Best Tabbouleh
Learn how to make delicious, authentic tabbouleh at home! This tabbouleh (also spelled tabouli) is even better than your favorite Lebanese restaurant's.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
Finally! I’ve figured out how to make the best tabbouleh. It’s just as good, if not better than, my favorite local Middle Eastern restaurant’s. If you try it, I think you’ll agree.
Tabbouleh (also spelled tabouli) is a super fresh herb and bulgur salad, with parsley being the number one ingredient. It’s dotted with diced cucumber and tomato, and dressed simply with olive oil and lemon juice. It’s refreshing, light and packed with healthy ingredients.
You’ll often find tabbouleh as a side dish on Mediterranean menus. It’s right at home with hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, feta, olives… all of my favorite things.
I’ve attempted tabbouleh at home over the years, and I’m so pleased to share what I’ve learned with you today. Ready to make some great tabbouleh?
Tabbouleh Ingredients
Bulgur
Bulgur is parboiled cracked wheat, so it’s a whole grain. Once prepared, it’s tender and fluffy. Bulgur is often confused with couscous, but they’re not the same (couscous is actually tiny pasta).
Authentic tabbouleh is made with super fine grain (#1) bulgur and it’s soaked rather than cooked, but I haven’t been able to find it at regular grocery stores. There are several other varieties of bulgurs, and you’ll probably find only one option at the store. So, cook (or soak) it according to the package directions.
Fresh Parsley
Authentic tabbouli uses a ton of parsley. That’s why this salad is so green! I tried both flat-leaf and curly, and for once, curly is the way to go. Even when it’s chopped very small, curly parsley offers some extra volume that makes this tabbouleh so pleasant to eat.
Fresh Mint and Green Onion
Mint is standard and adds even more fresh flavor. That said, it can be expensive if you don’t grow it at home, so you can skip it if you’d rather.
Green onion is my mild onion of choice. It’s perfect in tabbouleh.
Cucumber and Tomato
Fresh cucumber and tomato add more texture and color, and build on the refreshing factor. Have I said refreshing enough yet?
Lebanese readers have informed me that cucumber is unusual in tabbouleh, which is news to me! You can skip it if you’d like, but it’s quite nice.
Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Garlic
Tabbouleh is dressed in a simple combination of olive oil and lemon juice. You won’t find garlic in every tabbouleh recipe, but I think that one clove makes this recipe extra delicious.
How to Make the Best Tabbouleh
1) Salt your tomato and cucumber, and drain off the excess juice.
Fortunately, this doesn’t take any extra time. Tomato and cucumber release a lot of moisture when they’re exposed to salt, and will make your tabbouleh way too watery if you do not drain it off.
Simply combine the tomato and cucumber in a bowl with some salt (you’ll find these instructions in the recipe below), and set it aside while you chop the parsley. Drain off the excess juice before you stir the salad together. Easy!
2) Use lots of parsley and chop it finely.
This recipe calls for three bunches of parsley, and the easiest way to chop that much parsley is in your food processor. You can do it by hand, but it will take a while. Don’t worry about removing the thin parsley stems—they offer a lot of great flavor.
3) Season sufficiently with lemon juice and salt.
Tabbouleh should be zingy and full of flavor, and you’ll need to use enough lemon and salt to get there.
Watch How to Make Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh Serving Suggestions
Tabbouleh is typically served chilled or at room temperature. It’s a perfect side dish or salad to offer with Mediterranean/Middle Eastern meals. Here are a few suggestions:
- Dips and spreads: Creamy Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Tzatziki, Tahini Sauce
- Crispy Baked Falafel
- Fattoush Salad with Mint Dressing
- Mujaddara (Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions)
- Dukkah with bread and olive oil
Please let me know how your tabbouleh turns out in the comments! I hope you love it.
Best Tabbouleh
Learn how to make delicious, authentic tabbouleh at home! This tabbouleh (also spelled tabouli) is even better than your favorite Lebanese restaurant’s. Recipe yields 6 servings (a little over 1 cup each).
