• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipes
  • Entrées
  • Travel
  • Shop
  • About Us
  • English
    • English
    • Spanish

Our Plant-Based World logo

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Entrées
  • Travel
  • Shop
  • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Entrées
    • Travel
    • Shop
    • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Published: Jul 13, 2021 · Modified: Aug 10, 2022 by Gus · This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

    Lebanese Salad with Parsley, Authentic Tabbouleh Recipe

    3.5K shares
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly
    • WhatsApp
    Tabbouleh Salad Recipe
    Tabbouleh Salad Recipe
    tabbouleh salad recipe
    tabbouleh salad recipe
    VNF

    Summer is officially here, which means BBQs, picnics, and outdoor gatherings galore. This also means that it's the perfect time to bust out some of your favorite salads for sharing. And this Authentic Tabbouleh Salad Recipe, a Traditional Lebanese salad with parsley, is definitely one of my faves! It's light, refreshing, and perfect for satisfying any palate. So read on for the how-to on making this deliciousness yourself!

    Spoon of Tabbouleh Salad
    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    This Tabbouleh Salad is a Lebanese salad with parsley that is fresh, tangy, light, and full of flavor.

    The ingredients are easy to get and are put together in minutes. A true Summer Recipe Winner!

    This Tabbouleh Salad Recipe (or Tabouli salad) is a Middle Eastern year-round salad and a staple of Lebanese food. We often have falafel nights, which always includes this fresh dish. But during summertime, we make it countless times, as it is the kind of light salad that we munch for brunch or as a takeaway for a beach day.

    lebanese salad with parsley and lemon

    This tabbouleh recipe was inspired by the Feel Good Foodie Blog, and I made a couple of changes to adjust to our liking. It pairs well with all Middle-Eastern and Lebanese recipes.

    We love having this tabouli recipe with Crispy Falafels, Homemade Hummus (or Pumpkin Hummus), Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip (Muhammara), and Silky Eggplant Babaganoush available on this site for an entire middle eastern inspired dinner or brunch.

    If you feel more adventurous, you can also serve it with a heart of palm ceviche and pink beet hummus, which is absolutely delicious and put together in less than ten minutes.

    Tabbouleh Salad with Hummus and Falafel
    Jump to:
    • 🧾 Tabbouleh ingredients
    • 🔪 Instructions
    • 🍶 Substitutions
    • 📖 Variations
    • 🍽 Equipment
    • 🥡 Storage
    • 💡 Top tips
    • 🥗 More healthy salads
    • 🇱🇧 More Middle-Eastern Recipes
    • 🥒 How to use cucumbers?
    • 📋 Recipe
    • 🗓️ Calories in tabbouleh
    • 🌡️ Food safety
    • 💬 Reviews and Comments

    🧾 Tabbouleh ingredients

    Tabouleh Salad Ingredients with Cucumber
    Authentic Tabouleh Salad Ingredients plus the optional cucumber

    Below are the Tabbouleh ingredients to make it perfect

    • Curly Parsley (Flat leaf parsley also works)
    • Extra fine bulgur wheat (coarse also works, as well as Couscous, but is not traditional)
    • Freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • Extra Virgin Olive Oil (good quality makes a difference)
    • Firm plum tomatoes
    • Green onions (green part)
    • Fresh mint
    • Cucumber (optional, but not traditional)

    See the recipe card for quantities.

    🔪 Instructions

    Soak the fine bulgur wheat

    Mix the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and burghul wheat and let it soak while continuing with the rest. This way, you will save some time and let the wheat absorb all the flavors.

    Olive oil, lemon juice and burghul marinade
    Soak the Burghul Wheat in an olive oil and lemon juice marinade

    Prepare tomatoes

    Cored Plum Tomatoes

    Core the plum tomatoes, then deseed and finely chop them in small dice.

    You can save the removed parts of tomatoes for a marinara sauce and cucumbers for juices.

    Chop green onions

    Chopped Green Onion

    Chop the green tops from the green onions and leave them soaking in water to make their flavor less intense.

    Prepare cucumber (optional)

    Cucumber is not part of the traditional recipe, but sometimes I like to add it.

    It gives an extra fresh note and volume. Make sure you only keep the tough parts and remove the seeds from both tomatoes and cucumbers.

    Peeling cucumber

    peel cucumber with a potato peeler

    deseeding cucumber

    deseed the cucumber

    deseeding-cucumber

    clean the cucumber

    Diced Cucumber

    cut into small dice

    Remove excess juices from veggies

    diced tomato and cucumber

    green onions in water

    After you chop tabouli ingredients, you need to salt them and place them in a colander to remove the excess moisture.

