Couscous Tabbouleh

You're going to love this French-style couscous tabbouleh salad! One of my all time favorite growing up, it's super easy to make, filled with fresh veggies and herbs, flavorful and satisfying. Fluffy couscous, crunchy cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, juicy tomatoes, fresh parsley and fragrant mint, all tossed in lemon juice and olive oil... So simple yet so delicious!

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Why You'll love this recipe

• Trust me when I tell you this, you're going to love this recipe! A French-style couscous tabbouleh, actually called taboulé, isn't at all the same at the Lebanese one which is made mostly with parsley. This couscous salad is filled with fresh veggies, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, mint, parsley lemon and olive oil.
• It's so incredibly delicious. I know you probably couldn't care less about my childhood haha, but I actually did grow up in France eating this salad often and this recipe brings me right back like my celery root remoulade, bistro salad, soupe au pistou and hachis-parmentier!
• This salad is easy to put together, less than 10 ingredients. It's great for a barbecue, feed a large crowd and meal-prep. Couscous being semolina which is wheat, kind of a tiny pasta is very filling, it'll keep you satisfied for hours.

Key Ingredients and variations

• Couscous: made out of durum wheat flour, also called semolina, couscous is kinda like a tiny pasta. Even though it looks like a grain it isn't. We're using fine couscous for this recipe, not pearl couscous.
• Extra virgin olive oil: use a good quality olive oil for this recipe if possible.
• Fresh lemon juice: I highly recommend using fresh lemon, not bottled. The dressing of this salad is literally just olive oil and lemon juice so we need it to taste good and super fresh. I used two juicy lemon, you'll want to adjust to taste.
• Cucumber: Persian or English cucumber preferred for this recipe, I half peeled mine, you can peel them completely or not at all depending on your preference. If you use regular thick cucumber, peel it at the skin is too tough. Chopped small.
• Tomatoes: you want to use juicy, flavorful tomatoes for this recipe. Any kind you like as long as they're tasty.
• Bell pepper: I use yellow for color, you can also use red or orange. I don't recommend green as it more bitter. Diced finely.
• Red onion: the best kind for this recipe or shallot as it's sweet and not overly strong or overwhelming raw. I'm someone who isn't a fan of raw onions except red an shallot. Diced finely.
• Fresh herbs: fresh parsley, you can use curly or flat leaf, whichever you can find, and fresh mint, which is fragrant and so delicious and a must in this recipe.
• Salt and pepper: seasoning of course. To taste.

How to make French Couscous Tabbouleh

• Couscous looks really small dry but keep in mind that like quinoa, rice or orzo, it'll expand and fluff a lot when cooked.

Tips

• While I give measurements for the veggies in this recipe, it really can be customize. You can add as much cucumber, tomatoes for example as you like. Same with with the lemon juice and olive oil. Use your taste buds to make this couscous tabbouleh truly yours.
• Fresh fresh fresh! Please use fresh lemon, fresh herbs, fresh veggies for the best tasting salad.
• Some don't cook the semolina (couscous) and simply use the juices of the veggies plus the olive oil and lemon by letting it sit for a few hours, ideally overnight. You can definitely do that for an ultra flavorful tabbouleh, but personally I don't have the patience, I love this salad so much I need to eat it right away, so cooking the couscous for barely 5 minutes is worth it.
• Don't overcook the couscous and fluff it right away. No more than 4-5 minutes, otherwise it can get a bit clumpy. But don't worry if it happens, once you add all the veggies, it'll help.
• Leftovers can be kept refrigerated covered for up to 3 days.

frequently asked questions