Tabbouleh salad is one of my family’s all-time favorite foods. What’s not to absolutely love about it? It’s delicious, refreshing, and amazingly, really great for you.
The tabbouleh I make is a very simple, straight forward, authentic, Lebanese version. Now, every family obviously has their own recipe, but I believe mine is pretty darn authentic. I know a lot of people add fresh mint and I love it in the tabbouleh but my fam prefers it without. Feel free to add a bunch finely chopped if you’d like.
The secret to making a great tabbouleh is to start the day before you want to serve it and prep the parsley. By drying it overnight in a kitchen towel in the fridge, your salad will be drier and the lemon juice and olive oil won’t get watered down. The salad also will not be as watery and runny as some you’ve probably tried.
I made my tabbouleh for years with an old family recipe before I learned this secret!!! Seriously, I think this lil piece of info may be the one that most people don’t want to tell you cuz then their tabbouleh will just be that little bit better than yours and you can’t figure out why!!! Do you know what I mean or have I just gone totally paranoid?!? Oh, come on. I know you know what I’m talking about! LOL!!!!
I serve this as an appetizer and also a salad. Serve it with fresh pita bread cut into wedges or with Romaine leaves cut into about 3-inch lengths. Hubs always eat it with Romaine.
Last time I made this I forgot to measure out the salt and pepper. I’m really sorry about that. Next time I will and I’ll update this post. You’ll need a generous amount of each so don’t be too timid with it!
If you love this salad, you’ll definitely love quinoa salad!
Tabbouleh Salad Ingredients:
- Parsley
- Bulgur Wheat
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Lemon Juice
- Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Cinnamon
How To Make Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad
- Rinse a bunch of parsley. Wrap it with a kitchen towel and refrigerate overnight.
- Cover the bulgur wheat with boiling water for a few hours. Drain.
- Remove the parsley leaves from the stems. Place it in a food processor to finely chop it.
- In a bowl, add all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
- Refrigerate for a few hours.
- Serve with fresh pita or lettuce.
***See the full ingredients below.
How to Store and Make Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container.
- Can You Freeze This? No.
- Make-Ahead Tips: Plan to make this tabbouleh salad ahead because the parsley and bulgur wheat need to be prepared ahead of time.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.
More Salad Recipes
- 1905 Salad
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Three Bean Salad
- Carrot Salad
- 7 Layer Salad
- Strawberry Salad
- Marinated Tomato Salad
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tabbouleh Salad
Ingredients
- 5 bunches curly leaf parsley
- 1 cup bulgur wheat
- 4-6 tomatoes seeded and finely chopped
- 1 small white onion finely diced
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- pinch ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Rinse bunches (5) of parsley very thoroughly. Wrap a few bunches at a time in a clean kitchen towel and refrigerate overnight.
- In a medium bowl, cover bulgur (1 cup) with boiling water and let sit for a few hours. Drain any excess water. Allow cooling.
- Gather parsley bundles by the stems, hold the stems up and the leaves of the parsley down on your cutting board. With a chef knife, cut the leaves off from the large stems. Pick through the mixture and remove any thicker stems within the bundle of leaves. The process leaves in a food processor until you have a fine chop.
- In a large bowl, add all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for a few hours and allow flavors to mingle. Check salt and pepper again and adjust. Serve with fresh pita cut in wedges or Romaine lettuce leaves. Enjoy!
Vicki says
My Lebanese side of the family goes a little higher on the wheat and about equal on the olive oil and lemon (but who knows, no one measures). Also we use green onions and a little mint. The controversy comes over the inclusion of cucumbers. I say ick and everyone else has to deal with it! That said, it is so nice to see an “authentic” recipe so close to the one I am familiar with.
Chef Chuck says
Hello,
I was just looking recently for this recipe with parsley… Thank you 🙂
Sarah Naveen says
nice clicks..healthy and yummy salad
That Girl says
My family loves tabbouleh too, but it's always too heavy on parsley for me.
Barbara Bakes says
I have never tasted Tabbouleh.It sure looks pretty all stacked up in your little bowl.
Elisabeth says
I love tabbouleh, and make it often. This is the perfect and exact way that I make it…lots of parsley, lemon juice, and I also use cinnamon, as well.
Looks, and tastes absolutely yummy!
Thanks for visiting, and commenting on my blog:DDD
Christine's Pantry says
Sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
Pegasuslegend says
I have never made this but absolutely love it! wow! thanks for this recipe!~
Lizzy says
What great tips on making the perfect tabbouleh! I'll try your lovely recipe next~
teresa says
i have never had tabbouleh, but now i'm dying to try. this looks awesome!
Barbara says
Super recipe, Kathleen! Like your tip about making it the day before. I love it stuffed in whole wheat pita.
Parsley Sage says
Gorgeous tabbouleh! Is this part of Ina Garten challenge? I've seen some of the best tabbouleh ever this week 🙂 Well done!
Rocky Mountain Woman says
I make this quite a bit in the summer also….
It's refreshing and fairly simple to make!
Thanks for the tip about the parsley!!!
The Fajdich Times says
Sounds good, I have never had this before, but willing to give it a try. I like all the ingredients:)
Kay Heritage says
Oh, my family absolutely adore this salad! So healthy, too! Thanks for your visit, Kathleen and look forward to getting some great recipes from you! 🙂
What's Cookin Stacey?? says
Looks really good!
janet says
Hello Kathleen,
I'm half Lebanese and my Lebanese grandmother always had a bowl of this in the fridge. I love eating it wrapped in Syrian bread (now called pita).
Once our tomatoes are ready, I will be making this often.
In the Summer, I sometimes add cubed chicken and it makes a great hot weather meal.
Janet xox
http://theemptynest-janet.blogspot.com/
Velva says
I really enjoy tabbouleh salad. I make it at least a few times a year. I am going to remember the idea of drying the parsley before using-that would make for a big difference. Thanks for the tip.
Cheers.
Velva
Kim says
Wow- You're up to 500 followers now! That's amazing! Your tabbouleh salad looks gorgeous. Can you believe I've never had tabbouleh before? Never ate it. Never made it. I'm going to have to fix that cuz I know I would love it.
~Lavender Dreamer~ says
I've never had anything like this but I love the ingredients so I know it would be good! Thanks for sharing the recipe! ?