    Hint: mixing the tomato [and cucumber] with a pinch of salt will help to extract the cucumber and tomato juice. Use a colander to drain the excess water.

    Chop herbs (parsley-mint)

    Chopped Fresh Parsley

    remove parsley and mint stems and chop the parsley and mint together

    fresh parsley chopped in food-processor

    to save time; you may choose to blend the bunches of parsley and mint in a food processor

    If you use a food processor to accelerate the process, keep in mind that it may make the green mix a little watery, and you will need to pass it through a colander or a salad spinner to get rid of the excess juice. Otherwise, your salad recipe can turn out soggy and miss the right tabouli texture.

    Tabouleh Salad Ingredients before mixing

    Mix tabouli salad ingredients

    tabbouleh ingredients in a bowl ready to be mixed

    Gather all your ready-to-mix ingredients.

    lebanese salad with parsley in a bowl

    In a large bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and green onions with the bulgur wheat mixture. Mix thoroughly, and season with salt and pepper or ground allspice.

    Your tabouli recipe is ready!

    spoon Lebanese salad with parsley

    🍶 Substitutions

    To make the Lebanese tabbouleh salad healthy (even more), or if you follow a Whole Food Plant-Based, Oil-Free, or Salt-free diet, feel free to omit the olive oil and salt.

    This Lebanese salad with parsley and mint is packed with flavor and tastes just as good.

    Fresh parsley

    Traditional Lebanese tabouleh is made with curly parsley, but Italian parsley works well too. I have also tried using arugula in place of half of the parsley. Since arugula has a peppery fresh flavor that can emulate parsley to a certain extent.

    Cucumber

    To make it entirely traditional Lebanese, omit the cucumber.

    Bulgur wheat (cracked wheat)

    If you only find coarse burghul, you can use it, but you will need to add ¼ cup of boiling water to the olive oil and lemon juice mix so it softens enough. Allow extra 10 mins to soak. Test for hardness before mixing with the green and veggies.

    Couscous

    You can use couscous if you can't find bulgur wheat, although it wouldn't be traditional. Just add two parts of boiling water for every part of the couscous and soak it for 15 minutes, along with the olive oil and lemon juice. Cooked quinoa is another common replacement for bulgar wheat to make tabbouleh recipes gluten-free.

    Fresh mint leaves

    Some people omit the fresh mint, which is completely fine, but I think it is a true differentiator. In my opinion, that would take away a lot of this tabouli salad's freshness.

    Olive oil

    Try to get your hands around some good quality extra-virgin olive oil. It will make all the difference. I wouldn't use any other kind of oil on an authentic tabouli recipe.

    Lemons

    It is hard to find lemons in some countries, and limes are more common; go for it! The taste will change with lime juice, but the acidity we are looking for will be there. Just make sure to use half of the amount of lemon juice as limes are more acid.

    Tomatoes

    The parsley/tomato ratio should be noticeable, don't overdo the tomatoes and/or cucumber since the flavor profile may vary substantially. The parsley is the king here!

    Tabbouleh Salad with Hummus and Falafel.

    📖 Variations

    You could add more burghul if you like, but the traditional Tabbouleh Salad only has a tiny amount. Sometimes, when I feel like having a little bit more carbs in my salad, I go crazy and double or triple the amount of burghul or couscous, which will also increase the volume.

    This comes in handy if you are catering to many people.

    Spicy

    Add chili pepper flakes.

    Flavor Strength

    If you like more robust onion flavors, you could also use the white parts of the green onion and/or add a minced garlic clove.

    You could also use finely chopped sweet onion or red onion.

    On the contrary, as suggested above, you could place the chopped green tops and soak them in water before adding them to the mix. This will make the flavor less intense.

    Texture

    At times, I like using coarse burghul wheat on my tabouli salad, so when I have extra 10 mins, I use that one, which is also easier to find. The texture of coarse burghul sort of "bite you back." And I love textures!

    More Texture

    Try adding almonds, walnuts, or sunflower seeds on top right before serving. This will add some rich, healthy fatty oils to your dish.

    Kids friendly

    Add extra burghul wheat (or couscous); the parsley flavor is less prominent. You can add riced cauliflower or cooked tiny pasta.

    You could also add romaine lettuce leaves to reduce the intensity of flavors.