Ingredients
- ½ cup bulgur
- 1 cup diced cucumber (1 small-to-medium)
- 1 cup diced tomato* (1 large)
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, divided
- 3 medium bunches curly parsley
- ⅓ cup (⅔ ounce) chopped fresh mint (optional but recommended—you can chop it in the food processor with the parsley)
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced green onion
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
- 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced
Instructions
- Cook or soak the bulgur until tender according to package directions. Drain off any excess water, and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, combine the diced cucumber and tomato in a medium bowl with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Stir, and let the mixture rest for at least 10 minutes or until you’re ready to mix the salad.
- To prepare the parsley, cut off the thick stems. Then, finely chop the parsley and remaining stems—you can do this by hand, but it’s much easier in a food processor with the standard “S” blade. Process 1 bunch at a time (each should yield about 1 cup chopped), transferring the chopped parsley to a large serving bowl before proceeding with the next.
- Add the cooled bulgur, chopped fresh mint (if using) and green onion to the bowl of parsley. Strain off and discard the cucumber and tomato juice that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl (this ensures that your tabbouleh isn’t too watery). Add the strained cucumber and tomato to the bowl.
- In a small measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, garlic, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Pour it into the salad and stir to combine. Taste, and adjust if necessary—add another tablespoon of lemon juice for zing, or salt for more overall flavor.
- If you have the time, let the salad rest for 15 minutes before serving to let the flavors mingle. Otherwise, you can serve it immediately or chill it for later. Tabbouleh will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Make it gluten free: Bulgur is not gluten-free since it’s cracked wheat. Substitute quinoa for an untraditional gluten-free option—here’s my Quinoa Tabbouleh recipe.
*Tomato note: Use the most ripe and red tomatoes you can find! If you’re making this salad when tomatoes aren’t in season, cherry tomatoes might be your best bet.
Nutrition
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 nutrition disclosure here.
Great recipe. You are my go to when I am looking for a recipe I can Trust. Thank you for your service.
Thank you, Jennifer!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! What a wonderful way to indulge in one’s favorite herb…
(I substitued chopped Walnuts for the Bulgur and doubled up the quantities for the dressing in order to lower carbs and increase fat. That worked perfectly :-)
Thank you for sharing what you enjoyed, Dennis.
Yum! Made this but realized I had no bulgur or quinoa so I took a head of cauliflower and grated half it on the large holes of a box grater. What a wonderful, fresh salad. Bulgur is on my shopping list for sure. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Chris!
This tasty recipe even beats my go-to tabbouleh from an excellent middle eastern cookbook! Love your recipes you two. A 5 bark rating!
Thank you, Marlena!
I agree with your review. I have no problem giving it 5 stars either.just an aside but I always keep dry mint on hand. The mint comes in in 3.5 oz package and is imported from Albania Most of the mom and pop fresh fruits and vegetable stores carry tons of middle Eastern products
.It is a God send.
Looks great but as someone who’s middle eastern this has way too much burgul in it. Maybe try it with a but less burgul im sure it’ll taste much better!
I personally prefer the flat leaf parsley, & coarse bulgur. My m-i-l got her recipe from probably a Lebanese patient of her husband’s, so no cucumber. We used to soak the bulgur also, but someone told me that’s what makes it soggy too fast, so now I just rinse it in a sieve. The bulgur absorbs the juice from the tomatoes, lemon& oil, so it needs to sit for a few hours. And I never put my parsley in a food processor, it bruises the parsley. My husband chops it with a very sharp knife. When I bring it in from the garden he says “Oh no, not stinking Tabbouleh again”.
Hi. Your Lebanese readers are correct in stating that authentic tabbouleh does not have cucumbers but next time I make it, I might try adding a cucumber to change it up. Thanks for the suggestion.
Love making this Cookie & Kate Tabouli salad for our club’s Ladies Member Guest Tennis Tournament and Luncheon. It’s always a hit on a hot summer’s day. Light, delicious and refreshing. The mint and extra splash of lemon juice do the trick!
Thank you for sharing, Diane! I’m glad you hear that.
