Perfect Ina Garten Tabbouleh Salad Recipe: Fresh & Flavorful

Tabbouleh salad bursts with vibrant Mediterranean flavors that dance across your palate like a refreshing summer breeze.

This classic dish represents an authentic culinary tradition rooted in Middle Eastern cuisine.

Crisp herbs and tender grains merge into a delightful combination that feels simultaneously light and satisfying.

Fresh ingredients transform simple components into a remarkable meal that feels sophisticated yet uncomplicated.

Each bite offers a perfect balance of zesty and earthy notes that awaken your senses.

The salad’s versatility makes it an ideal accompaniment to numerous main courses or a standalone lunch option.

Prepare yourself for a delicious journey that celebrates fresh, wholesome ingredients and timeless cooking techniques: let’s get started!

Why Tabbouleh Salad Is Always a Win

• Burst of Fresh Mediterranean Flavors: This tabbouleh salad explodes with vibrant herbs, crisp vegetables, and zesty lemon that transport your taste buds straight to the sunny Mediterranean coastline.
• Super Simple Prep Method: The recipe requires minimal cooking skills, with an easy technique of soaking bulgur in hot liquid and simply mixing ingredients, making it perfect for home cooks of all experience levels.
• Versatile Make-Ahead Magic: This salad becomes more delicious after chilling for a few hours, allowing herbs and seasonings to meld together, which means less stress and more convenience for meal planning and entertaining.
• Nutrition-Packed Powerhouse: Loaded with fresh parsley, mint, cucumber, and tomatoes, this tabbouleh delivers a nutrient-dense dish that's both incredibly healthy and wonderfully satisfying without feeling heavy.

What You’ll Need for Ina’s Tabbouleh

• Bulghur: Hearty Middle Eastern wheat with nutty flavor, perfect for absorbing liquid and creating a robust base for the salad.

• Scallions, Mint, Parsley: Bright, fresh herbs that add vibrant color and zesty, aromatic notes to the tabbouleh.

• Cucumber, Tomatoes: Crisp, juicy vegetables that provide refreshing texture and sweet, tangy elements to balance the grains.

• Boiling Water, Lemon Juice, Olive Oil: Essential liquids for hydrating bulghur and creating a bright, tangy dressing.
• Salt, Black Pepper: Classic seasonings that enhance and balance the overall flavor profile of the salad.

How to Build Layers of Herby Brightness

Step 1: Prepare Bulgur Base

Grab a spacious mixing bowl and add bulgur. Pour boiling water directly over the grains. Splash in fresh lemon juice and smooth olive oil. Sprinkle salt generously. Gently stir everything together and let the mixture rest for one full hour, allowing bulgur to absorb all the wonderful flavors.

Step 2: Chop Fresh Herbs and Vegetables

• Crisp scallions
• Fragrant mint leaves
• Verdant parsley
• Crunchy cucumber
• Juicy ripe tomatoes

Finely chop each ingredient with precision. The smaller and more uniform the cuts, the more harmonious the salad will taste.

Step 3: Blend and Season

Tumble all chopped herbs and vegetables into the bulgur mixture. Add remaining salt and crack fresh black pepper over the top. Use a fork to gently fold everything together, ensuring each grain gets coated with herbal goodness.

Step 4: Chill and Enhance Flavor

Cover the salad and slide it into the refrigerator. Let the ingredients mingle and marry for a few hours. This resting period allows the flavors to deepen and develop a more complex taste profile.

Step 5: Final Touch and Serve

Before serving, give the salad a quick taste. Adjust seasonings if needed – perhaps a splash more lemon juice or a pinch of salt. Serve chilled as a refreshing side dish or light meal.

Tips for Fluffy Bulgur and Crisp Veggies

• Bulk Up Bulghur: Patience is key when preparing bulghur. A full hour of soaking transforms the grain into a perfectly tender and fluffy base.
• Squeeze Fresh Citrus: Ditch the bottled stuff and opt for freshly squeezed lemon juice. Ripe, juicy lemons bring a bright, zesty punch that elevates the entire salad.
• Prep Cucumber Like a Pro: Remove seeds and peel to keep the tabbouleh crisp and prevent unwanted wateriness. A quick deseeding technique ensures a perfectly textured salad.
• Flavor Fusion Time: Let the salad rest in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. This magical waiting period allows herbs, vegetables, and dressing to mingle and intensify their delicious flavors.
• Herb Freshness Matters: Grab the crispest parsley and mint you can find. Vibrant, just-picked herbs make a world of difference in creating an authentic, restaurant-quality tabbouleh.

