Sitti's Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh
Fresh parsley salad with bulgur wheat, tomatoes, and lemon. A light, vibrant dish from Lebanon to Sydney's Auburn.
The Story Behind This Recipe
My grandmother's recipe from Bekaa Valley - Layla Haddad
In Auburn, Sydney's Little Lebanon, my Sitti (grandmother) has been making this tabbouleh every Friday for 45 years. She arrived from the Bekaa Valley in 1979, and this salad was one of the first things she made in her new Australian kitchen. "It tastes like home," she told my mother, tears mixing with lemon juice as she chopped mountains of parsley.
What Australians often call tabbouleh - bulgur wheat with a bit of parsley - makes Sitti shake her head. "That's bulgur salad," she'll correct firmly. "Real tabbouleh is parsley salad with bulgur." The ratio is crucial: for every handful of bulgur, you need five handfuls of parsley. This isn't a grain salad with herbs; it's an herb salad with grain.
Growing up, I spent every summer Friday afternoon sitting on Sitti's kitchen floor, picking parsley leaves from their stems. My sisters and I would race - who could fill their bowl fastest - while Sitti worked beside us, her hands moving so fast they blurred. She'd picked parsley like this since she was a girl in Lebanon, sitting with her own mother and sisters under the grape vines, gossiping and laughing while green leaves piled up in bowls.
The secret to perfect tabbouleh, she taught me, is threefold: parsley must be absolutely dry (wet parsley makes soggy tabbouleh), everything must be chopped fine but not mushy (a sharp knife is essential), and it must be dressed at the last minute (lemon and oil wilt the parsley if left too long). "Tabbouleh waits for no one," Sitti says. "Make it, eat it, enjoy it."
This salad represents Lebanese hospitality - always made in large quantities because you never know who might drop by, always served with warm pita bread, and always, always made with love and about three bunches of parsley. When the Lebanese community gathers in Auburn for celebrations, Sitti's tabbouleh appears in an enormous bowl, and everyone knows it's the real deal.
"Every recipe tells a story, and every story brings us closer to the heart of home."
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Scaled Ingredients:
💡 Tip: Cooking times may need adjustment when scaling. Larger batches may take longer, smaller batches may cook faster.
Ingredients
Pro Tips
- • The ratio is crucial: parsley should absolutely dominate. If you see more bulgur than parsley, you need more parsley.
- • Everything must be chopped by hand - food processors make it mushy and watery.
- • Parsley must be completely dry or the salad will be soggy.
- • Dress just before serving - tabbouleh doesn't keep well once dressed.
- • Use flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, never curly parsley - it's too tough.
- • Fresh lemon juice is non-negotiable - bottled lemon juice tastes wrong.
- • For best flavor, use the greenest, freshest parsley you can find.
Storage
Best eaten immediately. Undressed, chopped ingredients can be stored separately in the fridge for a few hours. Once dressed, eat within 1 hour or parsley wilts. Don't refrigerate dressed tabbouleh - the cold kills the flavor.
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the bulgur wheat in a fine-mesh sieve under cold water. Place in a small bowl and just cover with cold water. Let it soak for 10 minutes until softened but still slightly chewy. Drain thoroughly, squeezing out excess water with your hands. Spread on a clean tea towel to dry completely.
10 minutes - 2
Meanwhile, prepare the parsley - this is the most important step. Remove all the leaves from the stems (the stems make tabbouleh bitter). Wash the leaves well in cold water, then spin in a salad spinner or pat completely dry with tea towels. Sitti's rule: parsley must be bone dry or the salad will be watery.
10 minutes - 3
Finely chop the parsley - you're aiming for pieces about 3-4mm. Use a sharp knife and rock it back and forth. Don't use a food processor - it bruises the parsley and makes it watery and dark. This chopping takes time but it's meditative. You should end up with about 4 cups of chopped parsley.
15 minutes - 4
Finely chop the mint leaves the same way - small, even pieces. You need about 1/2 cup. The mint adds a fresh, bright note that cuts through the richness of the olive oil.
3 minutes - 5
Dice the tomatoes finely and evenly - about 5mm cubes. If they're very juicy, you can scoop out some of the seeds (but Sitti never does). The tomatoes should be firm enough that they don't turn the salad watery.
5 minutes - 6
Finely chop the spring onions - both white and green parts. You want them small enough that you get a bit in every bite but not so fine they disappear.
3 minutes - 7
In a large bowl, combine the drained and dried bulgur, chopped parsley, mint, tomatoes, and spring onions. Use your hands to toss gently - hands are better than spoons for tabbouleh, Sitti insists. Everything should be evenly distributed.
- 8
In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, and allspice if using. Taste and adjust - it should be quite lemony and well-seasoned as this is all the dressing for a lot of parsley.
- 9
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently but thoroughly with your hands. The salad should glisten with oil but not be swimming in dressing. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld, but no longer or the parsley will wilt.
10 minutes - 10
Taste and adjust seasoning - add more lemon juice, salt, or olive oil as needed. Tabbouleh should be bright, lemony, herbaceous, and well-seasoned. The bulgur should provide texture but not dominate.
- 11
Serve immediately in a shallow bowl or platter. Traditionally, tabbouleh is served with whole cos lettuce leaves on the side - use the leaves as scoops to eat the tabbouleh. Warm pita bread is also traditional. Sitti serves it as part of a mezze spread with hummus, baba ganoush, and olives.
Ingredient Substitutions
Nutrition Information
Per serving (approximate)
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