Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad
This authentic Lebanese tabbouleh salad recipe is made with fine bulgar wheat, Italian flat leaf parsley, fresh mint, tomatoes, onions, lemons, and lots of olive oil.
Tabouli, tabbouleh, tabboule are all the same words describing the most popular traditional Lebanese parsley salad. Tabbouleh differs from fattoush salad, although both are popular Lebanese dishes.
My family takes great pride in their tabbouleh salad recipe. Tabbouleh salad is an art, and it's very easy to get the ratios off. I hope this recipe post details all the tips and tricks for the best tabbouleh recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Italian parsley: Fresh flat leafed parsley (Italian parsley) is the main ingredient in tabouli. Italian parsley looks a lot like cilantro, so be careful when choosing which one to buy at the grocery store. If you can't find flat parsley, curly parsley will also work in taste, but the texture will be different.
- Green onions: My father prefers to make his tabouli with green onions or white onions.
- Ripe tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes on the vine or Roma tomatoes are great to use for tabouli. Use juicy tomatoes that are ripe and ready to eat.
- Fine Bulgar Wheat #1: There are different sizes of bulgar wheat. It's important to get the fine bulgur wheat #1 size grain rather than coarse bulgur. The fine bulgar wheat softens quickly when you add water to it. Bulgur wheat is also known as cracked wheat, and it's used in baked kibbeh. You can find fine bulgur wheat at your local Mediterranean market or online. If you can't find bulgur wheat, use cooked quinoa as a substitute. Quinoa tabbouleh is gluten-free too!
- Fresh mint (optional): Fresh mint is optional, but it really adds a lot to the salad.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil for the best tabbouleh.
- Lemons: Use ripe lemons to make fresh lemon juice.
How To Make Tabbouleh Salad
Add the dried fine bulgar wheat to a small bowl. Measure out cold water onto the bulgar wheat. Mix with your hands and set aside as the bulgar wheat softens.
Hint: To save some time, don't wash the Italian parsley until it's chopped. Cut the bottom portion of the parsley bunch to remove most of the stems. Finely chop the bunches of parsley using a sharp knife, almost like shredding a head of cabbage. Chop fresh mint leaves (if using).
Add the chopped parsley and mint to a strainer that fits inside a large bowl. Fill the bowl and strainer with water. Drain. Repeat until the water runs clear. Keep the parsley in the strainer until the excess water has drained completely.
Wash the green onion before chopping. Finely chop the green onions. Set aside.
Finely dice the tomatoes. Cut the tomato in half. Place the flat side down on the cutting board. Moving parallel to the cutting board, slice 2 to 3 layers about ¼" thick. Then, slice the tomato into ¼" strips longwise. Finally, rotate the tomato and chop it into ¼" cubes. The tomato should be cut into 3 directions for the smallest diced size.
Add the tomatoes, parsley, green onions, and mint to a large bowl.
Add the soaked and strained bulgar wheat on top.
Squeeze the lemons, separating the seeds from the lemon juice.
Add the lemon juice and olive oil dressing to the tabouli. Mix the tabouli really well. Eat tabouli with pita bread, cabbage leaves, Romaine lettuce, or simply eat it as is. Serve with kabobs, grilled meats, or kibbeh.
Tips and Tricks
- The biggest tip for making the best tabbouleh is the ratios, especially the dressing ratio of the lemons, olive oil, and salt. The recipe card at the bottom of the post includes measured quantities to give you a starting point on the ratios. Important: While adding the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt, continuously taste the salad and adjust. The ratios of the simple olive oil lemon dressing are key to authentic Lebanese tabbouleh salad.
- Traditional Lebanese tabbouleh uses lots of fresh parsley. Some online recipes are made with diced cucumbers and high ratios of bulgur wheat, which is not really how my family makes it.
- Soak the bulgar wheat using the juice of the tomatoes or the lemon juice. Add the freshly chopped tomatoes on top of the dry bulgar wheat instead of adding water. Alternatively, add some of the lemon juice instead of the water.
Variations and Substitutions
- Substitute curly leaf for flat leaf (Italian) parsley.
- For a gluten-free tabouli recipe, use quinoa instead of bulgar wheat.
- Use white onion instead of green onion.
What To Serve with Tabbouleh
Tabouli is one of my favorite salads to have with grilled meats, like lamb kabobs, shish tawook, and beef shish kabobs. It's lemony, juicy, and textured.
