This easy quinoa tabbouleh salad recipe uses quinoa in place of bulger, making this recipe gluten-free! Quinoa is also a great source of plant-based protein. Make this recipe for a quick and easy side dish!
While tabbouleh is traditionally made with bulgar, most people probably don’t have bulgur in their pantry and if you’re gluten-free then you’re out of luck. So this version of tabbouleh uses quinoa (come on, you have to have quinoa in your pantry at all times) and it’s gluten free so even more of you can enjoy it!
This quinoa tabbouleh recipe is super easy to put together and you can turn this into a whole meal if you just add a little feta or maybe some falafel? Heck, you could just eat it with a spoon and call it a day. Quinoa is a complete source of protein, after all.
Tips for perfect quinoa tabbouleh
- Make sure you rinse your quinoa before cooking. Quinoa can have a bitter flavor, and rinsing gets rid of some of the bitterness.
- I love making quinoa in my rice cooker because it gives me fluffy quinoa every time!
- Make sure you use fresh parsley! That’s essential for this recipe, so dried parsley won’t work in this case.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 3/4 cup fresh parsley
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Bring the quinoa and water to a boil and simmer until the water is absorbed about 10-15 minutes.
- While the quinoa cooks, slice your cucumbers into thin slices and then quarter them.
- Slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
- Roughly chop the parsley and mince the garlic.
- Once the quinoa is cooked, remove from heat and let it sit for a bit until it’s mostly cooled.
- Toss the quinoa with your chopped veggies, garlic and parsley, then drizzle with olive oil.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it!
This quinoa tabbouleh is a perfect dish to make ahead of time and pack for lunch because I think it tastes even better the next day. The flavors have a chance to really meld together and it’s not the kind of salad that gets soggy. You could also add in some extra cucumbers and tomatoes if you want to bulk it up a little more.
Want to make this recipe even easier? Make your quinoa in a rice cooker ahead of time!
Debbie
This looks great! I’ve been looking for healthy options to bring to work!
Danielle @ tiny-trots
Cava Mezze Grill is my favorite “fast-food eatery”! Can you call it that? All I think about is McDonalds when I say “fast-food.” Anyways, I don’t think you can go wrong with tabbouleh. Have you ever tried it with bulgar wheat? Ina Garten makes a great one.
Liz
I’ve done it with bulgar before and I really do love the chewiness of it!
AwesomelyOZ
Mmmm this sounds delicious! I definitely must try to recreate this. Nom nom nom. I don’t cook with quinoa enough but that’s primarily due to laziness. Lol. Have a great weekend Liz! -Iva
Liz
Haha I wish they made pre-cooked quinoa in bags like they do with rice! I’ve only managed to find rice/quinoa blends!
Brittany
This looks fantastic, and that eatery sounds LEGIT! I want to go to one!
Rach @ This Italian Family
I am all about recreating restaurant favorites! 🙂
Laura @MotherWouldKnow
I love tabouleh and never thought of substituting quinoa for the bulgur. Genius! And so simple. Why does it take a blogpost for me to figure this out? Well, the good news is that I caught up with this post.
emma @ be mom strong
I’ll help you convince! Looks delish!