Lentil Tabbouleh

Lentil tabbouleh is a delicious alternative to traditional tabbouleh, a classic Levantine and Middle Eastern salad loved worldwide for its flavor and freshness.

In our recipe, we substitute green, brown, or black lentils for bulgur. It’s a nutritious salad that you can serve with our quick pita bread and tahini lemon dressing.

Lentil Tabbouleh (starter, side dish idea)

This lentil tabbouleh recipe is a tasty and nutritious variation of classic tabbouleh, a famous Eastern Mediterranean salad made with fresh parsley, mint, tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and soaked bulgur wheat.

You’ll love this recipe because you can serve it as an appetizer or main dish with other small dishes such as hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki, zaalouk, avocado spread, grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, and some freshly baked pita bread.

Or you can have it as a refreshing and nutritious side salad.

Like our other popular lentil salad, lentil carrot salad, and lentil quinoa salad, you can make lentil tabbouleh with brown, green, or black lentils.

These varieties keep their shape better than red lentils, and they have a nice bite that reminds us of the bulgur in the original recipe.

Uh, and remember: Tabbouleh’s main ingredient is parsley.

More specifically, the flat-leaf variety, often called Italian parsley. So get a few big bunches of fresh parsley to make this delicious lentil tabbouleh salad.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Lentils

Use brown, green (Puy lentils), or black lentils (Beluga) as they keep their shape when you toss them with the other ingredients and have a nice bite and earthy flavor.

You can use either canned lentils or dry lentils that you cook yourself at home.

To cook dry lentils, boil them in lightly salted water for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the type of lentils.

Small black lentils cook fast, in about 15 minutes. Larger brown lentils might take up to more than 30 minutes.

Here’s our guide on how to cook lentils, if you are interested.

Unlike chickpeas and beans, dry lentils don’t require soaking and can be cooked immediately.

We do, however, recommend rinsing them under running water to remove small debris from the harvest. Also, look for small stones that might hide between the lentils.

Substitute chickpeas, cannellini beans, barley, buckwheat, farro, bulgur, couscous, amaranth, and millet for lentils.

Parsley

Tabbouleh is a parsley salad, and to stay close to the traditional recipe, we make our lentil tabbouleh with plenty of fresh flat-leaf parsley, sometimes known as Italian parsley.

This variety is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region, including Lebanon, where tabbouleh is akin to a national dish.

Mint

Fresh mint leaves are often combined with parsley to add freshness and a pleasant minty aroma to the salad. Those two fresh herbs are essential in this recipe.

Tomatoes

Red ripe tomatoes. You can use most varieties, including Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, as long as they are not overripe.

If your tomatoes are too seedy or too watery, we recommend discarding some of their liquid and seeds.

Substitute diced red bell pepper for tomatoes.

Green onions

Green onions, scallions, or spring onions add a mild zesty taste. We recommend using only the white and light green parts of the spring onions.

Substitute shallots or red onions for green onions; however, if you do so, we advise you to use half the quantities.

Olive oil

Try to use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Its fruity and nutty flavor will make lentil tabbouleh ever more aromatic, healthy, and delicious.

Extra virgin olive oil is packed with polyphenols, plant compounds that can act as antioxidants and reduce inflammation in the body.

Substitute avocado oil for olive oil.

Lemon Juice

Fresh lemon juice is best, as used in the original recipe. It adds plenty of fresh citrus flavor and a pleasant tanginess that makes this salad delicious and refreshing.

Substitute a splash of apple cider vinegar for lemon juice.

Salt and pepper

We recommend sea salt or kosher salt to add taste. Freshly ground black pepper for a fragrant, peppery aroma.

There are no other spices in tabbouleh; however, if you want to spice things up, add half a teaspoon of ground cumin, cinnamon, or garlic powder to this lentil tabbouleh recipe.

You can also add a diced Persian or English cucumber.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Prepare the lentils

From dry lentils: If using dry lentils, the first step is to rinse and boil the lentils in a pot with lightly salted water until tender.

Optionally, add a bay leave and half an onion in the water. Dry lentils don’t need soaking. They can take from 15 minutes (black beluga lentils) to 30-40 minutes (brown and green lentils).

From canned lentils: drain and rinse the canned lentils under running water, then let them drain completely, trying to remove as much of the water as possible.

