Tabbouleh Salad

4.30 from 10 votes

With bulgur, plenty of fresh parsley and mint, crisp cucumbers, and juicy tomatoes, tabbouleh salad is a refreshing, summery recipe bursting with flavor.

Prep Time30

Chilling Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Salads

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Diet: Vegan

Servings: servings

Author: Rachel Gurk

Ingredients

1 cup fine bulgur wheat (see note)
boiling water (see bulgur package directions)
3 cups loosely packed, finely chopped fresh curly leaf parsley, about 2 large bunches (see note)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 cup diced tomato (3 medium tomatoes, seeds and core removed)
1 English cucumber, finely diced (about 1 heaping cup)
3 green onions, finely chopped, more to taste (use green and white parts)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 large lemon)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic (grated, pressed, or finely minced)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Cook bulgur as directed on package. Drain if needed. Fluff the bulgur with a fork and let it cool completely in a large bowl.
1 cup fine bulgur wheat, boiling water
Meanwhile, rinse the parsley thoroughly and dry it as much as possible. I use my salad spinner to dry it or you can shake off the excess water and pat it dry. Trim off the large stems; small stems are fine. Chop the parsley finely. If you prefer, a food processor can be used but traditionally it's chopped by hand.
3 cups loosely packed, finely chopped fresh curly leaf parsley, about 2 large bunches
Remove the mint leaves from the stems and prep it in the same way as the parsley. Finely chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and green onions.
¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves, 1 cup diced tomato , 1 English cucumber, finely diced , 3 green onions, finely chopped, more to taste
When the bulgar has cooled completely, add the chopped parsley, mint, tomatoes, cucumber, and green onion to the bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste, ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, or to taste
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until well combined.
Taste the tabbouleh and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed.
Refrigerate the tabbouleh for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend. Tabbouleh can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Before serving, give it a good stir and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve chilled.

Notes

We tested this recipe with fine bulgur (labeled #1) and with medium bulgur (labeled #2 or cracked wheat). Since there are a number of varieties, it’s important to follow cooking directions on the package that you purchased. We prefer the tabbouleh made with fine bulgur but both fine and medium work well.
Curly leaf parsley and flat leaf (Italian) parsley both work for this recipe, but we prefer curly parsley (and this is one of the only times you'll hear us saying that!).
This recipe was retested and revised 5/2024. It was originally made with freekah and included feta cheese.

Nutrition

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