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Home Bean and Lentil Recipes

White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

By:Nagi
Published:30 Sep '20Updated:13 Nov '20
66 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

White Bean Tabbouleh Salad is all the herby freshness of Tabbouleh, with the bulgur switched for white beans to make a more substantial salad. It’s a fresh, lemony, herby bean salad that’s totally delicious and good for you.

An excellent starch + veg side dish, or light meal for warm days. Plus it’s alot more interesting than the run-of-the-mill bean salads around!

Close up of White Bean Tabbouleh Salad ready to be served

White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

I don’t know if you have people in your life like me who don’t exactly jump up and down at the mention of a bean salad.

But throw the word “Tabbouleh” in there, and suddenly, it sounds a whole lot more interesting. Visions of lots of fresh parsley, hint of mint, dotted with tomato and cucumber, and that distinct lemony freshness.

Don’t worry. I didn’t just throw the word “Tabbouleh” into the name. I actually threw all the flavours of Tabbouleh in there too!!

White Bean Tabbouleh Salad in a big silver bowl

Ingredients in white bean salad

The ingredients in this bean salad are literally everything that you find in Tabbouleh, except I’ve switched the bulgur for white beans:

Ingredients in White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

  • Parsley – the key ingredient in this dish, the reason why tabbouleh is the first thing most people think of when the parsley is growing wild in the garden!

  • Mint – an essential part of a truly great fresh Tabbouleh! It’s a subtle background flavour, some people can’t actually pick that it’s in the salad. But without it, you’re missing a hint of freshness;

  • Tomatoes and cucumber – though in real Tabbouleh, these are a secondary ingredient, here in this bean salad version, I scale the quantities up to increase the fresh / juicy factor;

  • Beans – I’ve used cannellini beans here, simply because it’s the canned beans I always, always have in the pantry. But any beans will work a treat here – white or any other colour, fresh or cooked dried! (Notes in the recipe for cooking dried beans)

Remember that beans are good for you??

One of the most underrated foods in the world! Said to be the world’s best source of plant based protein, beans provide dietary fibre, Vitamin B, and other important vitamins and minerals. Research shows that they can help to reduce blood sugar and improve cholesterol levels. Plus, it’s a low glycemic food (“GI”) which means it will keep you full for longer.

We should all eat more beans!!


Lemon Dressing for White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

And here’s what goes in my go-to Lemon Dressing which has made an appearance in many main course and side salad recipes I’ve shared over the years, including the recent Brown Rice Salad:

Ingredients in Lemon Dressing

Ordinarily, Tabbouleh is soaked in lemon juice then a touch of olive oil is later added to take the sharp edge off the lemon.

But for this recipe, I’m making a proper Lemon Dressing for this recipe because I want the dressing to be thicker so it clings to the white beans. In order to achieve this, the Dressing needs to be properly thickened by shaking it vigorously in a jar, plus I also add a touch of Dijon Mustard which thickens it even more.

Pouring lemon dressing over White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

How to make White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

Shake up the Dressing in a jar, lots of chopping and toss, toss, toss!

How to make White Bean Tabbouleh Salad

White Bean Tabbouleh Salad in a big bowl, ready to be served

White Bean Tabbouleh Salad in a bowl, served as a light meal

What to serve with Tabbouleh White Bean Salad

This would be a great side dish OR stuffed into wraps for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes that traditionally include or are perfectly paired with Tabbouleh, such as Greek Chicken Gyros. Here are some more suggestions:

Close up of Greek Chicken Gryos
Greek Chicken Gyros recipe
Lamb Koftas on a platter, ready to stuff into pita bread with minted salad and yogurt sauce
Lamb Koftas with Yoghurt Dressing
The flavour of this Chicken Shawarma marinade is absolutely incredible, yet made with just a handful of everyday spices. recipetineats.com
Chicken Shawarma (Middle Eastern)
Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab - the better version of the midnight post-pub kebab runs! recipetineats.com
Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab recipe
Carving Doner Kebab Meat
Doner Kebab Meat – beef or lamb
Turkish Lamb Kebab Kofta on pita with vegetables and yoghurt sauce
Turkish Lamb Kofta Kebabs
Close up of Falafels in a bowl drizzled with tahini sauce
Middle Eastern Recipes
A classic Greek Salad with plump olives and a beautiful homemade Greek Salad Dressing. www.recipetineats.com
Mediterranean Recipes

But there’s no need to stop there! While this Bean Salad will go with any protein, I think the freshness makes it ideal to pair with white meats (chicken, turkey, lean pork) or any seafood. Try it with a grilled marinated chicken breast or a piece of Grilled Salmon. Garlic Prawns or CRISPY Grilled Prawns or some Lemon Garlic Marinated Pork Chops.

