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Home » Vegan Lebanese Recipes

Authentic Taboule Lebanese Salad

Published: May 24, 2024 · Modified: Sep 1, 2022 by Janelle Hama *This post may contain affiliate links. Disclosure

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Taboule is an authentic Lebanese salad that is fresh, light and easy. Made with finely chopped fresh parsley tossed in a refreshing lemon dressing.

A white bowl of parsley salad with two silver spoons
Fresh and juicy taboule salad just as my forebearers taught me

What is Taboule?

Taboule is a famous Lebanese salad and is considered one of the country's national salads. This parsley salad features fresh herbs as the main ingredient, giving it its distinctive vibrant green color.

It is mostly referred to as tabouli, tabooli, or tabbouleh and is pronounced as tah·boo·li in Arabic.

This recipe is authentic, passed down through the generations of my Lebanese family just like fattoush.

Ingredients Highlight

parsley, onion, tomato, mint leaves, burgul, lemon, oil and salt on a white bench

The complete list of ingredients with measurements, can be found in the full recipe card below.

The best type of parsley and most commonly used is fresh flat-leafed parsley aka Italian parsley, avoid using any other kind. The parsley will need to be uniformly finely chopped after washing, drying and cutting away the thicker stems, which are too woody and stringy, you can reserve them for making stock if you wish.

There are different sized bulgur, for this Lebanese salad fine cracked bulgur is used as it hydrates quickly, is easy to eat in a raw salad and looks lovely speckled against the contrasting green color as fine bulgur is white. You can buy fine bulgur here . It is very different from larger-sized grains of bulgur which you can see in this tomato burgul pilav.

Tomatoes (not cherry tomatoes) should be ripe but firm, this plays an important part considering the tomatoes and (white or brown) onions are the only other fresh ingredients. Both of these will need to be finely diced as uniformly as possible, this is something my aunty instilled in me, she made sure that taboule always looked spot on.

Variation For Making It Gluten Free

As bulgur is a wheat product, it contains gluten. To make this a gluten free tabouli, you can either leave out the bulgur or make it a vegan quinoa tabbouleh.

a bunch of parsley with stems chopped off

Janelle's Tips 

Traditional taboule should always be mostly green from the finely sliced parsley.

For an authentic Lebanese taboule experience, the mint and parsley should be chopped uniformly. Do not overly chop the parsley, as it will turn mushy, I learned this from the best, my aunt and mom, who were born and raised in Lebanon.

Don’t worry if you don’t get the chopping perfect the first time. Practice makes perfect. Just remember, the key is ensuring that there is more parsley than anything else and that the tomato and onion are uniform in size.

As I don't typically measure the ingredients when making homemade taboule (I highly doubt any Lebanese person does), I encourage you to taste test and adjust the flavors to suit you, in the below recipe card there are measurements for you to follow.

Storage

Leftover taboule can be stored for 1-2 days in the fridge when sealed in an air-tight container. I don’t recommend storing longer as the entire salad tends to wilt quickly and turn soggy.

Freezing is not recommended.

Alternatively, the fresh produce can be pre-chopped and kept separately from the dressing for 3-4 days in the fridge. Toss all the ingredients together when ready to serve.

chopped parsley, onion, tomato with burghul in a glass bowl

What To Eat With Taboule?

Taboule makes a fabulous side to so many meals, it's always offered with mezze. You could try it with some of my favorite meals;

A plate of kibbe potato which is a cold mixture of boiled potatoes and bulgur with a thyme flavoring.

Mjadara is almost always served with tabouli, it's kind of mandatory in my family.

Start with this salad first, then enjoy a filling bowl of lentil and pasta rishta soup. I love this combination!

Or try it on a plate with the best falafels from Lebanon drizzled with tahini shawarma sauce, a dollop of baba ghanouj, and a side of fries. Ouft, you'll be in heaven!

taboule without burgul in a white bowl

More Salads From Lebanon

You can read about the differences between these two salads here in fattoush vs taboule.

