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This light and healthy flavor-packed quinoa and black bean tabbouleh salad is a perfect make-ahead vegetarian side dish recipe that’s loaded with vegetables and plant-based protein. Easy to make, delicious, flavorful, and with only 15 minutes of prep time!
This vegetarian quinoa salad is made with black beans for some added plant-based protein. Packed with flavor, filling, easy to make, and vegan-friendly.
Traditional Lebanese tabbouleh salad is made with only parsley, green onions, bulgur, and tomatoes. There are so many different ways to add a twist to a tabbouleh salad and adding beans to it is such a great way to add fiber and protein. This salad will pair so well with our Beef Kafta Recipe.
Have you seen or tried my other Tabbouleh salad recipe that I made with some fresh pomegranates? It is a family favorite at every gathering and birthday party!
Reasons to make this salad
- Simple and easy: Nothing complicated aboit making this simple quinoa and bean tabbouleh inspired salad.
- Nutrient dense: Loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and plant-based protein.
- So tasty: This salad is so flavorful and perfect to serve as a side dish to literally any meal.
Ingredients you will need
- uncooked Quinoa: you may use plain quinoa or multi-colored quinoa
- Water: to cook the quinoa
- Cucumber: you may use English or Persian cucumbers.
- 15 ounces of black beans rinsed and drained: if you prefer to cook your beans from scratch you can.
- Green Onions chopped: use fresh green onions/scallions
- Lemon Juice: please use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Olive Oil: Extra Virgin Olive Oil MUST be used. No exceptions
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes chopped, 1 pint: other tomatoes can be used like vine-riped tomatoes but we highly recommend using cherry sweet or grape tomatoes.
- Salt and ground black Pepper
- A bunch of fresh parsley finely chopped
How to make this recipe
- Cook the quinoa: Thoroughly rinse the quinoa under cold running water. In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat, add quinoa, water, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and bring to a boil; Once the quinoa starts to bubble reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
- Prep the other ingredients: Meanwhile, chop the veggies and set aside in a large bowl together with the rinsed beans.
- Allow quinoa to cool: Once the quinoa has finished cooking, remove from the heat, and fluff with a fork. Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to cool
- Add all ingredients to the bowl: Add quinoa to the bowl with the veggies.
- Make the dressing: Next whisk lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to a mixing bowl.
- Mix Salad and serve: Pour the dressing and give a good stir until all the ingredients are well combined. Refrigerate for an hour before servings, to allow all the flavors to meld.
Recipe Tips and variations
- Cucumber is optional. If you don’t have any you may skip. But it gives this salad a nice crunch.
- Lime instead of lemon: Do not use lemon juice from a bottle that store bought. Fresh always tastes best.
- Avocado Oil in place of Olive oil. We do recommend Olive oil if you have it because it adds such a great flavor to the salad.
- Use any other beans you have on hand if you do not have black beans.
- You may skip the quinoa but it adds protein and fiber to this dish.
- Tomatoes: use cherry or grape tomatoes because they are crunchy and sweet. If you want to substitute this with another type of tomato, then go with Vine-ripe tomatoes.
- Place leftovers in a container and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days. Serve cold when ready to eat. We do not recommend freezing.
frequently asked questions
Always use fresh parsley when making tabbouleh for optimal flavor. We have tried both flat and curly parsley to make tabbouleh and found that curly parsley will hold a better shape when cut really small to make tabbouleh. I personally love using a little bit of both because flat parsley has an intense flavor when compared to Curley parsley so a bit of both will ensure you keep a nice shape and flavor to your tabbouleh salad.
Being Lebanese myself, we eat tabbouleh with everything. Mostly served as a side dish, we have it with grilled veggies just like you would a normal salad. You may also serve it over lettuce like a lettuce wrap. It is a very popular way of serving tabbouleh in the Middle East. Enjoy tabbouleh as is with some pita bread or other sides like hummus!
This quinoa Tabbouleh is best served at room temperature or cold. Never heat tabouleh the same way you would never heat up your salad. Personally, we love tabbouleh more on the cold side. We prepare it an hour ahead, cover it, and place it in the fridge so the juices soak it. Then we give it one last toss and serve! So good!
more delicious salads
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Greek Quinoa Salad Bowls
- Keto Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps
- Chickpea Tuna Salad
- Healthy Potato Salad
- Avocado Chicken Salad
What to serve with this salad
- Grilled Chicken Kafta
- Greek Chicken Kabob
- Pepper Steak Kabob
- Maple Glazed Chicken Breast
- Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken
- Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon
- Mediterranean Baked Salmon
- Healthy Shrimp Scampi
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Black Bean Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups Water
- 1 small English Cucumber, small chopped
- 1 can 15 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3-4 Green Onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 2 Cups Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, chopped, 1 pint
- 1 tsp. Salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp. Pepper
- A bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- Thoroughly rinse the quinoa under cold running water.
- In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat, add quinoa, water, and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Cover and bring to a boil; Once the quinoa starts to bubble reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, chop the veggies and set aside in a large bowl together with the rinsed beans.
- Once the quinoa has finished cooking, remove from the heat, and fluff with a fork.
- Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to cool, add it to the bowl with the veggies.
- Next whisk lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to a mixing bowl. Pour the dressing and give a good stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
- Refrigerate for an hour before servings, to allow all the flavors to meld.
Notes
- Cucumber is optional. If you don’t have any you may skip.
- Lime can be used in place of lemon
- Avocado Oil in place of Olive oil
- Minced cauliflower in place of quinoa for a low-carb option.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great! FYI, missing the tomatoes in the recipe.
Thanks Jimmy. We just added it. Thanks for letting us know.
Nice
Thank you!