For a quick meal, gently fold through some chunks of tuna (preferably in oil, not spring water), top with slices of the juiciest ever Poached Chicken Breast or hard boiled egg (quartered or sliced).

Also, it makes a great stuffing for a wrap – you’ll see me in the video smearing a piece of flatbread with hummus, piling on this Bean Salad then rolling it up. YUM! – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

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Tabbouleh White Bean Salad

Author: Nagi
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Side Dish, Side Salad
Mediterranean, Western
5 from 11 votes
Servings8 - 10
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. Think Tabbouleh -- but with the bulgur switched for white beans to make a more substantial salad that's an excellent starch + veg side dish, or light meal for warm days! It's fresh, lemony, herby, totally delicious and good for you.
To add protein, top with grilled chicken or fish, hot smoked trout or even a can of tuna / other fish.
Serves 8 - 10 as a side, 4 - 5 as a meal. Keeps for 3 days.

Ingredients

Salad:

  • 800g / 24 oz (2 cans) white beans (like cannellini, navy/haricot, butter beans) , drained (Note 1 & 3)
  • 4 tomatoes , cut into 1.25cm / 1/2" pieces
  • 3 cucumbers (or 1 1/2 long English/Telegraph cucumbers), cut into 1.25cm / 1/2" pieces
  • 1/2 red onion , finely chopped
  • 1 cup parsley , roughly chopped (1 large bunch)
  • 1/3 cup mint , roughly chopped

Lemon Dressing:

  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove , small, minced using garlic press
  • 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard (Note 2)
  • 1/2 tsp salt , kosher/cooking salt (1/4 tsp table salt)
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

  • Place Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine.
  • Place Salad ingredients in a big bowl. Drizzle over most of the Dressing, toss well.
  • Transfer to serving bowl. Serve!

Recipe Notes:

1. Beans - I've made this with white beans to make it look more like Tabbouleh, but any coloured beans will do just fine here, even chickpeas.
2. Dijon mustard - sub yellow mustard, or omit. Makes the dressing a wee bit thicker which is great for fine-grain type salads because it helps coat better.
3. Dried beans (navy, cannellini or other white beans) - you will need 1 1/4 cups of any dried white beans.
  • 1 can = 1 3/4 cups beans once drained
  • Recipe calls for 2 cans = 3 1/2 cups beans
  • 1 cup dried beans = 2 3/4 cups cooked
  • So you will need approx 1 1/4 cups dried beans (1.25 x 2.75 = ~3.5 cups cooked beans)
HOW TO COOK DRIED BEANS - soak in plenty of water (beans will triple in volume) 5 - 24 hrs. Drain  bring to boil then gently simmer in a large pot of water with 1 tbsp salt* partially covered with a lid. The cooking time will vary wildly depending not just on size/type of beans, but also the age of beans. Fresh dried cannellini beans, 24 hr soak can cook = 25 minutes. Old large lima beans could take over 2 hours.
So start checking at 25 minutes, and the closer they are to being ready, check every few minutes because small beans can go from just under to overcooked within 5 minutes. They are ready when they're tender all the way through, if they are overcooked they can fall apart / disintegrate on the edges (also this can happen to lower quality beans).
4. Storage - keeps for 3 days, though the tomato does lose perky juiciness the next day. I also like to either hold back some dressing to give it a fresh drizzle just before serving, or else a squeeze of fresh lemon and drizzle of olive oil will do the trick.
5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings as a side. Excellent veg+starch side dish for meals, especially for warm days.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 152cal (8%)Carbohydrates: 17g (6%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 7g (11%)Saturated Fat: 1g (6%)Sodium: 161mg (7%)Potassium: 540mg (15%)Fiber: 4g (17%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 1264IU (25%)Vitamin C: 23mg (28%)Calcium: 72mg (7%)Iron: 3mg (17%)
Keywords: bean salad, white bean salad
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Life of Dozer

Don’t think for a second that he’s taking a pause in his hectic schedule to stop and smell the roses. Nope. I just made a subtle gesture that indicated there might be something tasty in that vicinity, and he shoved his nose right in there to check.

