This gluten-free tabbouleh salad recipe is made with fresh Italian parsley, tomatoes, onion, fresh mint, lemon juice, olive oil, and cooked quinoa (instead of bulgar wheat).
Tabouli, or tabbouleh, is a popular Lebanese superfood parsley salad traditionally made with bulgar wheat grains. My brothers have a gluten intolerance, so we substitute quinoa for bulgar wheat (like this quinoa kibbeh recipe). My family takes great pride in their tabbouleh salad recipe.
Serve quinoa tabouli with other mezze dishes like baba ghanoush, za'atar labneh dip, batata harra, fried kibbeh, and fatoush.
How to Make Gluten-Free Tabbouleh
Prepare quinoa. Cook quinoa and set it aside to cool in a small bowl. I found the easiest way to cook fluffy quinoa is to boil it with a lot of water until tender and then strain it.
Chop the parsley before washing it. Discard the parsley stems. Finely chop the parsley leaves as finely as possible. Chop the mint. Remove mint leaves. Chop mint finely, just like the parsley.
Add the chopped parsley and chopped mint to a strainer bowl. Wash the chopped parsley. Let the parsley drain while preparing the other ingredients.
Chop the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes into thin circles. Then slice the tomatoes like you would make a tic-tac-toe board. You want the tomatoes as fine as the chopped parsley.
Chop the onions. If you use spring onions, chop them into thin pieces. If you use white onion, slice the onion just like you slice the tomatoes.
Squeeze the lemons. Using a lemon juicer, squeeze the lemons.
Assemble the salad bowl. Add all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and salt to taste. Mix well.
Serve this gluten-free tabouli with pita bread or cabbage leaves.
Tips and Variations
- Wash and chop the parsley finely. You can remove the leaves from the parsley stem one by one (the long way) OR cut the leaves away from the stem (as in the video).
- Use quinoa or bulgar wheat. If you would like to change out the quinoa for bulgar wheat, I have included those instructions in the recipe card (or check out this bulgar wheat tabouli recipe).
Substitutions and Variations
My family's tabouli recipe does not add feta cheese, English cucumbers, lemon zest, or sunflower seeds. That doesn't mean you can't experiment with what makes sense to you.
📋 Recipe
Gluten Free Tabbouleh Salad (with Quinoa)
Ingredients
- 6 bunches of Italian parsley about 8 cups of chopped parsley
- 2 cups cooked quinoa about ¾ cup of dry quinoa** see notes
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 2 spring onion sprigs or substitute a small white onion
- 5 large lemons
- 1 bunch of fresh mint
- ½ cup olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook quinoa and set aside to cool down. The easiest way to cook fluffy quinoa is to boil it in a lot of water until tender and then strain the excess water with a strainer.
- Remove the parsley leaves from the stem. Chop very finely. Add the chopped parsley to a large strainer bowl. Remove the mint leaves. Chop the mint finely, just like the parsley. Wash the chopped parsley and fresh mint in a large tub of water.
- Slice the tomatoes in thin circles. Slice the tomatoes long ways then horizontally into fine pieces about the same size as the chopped parsley.
- If you are using spring onion, slice the spring onion into thin pieces. If you are using white onion, slice the onion just like you slice the tomatoes.
- Using a lemon juicer, squeeze the lemons.
- Add the chopped parsley, chopped mint, chopped tomatoes, cooled quinoa, and chopped onion in a large bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Mix well.
Notes
- You can substitute cracked bulgar wheat #1 instead of quinoa to make the authentic Lebanese tabbouleh recipe. Soak 1 cup of dry bulgar wheat in a warm cup of water until the bulgar wheat is soft (about 1 hour). Drain and add to the salad.
- You can add an extra ¼ cup of olive oil, depending on the taste.
- Storage: Store the quinoa tabbouleh salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. In my honest and humble opinion, tabbouleh tastes better the next day. The salad sweats a little bit overnight, so don't be surprised by the level of salad juice the next day. The salad juice actually has a name, zoom, and it's not your conference calling software.
- Other ingredient notes:
- Quinoa: Cook the quinoa ahead of time so it can cool off a bit. I prefer white quinoa because it's the closest color to bulgar wheat.
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- Onion: You can go a few different ways here. I normally make my tabbouleh with half spring onion and half white onion. However, you can choose to use only spring onion or only white onion. Either way, the quantity will be the same. Substitute red onion, yellow onion, or brown onion for white onion.
- Fresh tomatoes: I use tomatoes on the vine for my tabouli recipe. Tomato quality makes a difference; you want to splurge a little on some good red and juicy tomatoes.
- Lemons: You will need fresh lemon juice for this recipe made from squeezed lemons. Bottled lemon juice doesn't taste the same.
- Olive Oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil not blended with any other oils.
- Italian parsley: Tabouli salad uses a whole lot of parsley. Flat leaf and curly parsley are the two main fresh parsley types found in your local grocery store. I recommend flat leaf parsley (also known as Italian parsley). It resembles cilantro (coriander) but doesn't taste like cilantro. Be careful not to buy cilantro because you will end up with pico de gallo instead of tabouli.
Nutrition
FAQs
Tabbouleh's main ingredient is parsley, which is considered a superfood.
This tabbouleh recipe is gluten-free because it uses quinoa instead of bulgar wheat. If you make the salad with bulgar wheat then it is not gluten-free.
Yes. Quinoa tabbouleh is vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Rahma says
I tried it and it tastes very good, much better than the one in restaurants 🙂 Thank you.
I just added dry mint in addition to the fresh mint!
Lily says
Thank you so much for the comment! That’s a great substitution for fresh mint!
Ally says
Like this gluten-free option! I had problems finding bulgar wheat at the grocery store, so this was a good substitute.
Lily says
Thanks for the comment!