A common salad is salatah Arab it's a default pairing for most meals.

Otherwise, try this sumac tomato salad or this underrated salad with tahini both are simple sides.

Explore many more refreshing recipes in this list of salads of Lebanon.

Did you make this? I'd love to know! Leave me a comment below with a ★★★★★ star rating or tag @plantbasedfolk on social media.

Recipe

A white bowl of parsley salad with two silver spoons

Authentic Taboule Lebanese Salad

Taboule is an authentic Lebanese salad that is fresh, light and easy. Made with finely chopped fresh parsley tossed in a refreshing lemon dressing.
Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved Recipe
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Lebanese, Middle Eastern
Diet: Vegan
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Janelle Hama

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups Flat leaf parsley finely chopped (see notes)
  • 2 medium - large Tomatoes finely diced
  • 1 medium Onion finely diced
  • ¼ cup Mint leaves finely chopped (see notes)
  • ¼ cup Fine burgul
  • 2 small Lemons juiced
  • ⅛ cup Olive oil extra virgin
  • 1 pinch Salt to taste
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Instructions

  • Wash the fine bulgur in water, strain, and then add it to a small bowl. Pour the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil on top, give it a stir, and set it aside to allow the bulgur to absorb the juice and rehydrate, doubling in size. It's best to do this before slicing or dicing the fresh ingredients.
    burghul soaking in oil and lemon juice in a white bowl
  • In a large bowl, add all the fresh ingredients, the soaked bulgur, and salt. Toss everything together, then do a taste test and adjust the salt, olive oil, and lemon juice as needed. Serve taboule cold.
    onion, tomato finely diced and finely sliced mint and parsley in a glass bowl

Video


Notes

Remove the hard stems from the parsley and mint leaves prior to chopping. 
When serving taboule you can either toss the salads using cold dressing with cold produce, or prepare the salad and then refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. This is up to you, I personally love to toss and serve immediately.
Enjoy this salad cold with either Mjaddara hamra (Lebanese bulgur and lentils) or with some tofu kabobs. For more serving suggestions see the above article.
 
 
 
This article was originally September 2022 and has since been revised.

Nutrition

Calories: 527kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Sodium: 142mg | Potassium: 1502mg | Fiber: 20g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 13183IU | Vitamin C: 326mg | Calcium: 329mg | Iron: 12mg

N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.


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Reader Interactions

Comments

    4.99 from 85 votes (77 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Sandy

    January 24, 2023 at 2:51 am

    5 stars
    This is one of our favorite salads, and this Vegan recipe is exceptional. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Mandy

    January 17, 2023 at 6:27 pm

    5 stars
    Wow, this tasted SO good, I’m taking the leftovers to work tomorrow to eat for lunch along with a leftover falafel, think I’m going to make double next time!

    Reply
  3. Rachna

    January 17, 2023 at 1:28 pm

    5 stars
    I just loved how healthy and delicious this salad is. Using parsley as a star ingredient is superb. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  4. Traci

    January 09, 2023 at 12:49 am

    5 stars
    What a delicious and flavorful salad this was! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  5. Gen

    January 05, 2023 at 2:59 pm

    5 stars
    I LOVE the fresh herbs in this taboule! Delicious, fresh, and felt really good eating it.

    Reply
  6. Evette

    December 21, 2022 at 9:06 am

    5 stars
    Taboule recette 100% merci!

    Reply
  7. Samira

    September 12, 2022 at 2:44 am

    5 stars
    Janelle I am over the moon that I found your site, I made this taboule and your mujadara recipe, the whole family loved it and requested it to be made regularly

    Reply
  8. Russ

    September 06, 2022 at 9:56 am

    5 stars
    Better than the shops, I always thought making taboule was harder than this. I also made it with home grown produce. I have saved this to make it over and over again.

    Reply

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