He came up empty. 😂

Dozer-snuffling-flowers

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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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66 Comments

  1. Cheryl Guthrie says

    January 20, 2021 at 4:26 pm

    Deee-licious!! Thanks for yet another quick & easy recipe that packs a healthy punch. I left out he cucumber as I don’t like it, & used spring onion – as that’s all I had. Beautiful!!

    Reply
  2. Lynette says

    November 28, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    5 stars
    I made this for a family reunion.
    It was easy to make, looked very colourful and tasted delicious. Thank you for the recipe Nagi.

    Reply
  3. Marie says

    November 20, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi, perfectly beautiful salad. The whole family loved it. I will be adding it on Christmas Day to our menu; it has quite a festive appearance. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Michelle says

    November 16, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    5 stars
    My favourite salad, and now my go to recipe as its the perfect amount of each ingredient. The ingenious swap out of bulger for beans just made this a main meal for me. Honestly, I could eat it all day!

    Reply
  5. Deb says

    November 16, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    5 stars
    Seriously good salad. Excellent for any meal. Love salads for Summer breakfast
    Wish pomegranates were more readily available here in WA, though. Pats and hugs for Dozer 🙂

    Reply
  6. Milo says

    October 30, 2020 at 10:02 am

    Thank you very much for this recipe. I had plenty of parsely in my backyard garden and wanted to use it up before it get old. I made quinoa tabbouleh a lot and I am getting tired of it. I saw your white bean version and I am pleasantly surprised. It was so good. I am printing the recipe to keep in my favorite recipe book. Now, I have to research your other recipes.

    Reply
  7. Angela Grattan says

    October 22, 2020 at 2:05 pm

    5 stars
    This salad is sooo good Nagi. Easy to make and it was loved by all. My son had the leftovers for breakfast, good sign that he loved it.
    Will be making it a lot in the future warmer months.

    Reply
  8. Vera G says

    October 14, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    That’s mean / playing Tricks on Dozera, but he looks Fan, just beautiful. YUMI salad , thank YOU. Please be good.

    Reply
  9. John C Eaton says

    October 12, 2020 at 5:46 am

    Made this. SO GOOD. My husband wants that to be the only dressing we use from now on!

    Reply
  10. Suzy Charto says

    October 5, 2020 at 12:50 pm

    really great – I think the dressing is really good. thank you for the recipe

    Reply
  11. Cathy says

    October 3, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    5 stars
    WOW. Hi Nagi. Your salad really grabbed my attention. Made it tonight. Yummy. As I read through your post I also made your lamb Koftas with yogurt sauce and your no yeast flatbread. I make my own yogurt and with the exception of using yogurt whey in place of milk in the flatbreads…followed the recipes to a tee. Awesome. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  12. Irene says

    October 2, 2020 at 5:39 am

    Any suggestions of what to use in place of cucumbers? Allergies 🙁

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 2, 2020 at 10:20 am

      Hi Irene, you can just leave them out if you prefer or add some capsicum! N x

      Reply
      • Irene says

        October 2, 2020 at 10:23 am

        Thanks Nagi 😊
        Kids just made your brownies…😋

        Reply
  13. Shifa Mwesigye says

    October 1, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    It was very tasty.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 2, 2020 at 10:27 am

      Thanks Shifa!! N x

      Reply
  14. pamela denny says

    October 1, 2020 at 5:15 pm

    I made the chicken curry yesterday….absolutely delicious but rather hot. Will tone down the curry powder next time. Pam

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 1, 2020 at 6:15 pm

      I’m so glad you loved it Pam – different brands of curry powder have different heat levels too, can I ask which brand you used? N x

      Reply
  15. Shelly says

    October 1, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    Just finished making this recipe! Had everything I needed either in the fridge or garden 🙂 Will be a summer go to. So easy to make & couldn’t be any fresher.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 1, 2020 at 4:11 pm

      Perfect Shelly, that’s great to hear!! N x

      Reply
  16. Lisa M says

    October 1, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    5 stars
    I made this for lunch today. Delicious!!! Will be making this salad for work lunches.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 1, 2020 at 4:12 pm

      I’m so happy you enjoyed it Lisa – perfect for lunch with a side of rotisserie chook – it couldn’t be any easier! N x

      Reply
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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