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This Gluten Free Tabbouleh is a fresh, herby salad, made with parsley, mint, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and quinoa. This Levantine, quinoa tabbouleh is then drenched in a zesty olive oil, lemon and garlic dressing for the perfect summer side dish.
Is Tabbouleh Gluten Free?
I’ve never been able to try tabbouleh before because it’s usually made with bulgar wheat, making it unsafe for people with coeliac disease. But I’ve always wanted to!
However, this recipe uses quinoa – a naturally gluten free seed – for a similar, delicious nutty flavour, but completely gluten free and coeliac-safe!
It turns out making a gluten free tabbouleh is actually really easy, and it goes so well with meats, fish and grilled vegetables – the perfect BBQ side dish or lunchbox staple.
Now I’ve tried it I can’t believe I spent so many years missing on this herby, delicious salad – and now everyone on a gluten free diet can enjoy tabbouleh too!
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below for this gluten free tabbouleh recipe with the full quantities. But here are the main ingredients and ideas for any swaps.
- Quinoa: I buy the packs of cooked quinoa to save time, but you could cook your own too. Red or white quinoa all work fine, or a mix of both. If you do cook your own, let it cool down first as traditionally tabbouleh is served cold.
- Parsley: This forms the base of any tabbouleh – if you don’t like it I guess you could swap for something like coriander (cilantro) but this wouldn’t be authentic then!
- Mint: The shredded fresh mint adds a lovely coolness to the tabbouleh.
- Tomatoes: These need to be finely chopped, but it doesn’t matter if you use big or small tomatoes, they all work well.
- Spring Onions: Or scallions/salad onions, depending where you’re from. You could swap for red onion, this would be a bit punchier in flavour.
- Cucumber: I just use a standard, English cucumber.
- Olive Oil: Try use a good quality, extra virgin olive oil if you can.
- Lemon: I prefer to use fresh lemon, but lemon juice from the bottle works too.
- Garlic Paste: or you can use finely chopped or minced fresh garlic.
How to Make Gluten Free Tabbouleh
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free tabbouleh recipe is to make.
Storing and Making Ahead
This gluten free tabbouleh will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, which means it’s also a nice easy one to make ahead of time too. Just keep in a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy quinoa tabbouleh recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
No, bulgar wheat contains gluten and is therefore not gluten free or safe for people with coeliac disease. That’s why I’ve used quinoa as an alternative in this gluten free tabbouleh recipe.
You could swap the gluten free quinoa for a gluten free couscous (often found in the free from aisle and made with maize) or even use a gluten free orzo or rice. These wouldn’t make a traditional tabbouleh, but would still be delicious!
Gluten Free Tabbouleh Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g cooked quinoa, cold
- 30 g fresh parsley
- 20 g fresh mint
- 150 g tomatoes
- 2 spring onions
- 150 g cucumber
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Finely dice the tomatoes, cucumbers and spring onion. You want them to be in very small pieces, around 5mm if possible.
- Finely chop the mint and parsley leaves (a little of the stalk is fine with the parsley but try to avoid too much stalk).
- In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic paste, and a generous seasoning of salt and black pepper.
- Add the cooked quinoa, chopped vegetables and herbs into a large bowl and mix to combine.
- Pour over the marinade and mix well to serve. Will keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Use Up Leftovers…
Got leftovers from this recipe? Here are some ideas to use them up – waste not, want not!
- Leftover Quinoa? Try my Chickpea and Halloumi Salad or my Quinoa, Feta and Pomegranate Salad as extra side dishes for a gathering, BBQ or for meal prep.
- Leftover Cucumber? Make my Homemade Tzatziki with any leftovers, or throw it together with any leftover tomatoes to make my Greek Salad.
- Leftover Parsley? Make my Chimichurri Smashed Potatoes, or add it to my Greek Chicken Burgers for your BBQ main dish. They go great together!
More Easy Salad Recipes
If you like this gluten free tabbouleh then make sure you check out these other gluten free salad recipes too…
Have you tried this recipe?
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