It has a bright and herbaceous taste with sweet, tart, and nutty undertones, making it the perfect side dish for rich, creamy, and spiced dishes. Serve it as part of a cozy spread with other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes. Like tahini salad, shirazi salad, Piyaz, and fattoush, tabbouleh is widespread across Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions. Tabouli is easy to make with simple and affordable ingredients. It packs plenty of flavor, it’s healthy, and it’s the perfect side dish for most Middle Eastern recipes. We loved it so much that we also made a lentil tabbouleh and one with quinoa. See variations below. Serve tabbouleh as part of a spread or mezze platter at a family gathering, cookout, or barbecue. You’ll love it with hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, mutabal, fatteh, and warm pita bread.
Fresh parsley
Flat-leaf or Italian parsley is the main ingredient in tabouli salad. Tabouli should be mostly green, so you’ll need a lot of parsley. We recommend removing the larger stems and chopping the leaves with a sharp chef’s knife on a cutting board. Some recipes call for chopped parsley in a food processor. If doing so, pulse rather than blend until you reach a finely chopped texture.
Mint
Mint is optional. We add finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Generally, tabouli has no other fresh herbs except parsley and mint.
Tomatoes
You can use ripe tomatoes like vine, Roma, beefsteak, or heirloom tomatoes. Try to get them in season at a farmers’ market, as organically grown tomatoes tend to be less watery and sweeter. We recommend a sharp knife or a serrated knife to chop them into small pieces. If the tomatoes are very watery, you can let them drain in a fine mesh strainer for 10 minutes while you chop the parsley. You can substitute pomegranate seeds for tomatoes.
Scallions or green onions
Scallions—also known as green and spring onions—are another key ingredient in a traditional tabouli salad recipe. They add tang without being overpowering. Like the other ingredients, they are also finely chopped up until their light green parts. You can substitute white onions for scallions.
Bulgur
We use regular bulgur wheat, which you can find in most supermarkets. Bulgur – also called riffoth and burghul – is produced from cracked parboiled groats of durum wheat and other wheat species. You can boil the bulgur in lightly salted water; however, authentic Tabbouleh is made with soaked bulgur. If you don’t have bulgur, you can make a less authentic but delicious tabouli recipe with lentils, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, couscous, amaranth, and farro.
Lemon Juice
Freshly squeezed lemon juice adds freshness and acidity.
Olive Oil
We recommend using extra virgin olive oil.
Salt and Pepper
We use sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Lettuce
Romaine lettuce leaves are optional. You’ll see chopped lettuce added to the other ingredients in some variations. In other variations, lettuce is used as a vessel to serve and eat the tabouli. We like to pick small lettuce leaves and stuff them with Tabbouleh so people can easily grab them.
Add-ins (optional)
Other ingredients not included in the traditional tabbouleh recipe but that you can add in if you like are cucumber, cherry tomatoes, crushed or minced garlic clove, feta cheese, olives, quinoa, or cauliflower rice instead of bulgur. Alternatively, soak the bulgur in a bowl with hot water for 20 minutes. Then, squeeze the water out of the bulgur with your hands and add it to a mixing bowl. Note: soaking the bulgur is more authentic when making Tabbouleh and will give you a chewier texture.
2. Chop the vegetables
Finely chop the tomatoes into about 1/5-inch (0.5 cm) pieces with a sharp chef’s knife or a serrated knife and add them to the bowl with the bulgur. Rinse and dry parsley and mint with a kitchen cloth. Cut off the large stems, finely chop them, and add them to the bowl. Finely chop the scallions, only the white and light green parts, and add them to the bowl.
3. Season and serve
Season with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Mix well with a spoon, taste, and adjust for salt and lemon juice before serving cold or at room temperature.
Serving suggestions
The best way to enjoy tabbouleh is to serve it with other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes. For example, you can make a cozy spread with hummus, baba ganoush, mutabal, zaalouk, falafel, grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, pita bread, and many other Middle-Eastern recipes. It’s also delicious as a fresh side dish next to chickpea fritters, lentil patties, and zucchini fritters, with a dollop of tzatziki on the side. Lentil tabbouleh: Substitute brown, green, or black lentils for bulgur. Chickpea tabbouleh: Substitute chickpeas for bulgur.
Storage
Make ahead: You can make tabouli the day before; however, we recommend seasoning it shortly before serving to prevent the tomatoes from releasing too much liquid. Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for two days. Freezer: we do not recommend freezing tabouli salad.
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