I added a red onion, finely diced, gives it another interesting flavor and combination.
Hi there – this recipe truly looks GORGEOUS, thank you SO much!
I bought all of the ingredients today and will make it for dinner this evening.
Just a quick note about the quinoa suggestion, as I am actually doing a low-carb diet currently.
Quinoa is actually higher in net carbs that bulgar wheat, so it is definitely better to stick with the classic recipe.
Many thanks again,
Warmest regards
Anna
You’re welcome, Anna! I appreciate your review.
My wife had a friend who had a restaurant inLebanon before coming to the USA. A move separated us and her fantastic Tabbouleh (she still refuses to give us the recipe). This recipe is as close as you can get to exactly what she made. When my wife tasted this, she had tears in her eyes, it was just so right. Great job! Very authentic recipe, absolutely delicious, we ate the entire thing for one lunch :)
I’m glad you enjoyed it, David!
Thank you so much. This was the first one of your recipes I had tried. It is now a staple in our house. It is always in our fridge. My husband and I love it. I have bought your book, so I have many new recipes to try. We just love it. Thank you again. x
You’re welcome, Zoe! I appreciate your review.
This is the first time making this and it turned out awesome!! I followed someone’s suggestion and soaked the bulgur with lemon juice and the drained juices from the tomato and cucumber. It needed a little hot water to soften it. I just drained off the excess. Otherwise I followed the recipe. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you and God Bless you and your family. ❤️✨️
I’m glad you loved it, Cheryl!
Great tabouleh recipe! Delicious with garden cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and fresh mint. Your recommendations to salt the tomatoes and cucs to get rid of the excess water and to use curly parsley and blitz it in the food processor were so key. So much easier than hand chopping, and the texture was lovely. Will copy this off and make it again. Thanks Kate.
You’re welcome, Jen! Thank you for your review.
Good gracious! This is so easy and soooo delicious!
Great to hear, Joan!
Delicious and easy!
I’m glad you loved it, Leslie!
I like your website very much.
Thank you for the good recipes.
I have one remark, though.
I have been living in the Middle East for more than 40 years, and I love the cuisine. For Tabbouleh we only wash the Bulgur, we don’t boil it or soak it.
It goes right in with the vegetables.
This way the Bulgur gets soaked in the juices of the veggies, the lemon juice and the oil and becomes so tasty. And the Tabbouleh is never soggy.
Hi, Quick question, Can i freeze Tabbouleh?
Hi Zoe, I don’t think this is the best option to freeze. It won’t hold up well.
Just made this and it is delicious! I used all the ingredients you used but didn’t measure them. I did use some fresh mint for the first time as suggested because I had it in my herb garden. Adding the mint just added so much flavor to the salad. Will definitely be making this again.
Love to hear that, Christine! Thank you for your review.
This recipe is so very close to what my grandmother made. She taught me to use 1 squeeze lemon juice, but in a 1 cut measuring cup and add the rest with boiling water. And then add that to the bulger. So amazing!
Great to hear you enjoyed it, Jodie! I appreciate your review.
Thanks for this healthy food post
An awesome recipe but the total salt used needs to be reduced to half a teaspoon. One teaspoon is way too much.
I’m sorry you didn’t love it as is. I appreciate your review.
The recipe doesn’t say if the 1/2 cup of bulgur should be dry or cooked.
Do you have weights of parsley for this recipe? I didn’t think the bunches I had were especially large, but I ended up with WAY too much parsley. I tripled the bulgur before it seemed somewhat balanced, but now I just have more tabbouleh than I know what to do with.
I love this recipe, simple yet very tasty. One work of caution:
When you update the scale at the top of the recipe (1X, 2X, 3X) it updates the amounts in the list of ingredients. But it does NOT update the amounts in the instructions. Be careful!!!
made loads of times now, only change I do is to spoon the cucumber seeds out before dicing, add feta and sumac
It’s rare for a recipe to work this well without modifications. I made mine GF with cooked quinoa instead of bulgar. In Michigan we had our first freeze a couple weeks ago. Before the freeze I rescued a big bouquet of the neighbor’s home grown parsley and green onions, and harvested my own mint not knowing what to do with it all. The tabboulli is delicious as is (tho I doubled the garlic) and also with some chili powder and nutmeg sprinkled on. Thank you for the recipe with good directions!
