This Quinoa Tabbouleh is the perfect side dish, lunch, or dinner salad and is packed with flavor from lots of lemon juice and fresh herbs. It takes the classic Middle Eastern tabbouleh salad and replaces the bulgar with quinoa for added protein.
Tabbouleh may be of the best salads out there - the fresh herbs, earthy bulger wheat, lemon juice, and crunchy veggies - get me every time. I love it.
Lately, I have been thinking about ways to make this salad more of a main dish without adding meat and decided to give it a go with quinoa and lentils. The quinoa acts as a substitute for the bulger wheat and adds a ton of extra protein and fiber. The lentils are just an added bonus, adding flavor, even more protein, and a delicious earthiness that works with the dish.
The other thing I love about this quinoa tabbouleh is that it is amazing for meal prep. The veggies and grains keep really well in the fridge and it can be served as a side dish with some cooked chicken or fish. It can also serve as a whole meal, perhaps on a bed of greens. It's also delicious wrapped up in some pita bread with a sprinkling of feta cheese and olives.
What You'll Need for Quinoa Tabbouleh
- Quinoa: This recipe uses quinoa in place of the traditional bulgur wheat used in taboulleh. Quinoa is packed with protein, easy to cook, and adds a great nuttiness to the recipe.
- Lentils: The addition of fiber filled lentils in this recipe adds a great texture and earthy flavor to the salad. To make things easy, this recipe calls for canned lentils but you could also cook your own lentils or buy precooked lentils.
- Cucumbers: This salad needs some crunch and cucumbers are provide that and add some nice freshness. For the best crunch, try to use Persian or English cucumbers. Cucumbers aren't always traditional in tabbouleh, so you can leave them out from something more traditional.
- Tomatoes: Tomatoes add some acid to this recipe as well another nice textural component. For best results, remove the seeds and pulps from the tomatoes or salt them first to remove some liquid. This is an especially important tip is prepping this in advance. Any tomatoes will work.
- Fresh Herbs: The fresh herbs are what makes this salad really shine. You need a lot of fresh parsley, the curly parsley kind is best, although flat parsley works as well. I also love the addition of some fresh mint.
- Green onions: If you don't have any green onions on hand, you could swap in some red onion. The green onion has a milder flavor, which ensures it doesn't over power the other ingredients.
- Lemon, garlic, and olive oil: Taboulleh uses a really simple dressing of fresh lemon juice, quality olive oil, and garlic. Then just add kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Ideas
There are so many ways to customize this tabouleh recipe and make it your own.
- Add olives and feta: Take this salad in a Greek direction and add some fresh crumbled feta cheese and sliced olives.
- Add chickpeas: Bulk this salad up even more with some canned chickpeas.
- Make it spicy: For a spicy element, add some red pepper flakes to the dressing or a touch of harissa.
- Make it creamy: Serve this salad with a dollop of some homemade tzatziki or hummus for extra flavor.
- Add even more protein: If you want to add even more protein, add some chicken, tofu, or even Turkish meatballs to the salad.
What to Serve with Quinoa Tabbouleh?
Taboulleh is a Middle Eastern salad that is traditionally served with all types of dishes. Here are some favorites:
- Grilled Turkey Lula Kabobs
- Chicken Kofta Bowls
- Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki
- Chicken Shawarma
- Baked Lentil Falafel
