Tabbouleh
تبولة
A parsley salad with a little bulgur — not a wheat salad with a parsley garnish.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: تبولة.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- —
- Rest
- 20 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Tabbouleh is chopped parsley, mint, tomato and spring onion, dressed with lemon and oil, with just enough fine bulgur to catch the dressing. If you see a bowl that is mostly grain, you are looking at a different salad that borrowed the name. Dry the parsley after washing or you make herb soup. A sharp knife, not a processor, keeps the cut from bruising into bitterness. Soak the bulgur in just enough lemon and tomato juice; a cup of water turns it into porridge. Tomatoes should be firm enough to dice, not collapse. Season as you go — lemon fades on standing, so taste again before serving. Oil at the end. If it tastes grassy and flat, you need salt and acid, not more grain 'to bulk it out'. Chill briefly. Overnight it weeps; eat it the same day if you can.
Ingredients
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Rinse fine bulgur, squeeze dry, let it sit in a spoon of lemon and oil.
10 minStep 2
Chop parsley and mint very fine by hand. Dice tomato small. Slice spring onion thin.
20 minStep 3
Toss with bulgur, remaining lemon, oil and salt. It should look green.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Fine bulgur → A handful of cooked quinoa
Different salad. Name it.
Tips
- Dry the parsley after washing or the salad weeps.
- Cucumber is a house extra, not required.
History & culture
Mezze and Sunday lunch. The knife work is the recipe. A food processor turns it to sludge. The labour is the hospitality. A mountain of parsley on a Sunday is a sign that someone had time, or that several someones shared a board. Mezze tables use it as a fresh counterweight to richer plates. Homes judge a cook by the fineness of the chop and the restraint with wheat. Restaurant bowls that look like couscous salad are cooking for a different customer. Bring more herbs than feels reasonable. That feeling is the calibration.
A Levantine herb salad. Wheat was never the point; it stretches and soaks. Herb salads with a little cracked wheat are a Levantine way to eat greens at volume. Wheat as the star is a diaspora adaptation when parsley was expensive or misunderstood. That adaptation has its own life and its own name-borrowing. The older plate is still a parsley dish. Tomato is a New World addition that now seems inevitable. Inevitable crops are still historical. So is the food processor, which remains a bad idea here.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Tabbouleh take?
50 min all in — 30 min prep, 20 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 6 bowls. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Vegan.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Chef's knife.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
What can I use instead?
Fine bulgur → A handful of cooked quinoa. Different salad. Name it.
Any tips from this recipe?
Dry the parsley after washing or the salad weeps. Cucumber is a house extra, not required.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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