Cauliflower Tabbouleh Salad
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Published May 28, 2021, Updated Nov 14, 2022
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This fresh and flavorful cauliflower tabbouleh salad uses riced cauliflower instead of bulgur wheat. Using cauliflower rice makes it low-carb and gluten-free!
I absolutely love tabbouleh salad and have made a ton of different variations over the years including traditional tabbouleh with bulgur wheat, quinoa tabbouleh and even a hemp tabbouleh.
That said, I think this cauliflower tabbouleh is my absolute favorite. It’s light, flavorful and packed with fresh veggies – perfect for serving during the spring and summer months.
What is Tabbouleh Salad?
Tabbouleh is a Mediterranean salad that is traditionally made with bulgur wheat, fresh herbs, tomatoes and onion. I switched it up and used cauliflower rice instead of bulgur wheat to keep this dish gluten-free and low-carb and the end result is so, so good!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
This recipe uses cauliflower rice to replace the bulgur! Here’s everything you need:
- fresh vegetables – cauliflower, green onions, cherry or grape tomatoes, cucumber and garlic.
- fresh herbs – flat-leaf parsley and mint.
- kalamata olives – I love the salty flavor olives add to this dish, but you can omit if you’re not a fan of olives!
- dressing – lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, freshly grated turmeric, sea salt and black pepper.
Cauliflower Tabbouleh Notes and Substitutions
- Mix-ins – Feel free to switch up your mix-ins for this cauliflower tabbouleh… I often do! Sometimes I change up the veggies based on what I have on hand and add extra herbs like fresh dill (so good). Feel free to get creative and make this your own!
- Red onion – If you’re not a fan of red onion feel free to use yellow onion instead.
- Feta – Adding feta to this cauliflower tabbouleh would be a great addition if you don’t need it to be dairy free. You could also do vegan feta!
- Avocado – Want to add a little creaminess and healthy fats to your tabbouleh? Add in some chopped avocado!
How Do You Eat Cauliflower Tabbouleh?
This cauliflower tabbouleh is actually a super versatile dish! Traditionally, it is served with hummus, pita and falafel. I also love adding chickpeas or black beans and eating on it’s own for a light meal. I’ve also served it as more of a finger food with pita chips at a get-together and it was a hit!
Tips for Making and Storing Cauliflower Tabbouleh
First things first, don’t cook the cauliflower! We want fresh, raw cauliflower. I like to chop everything in a food processor to make sure all of the ingredients are finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, make sure you’re chopping everything the same size. You can also buy fresh, packed cauliflower rice at the store to keep the prep super easy!
While this salad is best served immediately after making, you can store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. I would not freeze this salad as it contains all fresh ingredients and the consistency will change when you freeze and thaw.
More Mediterranean Salads:
- Mediterranean Farro Salad
- Mediterranean Salmon Salad
- Israeli Salad
- Mediterranean Orzo Salad
- Mediterranean Lentil Salad
More Recipes with Cauliflower Rice:
- Cauliflower Rice Mujadara
- Cauliflower Grits with Blackened Shrimp
- Vegetarian Cauliflower Fried “Rice”
- Tuna Curry Bowl with Cauliflower Rice
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Cauliflower Gratin
Be sure to check out all of the cauliflower recipes here at EBF!
Cauliflower Tabbouleh Salad
Ingredients
- 1 medium-large head of cauliflower
- 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
- ½ cup packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered or halved (depending on size)
- 1 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 3 small cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated turmeric, or 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2-1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare cauliflower: Cut the cauliflower to remove the stem and then chop into pieces small enough to fit into your food processor.
- Process cauliflower: Place the cauliflower in food processor and pulse until the cauliflower pieces turn into cauliflower rice. You may have to do this in batches, depending on how large your processor is. Remove cauliflower rice from the processor and place in a large bowl.
- Add herbs: Add parsley, mint, green onion and garlic into food processor to chop more finely, if desired.
- Combine ingredients: Add parsley, mint, green onion and garlic into the bowl with the cauliflower rice. Add the remaining ingredients and toss to mix. Taste and add more salt or pepper if necessary.
- Serve: Serve chilled or at room temperature. Store covered in the fridge for up to one week.
