Tabbouleh – Lebanese parsley salad
Tabbouleh is one of the key recipes of my life. As a child, I always looked forward to when the fresh parsley salad was finally served. The aromatic salad with lots of parsley and fine bulgur as well as tomatoes and herbs can be served all year round. It’s really easy to prepare! You can find my Lebanese family recipe here.
What is tabbouleh?
Tabouleh is a fresh salad from the Levant with lots of chopped parsley, fresh mint, juicy tomatoes and fine bulgur. I have grown up with parsley salad since I was a child, because we had tabouleh salad really regularly. Especially when we had a barbecue.
The classic ingredients for tabouleh
At some point, tabouleh salad (or taboulé) found its way onto the shelves of local supermarkets. It was cruel. What was advertised as “taboulé” looked more like a couscous salad. But couscous doesn’t actually belong in this delicious parsley salad, bulgur does.
For the tabouleh ingredients, it is best to go to the weekly market, oriental supermarket or organic store, as fresh food is what makes the parsley salad so good. And the flavors are essential for the original tabbouleh recipe. You are also doing your body a favor by minimizing your intake of pesticides.
So grab your shopping basket and get all the important tabouleh ingredients you don’t already have at home!
The tabouleh ingredients for authentic salad are:
- Flat-leaf parsley: The main ingredient in tabouleh is flat-leaf parsley, which is chopped very finely.
- Fresh mint: The mint is also finely chopped. When buying, however, look for mild mint and do not use peppermint.
- Tomatoes: Juicy tomatoes give the salad a wonderful sweetness. Buy particularly ripe and aromatic tomatoes for your tabouleh salad.
- Onion: The onion is also finely chopped and gives the Arabic parsley salad its hearty flavor.
- Fine bulgur: Unlike what is often sold in the supermarket, original tabouleh does not contain couscous, but fine bulgur. Bulgur can only be added to the salad in small portions. The main ingredient is parsley.
- Lemon: Authentic tabouleh salad has a good acidity, which comes from freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Olive oil: You shouldn’t skimp on olive oil. This salad needs a lot of it.
- Cinnamon: My mother’s secret ingredient for her tabouleh recipe is a pinch of cinnamon. Even though it’s very little, it really makes a big difference to the taste.
5 simple tips for perfect tabouleh
- Make sure you use fine bulgur and not too much of it. You can find out how to prepare bulgur properly here.
- Use a large knife or a herb knife with a board to finely chop the herbs.
- Buy high-quality olive oil. Preferably extra virgin olive oil because it is the most aromatic and then don’t skimp on it. You can add a lot of it to the tabouleh salad.
- Don’t skimp on the lemon juice, as the acidity makes the salad nice and tangy. Make sure you use fresh lemon juice, as store-bought juice will change the taste of the salad for the worse.
- Tabouleh is easy to prepare: Chop the ingredients and prepare the bulgur. However, you should only add the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper before serving.
With my tips, nothing should go wrong. I hope you enjoy preparing your salad and, of course, bon appétit.
Please leave a comment to let me know if everything went well and give this tabouleh recipe a rating if you liked it.
Recipe for Tabbouleh
Ingredients
To serve: Romaine lettuce
Zubereitung
- Finely chop the parsley and mint.- How finely you chop the parsley is up to you. Personally, I wouldn't puree it, because otherwise the salad lacks bite.
- Chop the onion very finely.Extra tip: add salt, pepper and a touch of cinnamon directly when chopping the onion and chop the spices as well. The result is an onion-spice mixture.
- Finely dice the tomatoes and add to the mint and parsley with the onions.
- To cook the bulgur, pour warm water over it and let it steep briefly. Make sure that it does not become too soft. The bulgur should be slightly "al dente". Pour off the rest of the water and then add the bulgur to the parsley.
- Squeeze the lemon.
- Add the lemon juice and olive oil and mix all the ingredients together.
- Then taste whether you like the balance between acid and salt. If necessary, season again with salt, pepper, cinnamon and lemon.
Notes
Nährwerte
How do you eat the parsley salad?
If you want to enjoy tabouleh in a truly authentic way, grab a romaine lettuce leaf and fill it with the Lebanese parsley salad. Take a long lettuce leaf and simply fill it with tabouleh.
You eat it like a taco… The Matrix reveals the trick to getting everything into your mouth without damage: It’s not the spoon that bends, it’s you. Move your head sideways towards the filled lettuce leaf and it will all end up in your mouth.
What do you eat the refreshing tabouleh salad with?
We have explained how to eat the Lebanese parsley salad. But which dishes go well with it? As I mentioned at the beginning, tabouleh is often served at barbecues. Spicy marinated meat such as shish kebab or kafta, aromatic grilled vegetables and hearty halloumi skewers go perfectly with it.
You can find more bulgur recipes in this colorful collection of recipes. And if you’re craving more salads, try my best summer salads!
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration for Levantine cuisine.
