Classic Lebanese tabbouleh
A parsley salad, not a bulgur salad — the grain plays a supporting role. Vibrant, herbal, cleansing. The right ratio is what makes it correct.
Ingredients for 4
Method
- I
Rinse the bulgur in cold water, drain. Cover with 4 tbsp of the lemon juice — it will hydrate as you prep everything else (~20 minutes, no cooking).
- II
Wash the parsley very well, pat completely dry. Water on the leaves dilutes the dressing.
- III
Pile the parsley leaves in a tight bunch and chop finely with a sharp knife — do not use a food processor, it bruises the leaves and turns them dark.
- IV
Chop the mint the same way.
- V
Combine the parsley, mint, diced tomato, and spring onion in a large bowl.
- VI
Add the hydrated bulgur (any remaining juice too), olive oil, salt, and allspice. Toss gently with your hands.
- VII
Taste, adjust with more lemon or salt.
- VIII
Serve immediately with lettuce leaves or warm flatbread for scooping.
Botanical context
This recipe is indexed as a culinary use note, not a supplement protocol. When a featured plant is also used in herbal traditions, PlantSage keeps the food preparation separate from medicinal dosage advice so readers can enjoy the recipe without confusing a kitchen quantity with a therapeutic serving.
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is the main botanical reference for this page. Check the linked plant profile for identification notes, cautions, and cultivation context before foraging or substituting fresh material. Use properly identified edible material, avoid contaminated harvest sites, and treat unfamiliar plants as ingredients that require the same care as any other food. If you substitute dried herbs for fresh, wild plants for cultivated ones, or concentrated extracts for whole ingredients, start conservatively because flavour, bitterness, and tolerance can change quickly.
Notes & variations
Curly parsley works but flat-leaf is far superior — brighter, easier to chop. Never make tabbouleh more than 1 hour ahead; the salt draws water from the tomato and it turns soupy.
Featured from the herbarium
1 plant
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