With fresh herbs, crisp veggies, and a bright lemon vinaigrette, this quinoa tabbouleh salad is guaranteed to be a summertime staple. Serve it as a refreshing side dish or as a light meal!
Every summer needs a go-to side dish. You know, the kind of thing you can whip up to go with dinner on the grill or bring to a backyard potluck? This quinoa tabbouleh salad is mine. Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern vegetarian dish typically made with fresh tomatoes, mint, parsley, lemon juice, bulgur, and olive oil. My version swaps in quinoa to make it gluten-free (and for a little protein boost). If you love my Thai quinoa salad, this is one to try too!
Why This Quinoa Tabbouleh Will Be Your New Summer Staple
This quinoa tabbouleh salad is the quintessential summer salad: light, fresh, bright, and packed with herbs and veggies! Here’s a rundown of why I love it so much (and why you will too!).
- Fresh and flavorful. Lemon, mint, and parsley add lots of Mediterranean flair.
- Protein-packed. Swapping the usual bulgur for quinoa adds plant protein and fiber.
- Perfect for meal prep. In my opinion, this recipe is actually better the next day, so it’s definitely a make-ahead kind of dish!
What You’ll Need
This quinoa tabbouleh salad is made with fresh, simple ingredients. It’s the kind of recipe perfect for planning during farmers’ market season! Scroll down to the recipe card for exact measurements.
- Quinoa – You can use any color you like or have on hand.
- Water – To cook the quinoa. Vegetable or chicken broth can be used instead if you’d like.
- Cherry tomatoes – I like using these more than the traditional full-size tomatoes because they release less liquid into the salad.
- English cucumber – If you have garden cucumbers to use, you can swap those in. Just be sure to scoop out the pulpy seeds first.
- Bell pepper – I use red and orange bell pepper, but yellow also works, as it has a similar sweet flavor.
- Parsley and mint – Tabbouleh is made with lots of fresh herbs. Be sure to use flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, which is more flavorful than the curly kind.
- Garlic – The flavor of the garlic mellows thanks to the acidity of the lemon juice.
- Lemon juice – Use fresh lemon juice, not bottled. It truly makes a difference!
- Olive oil – This is a recipe where it’s worth grabbing the good extra-virgin olive oil in your pantry, rather than the bottle you use for cooking.
- Salt and pepper – Freshly ground black pepper adds a little warmth.
How to Make Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
This salad comes together in just a few easy steps.
- Cook the quinoa. Add quinoa and water to a medium saucepan. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
- Fluff the quinoa. Remove from heat and let it sit covered for 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff the quinoa.
- Combine the ingredients. Add the cooked quinoa to a large bowl along with the veggies, herbs, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Toss everything together. Mix until evenly combined.
- Serve. Enjoy immediately or chill before serving for even more flavor.
Recipe Variations
If you want to put your own spin on this quinoa tabbouleh recipe, here are some ideas.
- Up the herb factor. A traditional tabbouleh has more herbs than bulgur. My family likes a higher grain-to-herb ratio, but feel free to add more herbs and less quinoa if you’d like.
- Add more protein. Fold in a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas for even more plant protein in your tabbouleh.
- Make it a meal. Serve the tabbouleh in a bowl with sliced grilled chicken on top.
Serving Suggestions
This salad works well with Middle Eastern foods, but that’s not all! Here are some perfect pairings.
Storage
Refrigerate leftover quinoa tabbouleh in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The flavors continue to develop in the fridge, making it even better the next day. If it dries out a bit, just add a squeeze of lemon juice and olive oil and it comes back to life instantly!
More Fresh Salad Recipes
Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
- Category: Gluten Free, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
With fresh herbs, crisp veggies and a bright lemon vinaigrette, this quinoa tabbouleh salad is perfect as a summery side dish or light meal.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of quinoa
- 3 cups of water
- 1 cup of diced cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup of diced english cucumber
- 1 cup of diced orange bell pepper
- 1 cup of diced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup of fresh flat leaf parley, finely diced
- 1/4 cup of fresh mint, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4–5 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add quinoa and water to a medium saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes until water is gone.
- Let sit for 5 minutes, use a fork to fluff.
- Add quinoa to a large bowl along with tomato, cucumber, red pepper, orange pepper, parsley, mint, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Toss to mix everything together.
- Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 136
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 37 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 19 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 g
27 comments on “Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad”
Looks tasty and beautiful. I can see lots of flexible ways to use up veggies in the frig with this recipe as a baseline.
Yes! The perfect dish to use up those extra veggies!
Excellent dish!!!!! Whole family loved it. Paired it with the spice rub chicken!
What do I do with the garlic? add into the dressing?
Hey Kimberly, whoops. Looks like I forgot to add that into the directions. Sorry about that. No you actually add everything into the bowl of quinoa and it all gets tossed together. 🙂
I just made this dish, and had to leave a comment. It was AMAZING!. Very, very good!!. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes, especially the Vegan Mexican dishes!!.
Ohhh hurray! So glad to hear it Lori! It’s one of my favorites in the summer, so light and refreshing!
Wow Krista! I love how fresh this salad is and use of quinoa instead of tabbouleh. And chocolate would be Superman’s weakness too!
haha.. right! Chocolate totally would be superman’s weakness! So glad you liked this recipe girl!
We live right by a little greek place that serves up the best tabbouleh salad. I am obsessed with it. Never did I think about using Quinoa instead of Bulgur Wheat! You are a genius Krista! Pinning! Can’t wait to make this at home!
lucky girl! I wish i lived next to a greek place!!! 🙂 Thanks for the pin girl, hope you girl it a try!
This looks like the perfect summer salad, Krista – can’t wait to give it a try!
Thanks Melanie!
This looks like total perfection! Can’t wait to give this a try!
Thanks Becky, you’ll love it!
I love that meme, too, and it is all too true for me. I love this salad too! Gorgeous!
Thanks Andi! 🙂
Bah haha love that quote! That should be my new go to phrase! If I’m going to eat a salad this looks like the perfect one to enjoy!
haha… so glad you liked it! I literally laughed out loud when I saw it! This is definitely the perfect salad to eat for the summer! Light and refreshing!
Hahaha, that meme made me laugh out loud – story of my life for sure! And this salad looks just fantastic!
hurray! glad i could give you a good laugh and a good recipe! woot woot!
this salad could definitely make me drop the chocolate 🙂 and it is perfect for our super hot Cali days when the thought of cooking makes me sick
haha… yeah for chocolate dropping foods! 🙂
Krista, chocolate is my biggest weakness, too! I eat quite well but always have room for chocolate. Thankfully, I LOVE salads and this quinoa tabbouleh salad is perfect for me!
haha.. I figure eating this salad definitely makes me feel less guilty about chocolate. 🙂
I love, love, LOVE Tabbouleh! It was first introduced to me by my Lebonese college roommate. So fresh and delicious! And I too have the same weakness with chocolate. I pretty much eat some form of chocolate everyday!
So soo good right! And if you first intro was by a Lebanese roommate then you were in good hands!