Tabbouleh Recipe: Lebanese Parsley and Bulgur Salad

Tabbouleh (also spelled tabbouli or tabouli) is a herb salad from the Levant, most closely linked with Lebanon: finely sliced flat-leaf parsley and mint with tomato, spring onion and just a little bulgur wheat, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. This tabbouleh recipe serves 4 as a side dish or 6 as part of a mezze and takes about 50 minutes, including cooking and cooling our medium bulgur.

What is tabbouleh?

The Oxford Companion to Food describes tabbouleh as a refreshing salad of parsley, tomato and bulgur (burghul) with spring onion, mint, oil and lemon juice, and a prominent part of the Near Eastern mezze. Lebanon is widely seen as its home; other accounts trace it to the mountains of Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day, launched in 2001, is celebrated on the first Saturday of July.

In the Levant, parsley usually outweighs the bulgur: the Moro cookbook notes that Lebanese tabbouleh is very green, flecked with bulgur. Turkish kısır, Armenian eetch and many Western versions put the grain first. Proportions vary from place to place and family to family.

Fine or medium bulgur for tabbouleh?

Fine bulgur is the usual choice. Food historian Nawal Nasrallah says the finest grind suits tabbouleh, Anissa Helou's recipe for Saveur uses fine bulgur, and our bulgur wheat guide explains that fine bulgur is usually soaked rather than cooked.

We sell only medium bulgur: Sara Medium Bulgur Wheat, which has a mild, nutty flavour. Its product page names tabbouleh among the salads it suits and says to cook it as usual, then let it cool before dressing, as our bulgur guide does. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism likewise makes its cooked kısır like bulgur pilaf.

Medium bulgur is a firmer, heartier grain than fine, so this recipe uses 50g for four. For the finer texture, buy fine bulgur elsewhere and follow its pack. Ours is in our pulses, rice and grains range.

How to chop parsley for tabbouleh

Wash the herbs first: the Food Standards Agency advises washing fruit and vegetables under a running tap or in a bowl of fresh water. Then dry them well: Milk Street found dry herbs work best, and Helou spins hers dry, then spreads them on clean tea towels.

Helou shaves across a small, tight bunch rather than rocking the knife over a pile, which bruises the leaves so they oxidise almost as soon as they are dressed. The Oxford Companion records her insistence on a very sharp knife, not a food processor, which Felicity Cloake warns in The Guardian turns the herbs to mush.

The dressing: lemon, olive oil and a pinch of spice

Lemon juice and olive oil are the base; Al Quds Palestinian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is fresh and fruity, with a gentle peppery finish. Spice is optional: the Oxford Companion lists ground cinnamon and allspice as extras, Helou adds a little cinnamon, allspice, 7 spice and black pepper, and Cloake's mix is based on Lebanese seven-spice. We use a pinch of ground allspice (bahar helou to Lebanese cooks), such as Abido Ground Allspice, or Lebanese 7 spice (often allspice-led), both in our spices and herbs range.

Tabbouleh recipe (serves 4)

Serves: 4 as a side dish, or 6 as part of a mezze. Hands-on: about 30 minutes. Cooking: about 20 minutes for the bulgur, plus 5 minutes' resting and about 20 minutes' cooling while you prepare the herbs. Total: about 50 minutes.

Ingredients

• 50g medium bulgur wheat
• 110ml water and a pinch of salt, for the bulgur
• 150g flat-leaf parsley (2–3 large bunches)
• 20g fresh mint (a small bunch)
• 3 ripe tomatoes (about 300g)
• 4 spring onions
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1½ lemons), plus extra to taste
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice or Lebanese 7 spice (optional)
• To serve: the inner leaves of a cos lettuce or 2 little gem lettuces

Method

1. Cook the bulgur. Rinse the bulgur in a sieve under cold water. Bring it to the boil in a small pan with the water and a pinch of salt, then cover and simmer on the lowest heat for about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. If it is still firm, add 1–2 tablespoons of boiling water and cook a few minutes more.
2. Rest and cool. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, spread the bulgur thinly on a large plate and leave it to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
3. Wash and dry. Meanwhile, swish the parsley and mint in a large bowl of cold water, lift them out and rinse them in fresh water. Spin them dry, then spread them on a clean tea towel until no drops remain. Wash the tomatoes and spring onions too.
4. Salt the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into 5mm dice, toss them with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and leave them in a sieve over a bowl to drain.
5. Slice the herbs. Pick the parsley leaves and thin stalks off the thick stalks. Hold a small handful in a tight bundle and shave across it as finely as you can with your sharpest knife. Slice the mint the same way, and the spring onions thinly.
6. Make the dressing. Whisk the lemon juice and olive oil with the remaining salt, the pepper and the allspice or 7 spice, if using.
7. Toss and serve. Put the cooled bulgur, herbs, spring onions and drained tomatoes in a large bowl, leaving the tomato juice behind. Just before serving, add the dressing and toss gently. Taste, add more lemon juice or salt if needed, and serve straight away with the lettuce leaves for scooping.