Video
Notes
- Mix-ins – Feel free to switch up your mix-ins for this tabbouleh… I often do! Sometimes I change up the veggies based on what I have on hand and add extra herbs like fresh dill (so good!). Feel free to get creative and make this your own!
- Red onion – If you’re not a fan of red onion feel free to use yellow onion instead.
- Feta – Adding feta to this tabbouleh would be a great addition if you don’t need it to be dairy free.
- Avocado – Want to add a little creaminess and healthy fats to your tabbouleh? Add in some chopped avocado!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gorgeous!!!! I got my Dad hooked on cauliflower tabbouleh when he started watching his weight and now every time I’m over there he asks me to make it. He claims the food processor overwhelms him when I challenge him to make it himself lol.
Also I hear ya on the food photography. Literally blows my mind at how much my photography has progressed. I look at pictures from a year ago and I can’t even fathom how I took them but hey, it’s all a part of the journey!
What a great idea! I never even thought of using cauliflower in tabbouleh. I definitely have to try this 🙂
I’ve never even had tabbouleh, I think I might be missing out!
Cauliflower is such a good substitute!
Isn’t it? I’m loving it lately.
Wow, what will cauliflower do next?! So impressed by all the cool ways to use this amazing vegetable.
This tabbouleh looks amazing. Nice upgrade. Can’t wait to try it 🙂
I know, right? I love cauliflower.
Wow what a creative recipe. I love raw cauliflower – I will definitely be giving this a try
Thanks Nikki. Let me know what you think if you do end up trying it.
I’m slowly starting to like cauliflower. Disguising it is definitely the way to go. And, I love finding other substitutes like this that I’d never come up with on my own!
Hope you had a great easter!
I have tried putting cauliflower in my Vitamix raw to make pizza crust and it has a terrible taste. Do you need to steam it first?
I don’t steam it first. If you’re not a fan of raw cauliflower, you might not like this recipe. Did the pizza turn out?
It was very thin and fell apart. I’m not sure what I did wrong:(
hmm.. were you using my recipe or a different recipe?
I used the recipe on your site. I’d like to try again and see what happens.
Oh boo! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out. Maybe it would work better if you used a food processor instead of your Vitamix? I feel like sometimes the Vitamix pulverizing things too much. I’ve also seen where people suggest wrapping the cauliflower in a cloth to squeeze out as much water as possible before constructing the crust. That might help too.
Wow I HAVE to try this, I’m obsessed with cous cous and quinoa at the moment so will have to add this one into my obsession, looks delish! xx
I just made cauliflower rice and I just love the way it works for everything!
I’d tell you how amazing this is but my mouth’s full. 🙂
So glad you like it!! 🙂
this was really good! will make it again
I can’t wait to try this! Would pre-made riced cauliflower work the same? Yes..seeing if I could save time and cut out the middle man…ha ha.
Totally. Riced cauliflower from the store saves a ton of time. One thing to note, be sure to get fresh and not frozen. 🙂
Made this for a barbie and it went down a treat, many thinking it was cos cos. I dont like olives so added cranberrys instead
Hey Christine, I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! I’m sure it was delicious with the added cranberries. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and star rating. It means the world to me!
I love cauliflower and all the ways it can be used instead of grains.
This was one recipe I was dying to try it is absolutely delicious. Did not add cucumbers ad I had none.
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Helga. So pumped you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. 🙂
Made this tonight for my work lunches. I love it. I added feta but will add tomatoes at lunchtime. I like this better than regular tabbouleh.
Yay! I’m so glad this recipe was a hit, Amy! Thanks for the review 🙂
Stunning Recipe…Despite we use Cauliflower at least Twice per week ,we did not thought to make Raw Tabbouleh salad which seems very Genuine Idea,,Reading your Recipe I thought ,,can we use sometimes Broccoli instead of Cauliflower???We like to Cauliflower,either Saute’ or Mashed Cauliflower with Lemon Juice,,Tahini,,Garlic and garnished with Parsley and Tomatoes and olive oil..
Sure, I think broccoli could work well also, it might not hold up as well as cauliflower does, but if you give this recipe a try, let me know how it turns out.