Chop the other vegetables

Cut the tomato into thin slices, then chop it into small dice of about 1/6 inch (4mm) each. We recommend using a serrated knife or a sharp chef’s knife.

If the tomatoes are watery, transfer them into a fine-mesh strainer and let them drain for a few minutes while you chop the other ingredients.

Remove the larger stem of the parsley. Pick the mint leaves from their branch and add them to the parsley.

Finely chop parsley and mint. We recommend using a large and sharp chef’s knife; however, if you don’t have one, you could use a food processor, pulsing until the herbs are finely chopped.

Trim the green part off the green onions and finely chop the white and light green parts.

Mix the ingredients

Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl, then season with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper.

Toss well until the parsley and the lentils are evenly combined.

You’ll need a minute as the parsley might clump up. Finally, taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice before serving.

Lentil tabbouleh is an excellent recipe to serve as a side dish, as part of an appetizer platter (mezze), or as a main dish next to other delicious Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes.

It’s also great as a make-ahead salad for potlucks and cookouts.

We recommend serving it with:

• Tahini sauce to drizzle on top.
• Chickpea hummus.
• Smoky baba ganoush (eggplant dip) or mutabal.
• Crunchy homemade crostini or tomato bruschetta.
• Olive tapenade.
• Zaalouk (Moroccan eggplant salad).
• Grilled eggplants, zucchini, or bell peppers.
• Tzatziki sauce with cucumber and yogurt.
• Moroccan carrot salad.
• Falafel.
• Pita bread.
• Fatteh.
• Fattoush.
• Muhammara.

Sauces

Tahini Sauce

Salads

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Dips and Spreads

Tzatziki

Starters

Fatteh (Pita, Hummus, and Yogurt)

Dips and Spreads

Baba Ganoush

Breads

Pita Bread

Mains

Falafel

Dips and Spreads

Muhammara

Classic Tabbouleh Salad

The original tabbouleh recipe is with bulgur. This is a classic, and we tried to be as authentic as possible.

You cannot go wrong with this one if you want an authentic Eastern Mediterranean and Levantine flavor.

Check out our tabbouleh recipe.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Quinoa is an excellent alternative to lentils and bulgur; it only takes 10 to 15 minutes to cook.

It’s also rich in protein, nutritious, and fulfilling. Its taste and texture match the parsley, tomato, and other ingredients in this tabouli salad.

Cook 1/2 cup (100 grams) of quinoa in 1 cup (250 grams) of water and a pinch of salt. Mix it with the other ingredients.

Make ahead: you can mix lentil tabbouleh the day before; however, if you do so, we recommend waiting to season it until shortly before serving it so that the lemon and salt won’t pull the water out of the tomatoes.

Refrigerator: store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. The tabouli might change color and lose liquid on the second day. That’s OK; drain the excess liquid if it bothers you.

Freezer: this recipe is not suitable for freezing.

Lentils are healthy, nutritious, and versatile as they don’t require soaking and can be used for everyday cooking. Here are some more lentil recipes for you:

• Lentil curry: a creamy Indian-inspired recipe with red lentils and spices.
• Lentil bolognese: a rich and earthy Italian-inspired ragu for pasta and lasagne.
• Cauliflower lentil salad: a blend of Mediterranean flavors.
• Lentil soup: a warm and comforting Italian-inspired recipe to cure your winter blues.
• Lentil sweet potato salad: a world salad with Mediterranean flavors.
• Zucchini boats filled with lentils.
• Moroccan carrot salad with lentils and North African flavors.
• Creamy lentil pasta: traditional Italian comfort food.
• Mujaddara: the best lentil and rice dish you’ll ever have.

Mains

Mujadara (Lentils and Rice)

Soups

Lentil Vegetable Soup

Curry Recipes

Lentil Curry

Pasta

Lentil Bolognese

Are you looking for other delicious salad recipes? Check out our:

• Shirazi salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint.
• Greek salad with onion, olives, and feta cheese.
• Classic cucumber tomato salad.
• Couscous with vegetables.
• Green bean salad with creamy mustard dressing.
• Delicious roasted sweet potato salad.
• Mediterranean farro salad.
• Creamy avocado salad.

For many more salad ideas, check out our salads category page.