    🍽 Equipment

    Simple equipment here; you need a cutting board, a colander, and a good knife. Add a peeler if using the cucumber.

    If you want to save some time or dislike too much chopping, you can use a food processor to chop the parsley together with the mint leaves.

    🥡 Storage

    This tabouli salad stands well in the refrigerator and is stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

    Actually, we love next-day Tabbouleh, as the flavors are more consolidated.

    The ingredients of this Lebanese salad with parsley don't stand up well to freezing, as parsley tends to get mushy.

    💡 Top tips

    Only use fresh ingredients.

    Make sure to remove any excess juice from both the tomatoes, cucumber, and chopped greens. The salad should not be soggy.

    You could make this fine bulgur salad the day before or a couple of hours before serving, completely settling the flavors.

    Don't throw the parsley stems; they are great for juices, salads, and pestos.

    🥗 More healthy salads

    Classis Greek Salad

    Couscous Warm Salad with sprouted lentils

    Carrot Greens Pesto pasta salad

    🇱🇧 More Middle-Eastern Recipes

    Try out our Crispy falafels, Traditional Hummus Recipe, Eggplant Babaganoush, Muhammara Dip, spiced onions, or other yummy versions of hummus such as our roasted pumpkin, roasted pepper, or beetroot version.

    Don't forget to check out our simple Lebanese Seven Spices mix to make stuffed zucchini or any stew taste like an authentic Lebanese dish!

    🥒 How to use cucumbers?

    Try these delicious pineapple cucumber weight loss juice recipes and our carrot, cucumber, and celery juice recipe

    Tabbouleh Salad with Hummus and Falafel

    ⭐ If you try this recipe, let us know! 💬 Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag us @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

    📋 Recipe

    Tabbouleh Salad recipe featured (tabouli)

    Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad Recipe

    Gus
    This Traditional Tabbouleh Salad is fresh, tangy, light, and full of flavor. The ingredients are easy to get and are put together in minutes.
    5 from 29 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 25 minutes mins
    Total Time 25 minutes mins
    Course Appetizer, Breakfast & Brunch, Salad, Side Dish
    Cuisine Healthy, Middle Eastern-Inspired
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 153 kcal

    Equipment

    Tovolo Stainless Steel Deep Mixing Kitchen Metal Bowls for Baking & Marinating, Dishwasher-Safe
    (affiliate link)
    Bowl (affiliate link)
    cutting board.
    (affiliate link)
    Cutting board (affiliate link)
    15 Piece Kitchen Knife Set with Block by Cuisinart, Cutlery Set, Triple Rivet Collection.
    (affiliate link)
    Knife (affiliate link)
    yellow lemon press.
    (affiliate link)
    Lemon press (affiliate link)

    Ingredients
     
     

    • ⅓ cup olive oil extra virgin, omit if adhering to a WFPB diet
    • ⅓ cup bulghur wheat fine, sometimes called #1, or use couscous
    • 2 lemon juiced
    • 2 bunch parsley about 2 cups chopped
    • 2 tomatoes plum, ripe, firm and deseeded
    • 1 green onion green part
    • 1 cup mint fresh, about 15 leaves
    • ¾ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste

    Optional:

    • ½ cucumber deseeded and coarsely chopped
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Directions
     

    • Prepare bulgur wheat. Mix the olive oil and lemon in a bowl and add the burghul wheat. Let it soak for 15 minutes.
    • Chop green onions. Finely slice the tops of the green onions and save the whites for another recipe. Optionally soak in 1 cup of water while you continue to make the flavor less pungent.
    • Prepare tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in quarters and deseed. Remove the watery content. Finely dice the firm part.
    • Chop cucumber. If using cucumber, roughly peel it, leaving some of the green peals on. Slice it lengthwise and with the tip of a spoon, remove all the seeds. Coarsely chop the two halves into small dice.
    • Mix ingredients. Mix the tomato [and cucumber] and add a pinch of salt. The salt will help to remove the excess water.
    • Prepare freh herbs. Remove the parsley and mint stems and finely chop the leaves together. Or chop them in a food processor.
    • Remove excess juices. Using a colander, strain the chopped diced tomatoes [and cucumber] from the excess water and the green onions slices.
    • Mix everything and season in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. You may want to add a little more lemon.