Tips: use flat-leaf parsley, which the Moro cookbook says matters for the texture. Salting the tomatoes is an America's Test Kitchen trick to stop the salad turning soggy. Fresh mint is usual, but if you have none, rub ½ teaspoon of Greenfields Dried Mint into the dressing.

Allergens: bulgur is wheat, so tabbouleh contains gluten. Our Sara bulgur page says it contains wheat and may contain traces of other cereals and pulses, so check the pack label. Abido's allspice lists no allergens in its ingredients, but its pack states it may contain traces of wheat (gluten), sesame and mustard. Greenfields' mint and sumac list none of the 14 major allergens in their ingredients, but Greenfields says some of its blends are made in a facility that also handles sesame, mustard and celery, so check the pack if you have a severe allergy. Al Quds olive oil contains none of the 14 major allergens. Check the oil, 7 spice and pomegranate molasses labels too.

Tabbouleh variations

• Pomegranate molasses: UK food and cookware shop Sous Chef adds it to its tabbouleh. Whisk 1–2 teaspoons of sweet, tangy Sera Pomegranate Molasses into the dressing to nudge the salad towards kısır.
• Sumac: Milk Street pairs allspice with sumac; scatter ½ teaspoon of lemony Greenfields Sumac over the salad just before serving.

Tabbouleh vs kısır vs fattoush

What to serve with tabbouleh

The Oxford Companion notes that tabbouleh is scooped up with inner cos lettuce leaves, or young vine or white cabbage leaves; Lebanon's Food Heritage Foundation adds that some people eat it with bread. Serve it in a mezze with homemade hummus and flatbread, in pitta with falafel, or beside shawarma, kebabs or grilled lamb. For brunch, pair it with shakshuka.

How long does tabbouleh keep?

Tabbouleh is best soon after it is dressed: Helou's Saveur recipe and America's Test Kitchen say to serve it immediately, and Sous Chef says it keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days. The herbs tend to wilt in the dressing, so we suggest eating it on the day and not freezing it. Because it contains cooked bulgur, follow the Food Standards Agency's general advice: keep salads and cooked dishes in the fridge, set between 0 and 5°C, refrigerate cooked food within one to two hours, and eat leftovers within 48 hours.

Frequently asked questions

Is it tabbouleh, tabouli or tabbouli?

All three are the same salad. The name comes from the Arabic tabbūla, and English spellings vary: Merriam-Webster's main entry is tabbouleh, with tabouleh and tabouli as variants, and Wikipedia lists tabbouli and taboulah. Whatever the spelling, Levantine versions are usually led by parsley, with only a little bulgur.

Can you make tabbouleh with medium bulgur?

Yes. Fine bulgur, the usual choice, is generally soaked, but our Sara page says to rinse medium bulgur, simmer it, covered, in 1½ times its volume of water for about 15 minutes and rest it for 5. For salads, cool it completely before adding the herbs, and expect a firmer grain.

Is tabbouleh gluten free?

No. Bulgur is wheat, so tabbouleh contains gluten and isn't suitable for people with coeliac disease; Coeliac UK lists bulgar wheat and couscous as not gluten free. For a gluten-free version, we suggest cooked, cooled quinoa, which Coeliac UK lists as gluten free, though it isn't traditional. Check every label: our Abido allspice may contain traces of wheat.

Can you use couscous instead of bulgur in tabbouleh?

You can, though bulgur is the more traditional grain; America's Test Kitchen uses faster-cooking couscous in one version. Most shop couscous is pre-steamed, so it just needs soaking in boiling water, covered, for about 5 minutes. Fluff it and let it cool completely before adding the herbs. Couscous is wheat too, so it is not gluten free.

Can you make tabbouleh the day before?

Not completely, as it is best freshly dressed. To get ahead, cook and cool the bulgur, slice the herbs and mix the dressing a few hours early, keep each covered in the fridge, and toss them together just before serving. Eat any leftovers within 48 hours, as the Food Standards Agency advises.