📋 Recipe
Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad
Ingredients
- 3 bunches of Italian parsley about 6 cups finely chopped
- 3 bunches of green onions about 4 cups finely chopped
- 8 to 10 Roma tomatoes about 5 cups finely chopped
- ¾ cup dried fine bulgar wheat #1
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoon water for the bulgar wheat
- 3 to 4 lemons about ½ cup of lemon juice, see note 4
- salt to taste
- 1 bunch fresh mint about 1 cup chopped
Instructions
- Measure ¾ cup of fine bulgar wheat into a bowl. Sprinkle 3 tablespoon of water on top of the bulgar wheat. Mix with a spoon to evenly coat the bulgar wheat and set aside.
- Don't wash the parsley bunch until it's been chopped. Cut the stems off. Finely chop the parsley. Add the parsley to a fine mesh strainer. Once all of the parsley is chopped, place the fine mesh strainer in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water to wash the chopped parsley. Drain and repeat until the water runs clear. Keep the parsley in the mesh strainer until the water has drained. Move the parsley to a large bowl once it's finished draining.
- If using fresh mint, wash the mint and remove the leaves. Finely chop the mint leaves. Add to the chopped parsley.
- Wash the green onions. Finely chop the green onions. Add the chopped green onions to the chopped parsley.
- Finely dice the tomatoes. Cut the tomato in half. Then slice ¼" layers parallel to the cutting board. Slice the tomato in ¼" strips, then turn the tomato to dice into ¼" cubes. Add the tomatoes to the chopped parsley and green onions.
- Add the softened bulgar wheat to the chopped vegetables.
- Squeeze the lemons. Measure out the lemon juice (should be about ½ cup of lemon juice). Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt to taste. Mix the tabouli well. Adjust the salt and lemon for a balanced salad.
Equipment
Notes
- Substitute quinoa in lieu of bulgar wheat for a gluten-free tabouli salad.
- Use white onions instead of green onions. Substitute 3 cups of white onions for 4 cups of green onions.
- Add fresh mint if available.
- Lemons come in different sizes and juiciness. If you want a more accurate measurement, measure the lemon juice before adding it to the salad.
- Storage: Store the tabbouleh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The tabouli will change colors and sweat while being stored in the fridge. There will be a lot of juice in the container. This is normal.
Is there a substitute for bulgur wheat?
Yes! You can use cooked quinoa as a substitute for softened bulgur wheat. I have an entire recipe post on it - https://thematbakh.com/gluten-free-quinoa-kibbeh/
Good recipes, thank you!
Thank you Tilaka!
Easily the best tabouli I've ever had.
Thanks for the comment Angela!!
Wow! Delicious! This tastes just like we used to eat at our favorite Lebanese restaurant in Cyprus. Thank you for sharing the recipe. We will definitely be making it again.
So glad you liked the recipe! It’s been in my family for decades!
Thank you Lily, for the Tabouleh recipe from your father. Had to laugh, because it is identical, and I mean identical, to my family's way of making it. Papa was born in Duma, Leb., so guess your family and mine were neighbors. Anyway, love the salad and make it more than often. Everyone loves it - and why not? It's Lebanese!! Bless you for this wonderful website. All of your recipes are tasty and easy to make. Recommend them all and thank you.
Virginia Sawaya
Virginia, it's comments like yours that mean the most to me! Our family must have been neighbors or relatives because my grandmother is a Sawaya! Too funny.
Thank you for sharing the exact ratios. I've tried to make this salad before, and it didn't come out right. This time it was delicious!
Thank you so much for the comment. That's right, the ratios really matter!
This salad is so fresh and flavorful! Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for the comment!
Such a light and refreshing salad! It looks absolutely amazing with a wonderful combination of flavors.
Thanks Tara!
Refreshing and delicious salad recipe. Thanks for sharing
Thanks!
Hi Lili. Your Tabouléh recipe is perfection. It just can not be changed or improved !I am Lebanese and know what a Tabouléh should look and taste, and this one looks perfect and I’m sure it also tastes just as good as it looks.
However, I was wondering if there can be a keto version of this Lebanese national dish? Is there any keto friendly substitution for bulghour?
Love to hear from you on this challenging question.🤣
Well first off thanks for the comment! Good question... I'm not a dietician or anything, but when I was following the keto diet, I subtracted the carb grams from the fiber grams to get net carb grams. For a 2.5 cup bowl of tabouli (even with bulgar wheat), the nutrition tracker has it at 7 net carbs. If you omit the bulgar wheat completely or reduce the quantity you can bring that down. I would eat tabouli with bulgar wheat (and with quinoa) even doing keto, because it doesn't feel like tabouli without a grain in it (that's just me). Also, I eat tabouli with lettuce leaves or cabbage leaves instead of eating it with pita bread if watching my carbs. Hope that helps!
Hi, also you can replace the bulghour with ground almond or almond flour (but not the fine grind one). I hope that will help too.
It will not be exactly as the traditional one but if you don't wanna go with the bulghour that might help.
Well explained instructions! Making this for the weekend grill out.
Enjoy