Smart Storage for Make-Ahead Meals

• Overnight Flavor Infusion: Store the tabbouleh in an airtight glass container and let the herbs and vegetables marinate overnight in the refrigerator. This technique allows the ingredients to blend, creating a more intense and harmonious taste profile that deepens the salad's overall complexity.
• Moisture Management: Place a clean paper towel on top of the salad before sealing the container to absorb excess moisture. This simple trick prevents the bulgur wheat from becoming soggy and maintains the salad's crisp texture, ensuring each bite remains fresh and vibrant.
• Quick Consumption Strategy: Consume the tabbouleh within 2-3 days for optimal flavor and texture. After this period, the herbs will start to wilt and lose their bright, fresh qualities, diminishing the salad's visual appeal and taste experience.

Tabbouleh Add-Ins for Extra Zing

• Mediterranean Protein Boost: Add grilled chicken or chickpeas for extra protein and heartier texture.
• Quinoa Alternative: Replace bulghur with quinoa for a gluten-free version with similar nutty flavor profile.
• Spicy Middle Eastern Kick: Incorporate harissa paste or red pepper flakes to give the salad a zesty, warming heat.
• Roasted Vegetable Fusion: Grill zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers to mix into the traditional tabbouleh for deeper, smoky undertones.

Salad Recap: Tabbouleh Style

Mediterranean culinary artistry shines through Ina Garten’s tabbouleh salad, a refreshing symphony of herbs, grains, and zesty ingredients.

Summer’s embrace captures Mediterranean coastal essence with each vibrant forkful.

Green herbs dance alongside bulgur wheat, creating harmonious flavor profiles that transport palates to Lebanese countryside kitchens.

Lemon’s bright acidity intertwines with fresh parsley and mint, elevating this classic dish beyond simple salad status.

Complex yet approachable, this recipe welcomes novice and experienced cooks into its delightful world.

Cooking becomes an adventure of taste, tradition, and connection – so grab those ingredients, share this recipe with friends, sprinkle some love into your preparation, and watch how one simple salad can spark culinary conversations that linger long after the last bite.

Ina Garten Tabbouleh Salad Recipe

---

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.8 from 28 reviews

• Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

Mediterranean tabbouleh celebrates fresh parsley, bulgur wheat, and crisp vegetables in a zesty lemon dressing. Refreshing herbs and tangy flavors make this Barefoot Contessa classic perfect for summer gatherings with friends.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Main Ingredients:

• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
• 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (1 bunch)
• 1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (1 bunch)
• 1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (1 bunch)

Dressing Ingredients:

• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• ¼ cup good olive oil
• 3 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. In a spacious mixing vessel, distribute the bulghur wheat and pour boiling water, freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and 1 of kosher salt. Gently stir the ingredients to ensure uniform moistening and allow the mixture to rest and absorb liquids for precisely 60 minutes at room temperature.
2. After the resting period, incorporate finely chopped green onions, fragrant mint leaves, vibrant parsley, crisp cucumber, ripe tomatoes, an additional of salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Fold the ingredients delicately to maintain the wheat’s fluffy texture and prevent crushing the vegetables.
3. Taste the tabbouleh and calibrate the seasoning, introducing more salt, lemon juice, or herbs as needed to achieve a harmonious flavor profile. For optimal taste development, refrigerate the salad for 2-3 hours, allowing the ingredients to meld and intensify their Mediterranean-inspired essence. Serve chilled as a refreshing side dish or light lunch accompaniment.

Notes

• Grab some ripe, firm tomatoes to get the most vibrant color and crisp texture in your tabbouleh.
• Dice vegetables into small, uniform pieces for a traditional and visually appealing presentation.
• Press out excess moisture from chopped ingredients to keep the salad from becoming soggy.
• Opt for extra virgin olive oil to enhance the overall Mediterranean flavor profile.
• Let the salad rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving to allow flavors to develop fully.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours
• Category: Lunch, Dinner, Appetizer, Snacks
• Method: Simmering
• Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 6
• Sugar: 2 g
• Sodium: 500 mg
• Fat: 8 g
• Saturated Fat: 1 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 20 g
• Fiber: 3 g
• Protein: 4 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg