, crisp parsley and green onions from my herb garden. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Marinda! I’m so glad you loved it! – Meggan
Love your recipes. I have found the secret of the parsley to be in removing all the bitter stems. We always sent our neighbors portions of all the Mexican and Latin foods I prepare including lots of black beans. We like black beans so much better than the refried beans.
Thanks so much for sharing.
You’re welcome, Jennifer! I’m so glad you love my recipes. Take care! – Meggan
The recipe turned out perfectly. I could not find mint or green onions in the store ( day after Christmas shopping was slim pickings) and I added my motherโs Moroccan lemon and olive oil combination- one part lemon to 2.5 parts olive oil and 15 cloves of crushed garlic, kosher salt to taste and pepper. Thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome, Juliana! Thanks for writing! – Meggan
Amazing!!!
Hi Meghan!!
Thank you so much for your tabbouleh recipe looks yummy .like to make a little comment or advice in a better term.
I come from the middle East Lebanon to be exact .the authentic Lebanese tabbouleh use fine berghol not coarse
That need a little rinsing and draining.
As for parsley we use mostly the flat leaf it’s tastier unless you grow curley parsley in your garden and use it fresh don’t recommend the store bought one unless it looks and smells fresh.
Hello Lamia! I really appreciate your comment!! I have never seen fine bulghur but I will track it down. As for the flat parsley, the curly is always so much better where I live. And the flat makes the salad very wet, I saw a comment on another site where someone who claimed to be a Lebanese grandma claimed that curly parsley was the secret. So I’m sorry I got that wrong! But I did love it with curly parsley, and even after 3 days it still tasted so fresh and lemony. Anyway. I will look into fine bulghur. I appreciate your comment so much! I have a lot to learn. Thank you again. ๐ -Meggan
MMM was absolutely delicious with the pita chips! Traveled well to work with me too!