Wow! Your recipe is a taste sensation! Tried it yesterday, and it’s an instant favorite. Thanks for sharing this culinary delight. Love your content!
It was fantastic I added since baked pecans, didn’t use onions and drizzled honey over the top. My family loved it!!!!!!
use the juices. I’ve drained of the cucumber and tomato juice to use it to soak the bulgur in. The precooked bulgur needed about twice/trice the amount of water. so I diced the cucumber and tomatoes added salt for osmosis drained them and than soaked the bulgur.
btw mint is not optional for tabuleh
Thank you!
I loved this recipe for Tabouleh!
I’ve made if before!
Bug thus recipe seemed to explain the process more clearly!
Hi this is the second time making this, I usually make this in the summer as I have most ingredients in my garden and it’s a great summer meal.
I was craving this in Jan
First time I made it as read and made notes. I did double as if you are going to all this chopping why not.
I cooked the bulgur 1/2 water 1/2 chicken stock
I added more cucumbers and tomatoes
little more garlic
4 cups parsley
I did add 7 tablespoons of lemon juice, it did taste very lemony at first but mellowed A LOT
I was confused about the lemon as you say 6-8T than in instructions it said 3T but you did mention to taste (that’s a big difference)
GREAT recipe.
I use lots of minced garlic. After all ingredients are combined, put the salas in an airtight container for 1 or 2 days, stirring it about every 6 hours or so.
I never soak my Bulgar, you have the lemon juice and oil and it just gives the tabouli a little extra crunch,this came from an old Lebanese lady I met in the country.
I’ve just made this for lunch tomorrow – I’ve had to force myself to stop eating it all now! Absolutely delicious, thanks so much!
You’re welcome, Lisa!
Any chance you can add an approximate weight or volume measure for the parsley? I have no idea how big your bunches of parsley are so not sure what the appropriate proportions should be.
Thanks!
One bunch is roughly 1 cup chopped. It may vary some. I hope this helps!
I’m in the process of making this dish right now. I hadn’t been making it for years.
So I appreciated your tips.
I will rate when I serve it tonight.
Yummy. I upped the bulgar a bit because it looked a bit sparse at 1/3 cut. The mint is well worth including. Great for dinner and eggs for breakfast :)
I just LOVE tabbouleh salad & have never attempted to make it until I saw yours. I’M not a cook!! Mine turned out kindof okay but watery. What did I do wrong? I did what you said about the cucumbers & tomatoes. I used 1 cup of parsley but still…. I did pour warm water over the bulgar for 20 minutes. I’ve never cooked it and do not know how. Thank you I’ll try again
You’re welcome, Kathy! I’m delighted you enjoyed it.
Thank you for your tabouli I will try it this week .!
Rightly titled Best Tabbouleh. This recipe is absolutely delicious. I received a number of compliments. Definitely one to make again.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe
You’re welcome, Nicky!
You need to include instructions on how to cook the bulgur wheat. I bought mine in bulk and had to look elsewhere for cooking instructions. Thanks
Thank you for your feedback, Edith.
Your recipe is perfect!
So delicious and fresh, I love this! Next time I need to chop the parsley a little finer I think. It chops well in food processor but I was afraid of overdoing it. Perfect for these hot summer days
That’s great to hear, Elaine!
And Sumac! My recipe is much like yours, and long ago a middle eastern restaurant we frequented told me their dressing recipe. First time I’d ever heard of sumac. I’m rating your recipe as a 5 since it’s so close to mine. No cuke, though.
This was great! I had to make a few substitutions as I didn’t have everything. I used red bell pepper instead of cucumber .Instead of tomato , I used a can (drained, of course) of Rotel tomatoes. My husband was surprised he couldn’t taste the heat. I only had one lemon so I added a lime. I’ll definitely make this again!
Thank you for sharing how you made it, Lucille.