Gluten Free Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

This gluten free tabbouleh salad recipe is light, fresh, and makes the perfect side dish for any family get together. It’s made with quinoa instead of bulgar and takes only 20 minutes to prepare!

I’m one of those weird people who actually loves salads but hate ones that leave my stomach growling within 30 minutes of eating it. Anyone else??

This quinoa tabbouleh salad is light and fresh, but packed with protein from the chickpeas and healthy fats from the olive oil to keep you full for hours. It’s perfect as is or paired with my lemon pepper salmon or sweet potato falafel.

Traditional tabbouleh has bulgur, but I wanted to keep it gluten free, so we’re using quinoa. Quinoa is a gluten free grain that is perfect in salads, buddha bowls and more. It’s light and fluffy and adds a decent amount of protein!

There are also no chickpeas in traditional tabbouleh, but hey, we need this salad to be filling! You can top it off with feta, serve it with hummus and pita or enjoy as is! Try my basil pesto vinaigrette or gluten free orzo salad next!

How to make gluten free tabbouleh salad

To make this salad, the first thing you want to do is cook the quinoa. If you have quinoa that you’ve already cooked, you will need about 2 1/2 – 3 cups.

Remove the stems of the parsley and chop into very small pieces. I personally like to add the de-stemmed parsley to my food processor and pulse it a few times so it’s very finely chopped, but you can also just use a knife if you prefer.

Add to a large mixing bowl with the drained and rinsed chickpeas, bell pepper, cucumber and onion. Let the quinoa cool, and prepare the dressing in the meantime. 

Mix the olive oil, minced garlic, honey or maple syrup, salt, lemon juice, dijon mustard, and black pepper together in a small bowl or salad dressing shaker. 

Add the cooled quinoa and dressing to the salad and mix until well incorporated. Top with additional salt and pepper if desired and enjoy! I also love it with the salmon from my Greek salmon bowls!

Key Ingredients

Tabbouleh only requires a few simple ingredients. Bulgur and parsley are usually the main ingredients, but for this gluten free version of traditional tabbouleh we’ll be using:

• Fresh Parsley: Parsley is the base of tabbouleh salads and adds a really fresh delicious flavor. You can use either flat leaf or curly parsley.

• Quinoa: Instead of bulgur, this tabbouleh salad uses quinoa to keep it gluten free. You can also use millet if you prefer. Rice is definitely not traditional, but would work in a pinch!

• Chickpeas: I always use regular old chickpeas from a can! If you’re using chickpeas cooked from dried, you’ll need 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas. Traditional tabbouleh does not have chickpeas, but it adds a lot of protein and fiber so this salad is actually filling.

• Onion: Finely chopped onion adds a nice crunch and lots of flavor. You can use red, white, or yellow onion. I like using red for a little pop of color!

• Red Bell Pepper or Tomatoes: Most tabbouleh salads use tomatoes, but the crunch from bell peppers can also be delicious instead!

• Chopped Cucumber: Cucumber isn’t my favorite vegetable, but finely chopped cucumber keeps the flavor super fresh and pairs well with the other textures.

• Lemon olive oil vinaigrette: Made with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, dijon mustard, honey, garlic and salt and pepper. Simple but flavorful! If you want to keep this vegan, just swap the honey for maple syrup.

Does tabbouleh have gluten?

Traditional tabbouleh (sometimes spelled like tabouli) does contain gluten because of the bulgur, but this recipe is entirely gluten free with the quinoa.

Bulgur has more of a bite than quinoa, which is why I like to use some other ingredients to add more crunch to the salad to make up for the softness of the quinoa.

How to store and serve

Once prepared, this gluten free tabbouleh salad will keep in the fridge for about 5 days. Store it in an air tight container for best results.

You can serve tabbouleh with falafel, hummus, pita, or enjoy as is! For extra protein, I love serving it alongside my lemon pepper salmon or a simple grilled chicken breast. Also delicious with my salmon patties.

Looking for more salads? Try these!

• Chickpea ‘Tuna’ Salad
• Kale Apple Salad
• Mexican Three Bean Salad
• Peach Salad
• Best Chopped Salad

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