simple tabbouleh salad
A simple tabbouleh salad with curly parsley, mint, tomatoes and red onion. A perfect healthy summer side dish that requires just 15 minutes of prep work!
It occurs to me that this should not be a bowl of simple tabbouleh salad but a cake instead. Seeing that tomorrow is my birthday and all. And this is a big one. The big 4Ohhhh! A cake would be traditional. But those of you whom have been reading for a while know that I am a non-traditional kinda gal. And I’m not really a cake kinda gal.
What I have been hearing over and over about turning 40 is that this marks the decade when you stop giving a hoot what other people think and what they think you should be doing and you just focus in on your own dang priorities. So seeing that I am turning 40s and I’m more in the mood for tomatoes, parsley, mint and bulgur than cake and frosting, I give you a bowl of simple tabbouleh salad instead. Happy Birthday to me.
I know that sounds kinda depressing, but I have to say I am far from feeling blue. I just threw myself an awesomely crazy birthday party last weekend with 100 people dressed in wigs with live music. (For the record, I didn’t serve cake then either.) We were too busy laughing and dancing our butts off. My feet are still sore from dancing.
It is on my list of things to do to make a cake for you all for the blog at some point. But with the party and all I haven’t had time. Will you remind me to do a cake if I forget? Wanna see me in my wig instead?
That’s my mom on the right and my step-father on the left. I bought my wig out in California when I was on my way to meet up with Alanna. No I am not dressed as Joan Jett. I am dressed as myself in a wig. Did I mention I consider myself to be non-traditional?
Anyway, this tabbouleh salad holds a very special place in my heart along with hummus (read why here.) And I simply crave it as soon as tomatoes and parsley come into season. I can eat gallons of it. I just keep it in the fridge and scoop out bowlfuls to nosh on for days.
How to Make Tabbouleh Salad
If you take a look at the total time required for this recipe, you might be a little startled at first. Over an hour to make one side salad sounds like a lot of time and energy, but hear me out! That hands on prep time required for this tabbouleh salad recipe is actually just 15 minutes or so. The rest of the time you simply are waiting for the bulgur wheat to absorb enough water to fluff up nicely.
So to make this simple tabbouleh, you’ll first need to combine some boiling water with the bulgur wheat. Once the bulgur has absorbed the water, you’ll need to drain it well using a fine mesh sieve and use a paper towel or clean dish cloth to press out any excess water (this part is very important, don’t skip it!).
Then, you’ll need to whisk together a little lemon juice, olive oil and salt in a large serving bowl. Add in the bulgur and mix until it’s fully coated in the dressing. Gently stir in the parsley, tomatoes, onion and mint and serve immediately. You can prep this tabbouleh salad in advance for a family gathering or potluck, but note that it doesn’t keep super well in the fridge. You can still eat the leftovers after a few days, but the tomatoes tend to go soft and they make the bulgur a little soggy. Totally edible, but not as good as it is when you first make it! (Although for the record, I’ve always loved eating this tabbouleh for days after I’ve made it!).
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Printsimple tabbouleh salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Simple Tabbouleh salad with curly parsley, mint, tomatoes and red onion. A perfect healthy summer side dish that requires just 15 minutes of prep work!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups boiling water
- 1 cup bulgur wheat
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 medium tomatoes, diced (about 3 cups)
- 3 cups chopped curly parsley
- 3 tablespoons to ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint, to taste
- ½ cup minced red onion
Instructions
- Pour water over bulgur in a large bowl and let sit for 1 hour. Drain well into a fine mesh sieve and press out any excess water.
- Whisk oil, lemon and salt in the bowl. Add the bulgur back to the bowl and coat with the dressing. Stir in tomatoes, parsley, mint and red onion. Serve immediately or chill.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 162
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 308 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 3 g
i have always wanted to make some tabbouleh! This looks so good! I need to make this!
I hope you try it. You’ll be so amazed how easy it is.
I would rather have this tabbouleh instead of cake for my birthday, Kathy. This looks so GOOD!
Happy Birthday!
Ha ha, I guess that means I am in excellent company Angie.
p.s that bowl of brown rice with black currants looks amazing too!
Ha, that is an old one and I almost didn’t link to it and post the photo here because the photo is so bad. But the recipe is fantastic so I did anyway. Glad to know that you can see the diamond in the rough.
NO!!! Can’t believe that you are 40.
BTW, do you own the lovely Royal Copenhagen china in your pictures? I have collected some pieces and adore the pattern.
Happy Day Sweet Girl.
Oh no did I just inadvertently make you feel old Debbie? So sorry, tee hee. It is all in the mind anyway. Yes the china was my grandmothers. We use it at the lake and it makes me think of her. Thank you for the birthday wishes.
Happy early birthday! I say if you want salad, you get salad — especially since this salad sounds so fantastic and easy. And I 100% agree about aging bringing out the very healthy concept of just doing what you actually want or need. It’s so relaxing. Who needs cake? 🙂
Cheers my friend! Thank you.
I’m with you on the cake thing. I’d much rather have tabbouleh! I have a good Arabic market somewhat near me though so I usually buy it there instead of making it…I know, lazy. Your recipe looks so good though, I may just have to give it a try!
I wish I had a good Arabic market here. Though making it from scratch is pretty simple.
Happy (almost) birthday! Hope it’s a fabulous one!
Why thank you Stephanie.
Well, I think since it’s your birthday you get to do and eat whatever you want! So bring on the tabbouleh! I hope you have a wonderful day. And let’s celebrate in person soon! XO
Happy Early Birthday, Katie! It’s your birthday so yeah… do what you like! And really your tabbouleh recipe looks like the perfect way to celebrate to me.
Looks like a great time at your birthday party!! What a fun theme!
Love how easy it is to make tabbouleh! I can totally understand why you would want this at your birthday celebration!
Thank you so much my friend!
Love how easy this is and such fresh ingredients!
This is the perfect tabbouleh!
It doesn’t get more simple than this. Perfect combo for this grain.