    Video

    Notes

    • Parsley: traditional Lebanese tabouleh is made with curly parsley, but Italian parsley works well too.
    • Cucumber: to make it entirely traditional Lebanese, omit the cucumber.
    • Burghul: if you only find coarse burghul, you can use it, but you will need to add ¼ cup of boiling water to the olive oil and lemon juice mix so it softens enough. Allow extra 10 mins to soak. Test for hardness before mixing with the green and veggies.
    • Couscous: You can use couscous if you can't find burghul wheat, although it wouldn't be traditional. Just add two parts of boiling water for every part of the couscous and soak it for 15 minutes, along with the olive oil and lemon juice.
    • Mint: some people omit the mint, which is completely fine, but I think it is a true differentiator. In my opinion, that would take away a lot of this salad's freshness.
    • Lemons: in some countries is hard to find lemons, and limes are more common. Go for it! The taste will change, but the acidity we are looking for will be there.
    • Tomatoes: the parsley/tomato ratio should be noticeable, don't overdo the tomatoes and/or cucumber since the flavor profile may vary substantially. The parsley is the king here!

    Nutrition Facts

    Calories: 153kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gSodium: 6mgPotassium: 181mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 547IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 1mg
    Did you make this recipe?Tag @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram and Hashtag it #ourplantbasedworld so we can see what's cooking!!

    🗓️ Calories in tabbouleh

    Nutrition Facts
    Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad Recipe
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    153
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    12
    g
    18
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    2
    g
    13
    %
    Polyunsaturated Fat
     
    1
    g
    Monounsaturated Fat
     
    9
    g
    Sodium
     
    6
    mg
    0
    %
    Potassium
     
    181
    mg
    5
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    11
    g
    4
    %
    Fiber
     
    3
    g
    13
    %
    Sugar
     
    2
    g
    2
    %
    Protein
     
    2
    g
    4
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    547
    IU
    11
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    25
    mg
    30
    %
    Calcium
     
    34
    mg
    3
    %
    Iron
     
    1
    mg
    6
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
     
    FREE RECIPE EBOOK
    Get our copy of our Favorite Juices!
    Thanks! Keep an eye on your inbox for updates.

    🌡️ Food safety

    • Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
    • Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat
    • Wash hands after touching raw meat
    • Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
    • Never leave cooking food unattended
    • Use oils with high smoking points to avoid harmful compounds
    • Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

    See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

    The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

    Please note that some of the links here are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I recommend all of the products listed because they are companies I have found helpful and trustworthy.

    More Amazing Salad Recipes

    • crispy chickpea kale salad with tahini dressing featured.
      Crispy Chickpea and Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing
    • roasted fennel and pear salad featured.
      Roasted Fennel and Pear Salad with Vinaigrette & Pecan Nuts
    • creamy strawberry balsamic dressing over a spinach and arugula salad featured.
      Creamy Strawberry Balsamic Dressing with Spinach Salad
    • vegan egg salad sandwich featured.
      Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe
    3.5K shares
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly
    • WhatsApp

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave us a comment or feedback Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Doris says

      May 18, 2023 at 12:04 pm

      5 stars
      Me encantan como explican paso a paso las recetas, mil gracias

      Reply
      • Gus says

        May 18, 2023 at 12:30 pm

        Qué bueno que te guste Doris, la verdad es que si es un esfuerzo grande que hacemos para lograrlo porque toma mucho tiempo, pararse en cada paso, pero nosotros también lo apreciamos muchísimo cuando lo vemos en otros blogs y nos parece fenomenal! Qué bueno saber que vale la pena el esfuerzo! Te invitamos a que nos sigas para que te enteres de todas las nuevas recetas que vamos sacando semanalmente! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Liz Mitchel says

      January 14, 2023 at 5:58 pm

      4 stars
      Excellent recipe with one tweak. You don’t need the amount of olive oil - I cut it down by 1/4 and it was much better, lighter and healthier. Other than that I loved it.

      Reply
      • Gus says

        January 16, 2023 at 4:21 am

        We are glad you tried and liked the recipe, Liz. As we suggest in the recipe card, you can even omit the olive oil if following an oil-free diet, when not... 1/3 cup hits our tastebuds' sweet spot 🙂 Thanks for your review!

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Primary Sidebar

    Gus-Joaco

    Welcome! We are Gus & Joaco. Here you’ll find our favorite Plant-Based Recipes, Nutrition, and Travel Guides and Tips.

    Read more -->

    plant based nutrition graduate badge

    Subscribe

    For your weekly Recipe Fix.

    Footer

    Back to Top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Links Disclaimers

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates
    • Nutritional Disclaimer

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work with us
    • Accessibility Policy

    As Amazon Affiliate's Program Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Our Plant-Based World