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Bulgur Salad with Cucumbers, Red Peppers, Chickpeas, Lemon & Dill

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By Jenn Segal
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With fresh herbs, chopped vegetables and chickpeas, this Middle Eastern-style bulgur salad is like a bulked-up tabbouleh.

Bowl of bulgur salad with cucumbers, red peppers, chickpeas, lemon, and dill.

Made with nutty bulgur, fresh herbs, chopped vegetables, and buttery chickpeas, this Middle Eastern-style salad is like a bulked-up tabbouleh. I like to make it over the weekend and keep it in the fridge all week long for healthy lunches.

What you’ll need to make bulgur salad

bulgur salad ingredients

Bulgur is a chewy and nutty-tasting grain made from whole wheat kernels that have been parboiled, dried and cracked. In addition to being delicious, it’s super healthy — high in fiber and protein, rich in vitamins and minerals, and low in fat and calories. You can find it in most supermarkets near the pasta, rice, or hot cereal, and many stores also carry it in the bulk bins.

Step-by-Step Instructions

To begin, in a medium bowl, combine the bulgur bowl and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

bulgur and salt

Pour 1-1/4 cups boiling water over top and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

bowl covered with plastic wrap Let the bulgur steam for 30 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed.

Glass bowl of steamed bulgur.

While the bulgur soaks, prepare the vegetables and herbs.

Chopped red onion, cucumber, red peppers, and more on a wooden cutting board.

I like to soak the red onions in cold water to remove the raw onion taste. This is totally optional — if you like raw onions, skip this step.

soaking red onion in water

Once the chopped onion has soaked, drain thoroughly.

Red onion draining in a sieve.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, sugar, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt.

Whisked dressing in a glass bowl.

Add the cooled bulgur, onion, bell pepper, cucumber, dill, parsley, and chick peas.

adding the bulgur and vegetables to the dressingToss well, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

tossed bulgur saladChill until ready to serve or up to two days. Serve cold or room temperature.

Bowl of bulgur salad with cucumbers, red peppers, chickpeas, lemon, and dill.

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Bulgur Salad with Cucumbers, Red Peppers, Chick Peas, Lemon & Dill

By Jenn Segal

With fresh herbs, chopped vegetables and chickpeas, this Middle Eastern-style bulgur salad is like a bulked-up tabbouleh.

Servings: 4 to 6 as a side dish (2 to 3 as a main course)
Total Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup medium-grind (#2) bulgur
  • 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
  • ⅓ cup diced red onion
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, from 2 lemons
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small English (or hothouse) cucumber, seeded and diced
  • ½ cup finely chopped fresh dill
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions

  1. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Place the bulgur in a large bowl with ½ teaspoon salt and 1¼ cups boiling water. Cover the bowl tightly with saran wrap and let sit for 15-30 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed. Let cool, then fluff with a fork.
  2. Meanwhile, to soften the bite of the raw onions, place them in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for ten minutes, and then drain. (Feel free to skip this step if you don't mind the strong taste of raw onions.)
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, sugar, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Add the cooled bulgur, onion, bell pepper, cucumber, dill, parsley, and chick peas. Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Chill until ready to serve or up to two days. Serve cold or room temperature.

Pair with

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (4 servings)
  • Calories: 336
  • Fat: 15g
  • Saturated fat: 2g
  • Carbohydrates: 46g
  • Sugar: 7g
  • Fiber: 11g
  • Protein: 9g
  • Sodium: 1085mg
  • Cholesterol: 0mg
Nutritional Data Disclaimer

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

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  • I have made this three or four times by now, and every time it’s a winner. I make it without the dill, and apart from that (I strongly dislike dill) I adhere faithfully to the recipe. I keep the proportions given and I just keep this salad in the fridge for the week’s meals as a quick and easy side dish to be added to my lunch boxes. Honestly, it gets even better when it’s had the chance to get its flavours really combined.

  • What kind of salt did you use? Kosher salt or Morton’s table salt? I think there is a big difference so I don’t want to make a mistake and ruin the salad

    • I use fine sea salt, which would be the same as table salt.

  • This recipe is great. I did modify it a bit because my husband doesn’t like raw garlic or onion. I sauteed them few a few minutes and tossed in the pepper at the end too so the onion and garlic was easier to distribute. It does dirty a pan but if you aren’t a fan of raw onion and garlic this works well. I also omitted the sugar.

  • This recipe is so flavorful and fresh and a complete meal in itself. The only modification I made was to substitute freekeh (cracked green wheat) for the bulgur wheat. Leftovers are awesome for a quick, healthy lunch the next day.

  • Review:
    This was so so so delicious!! My family and I absolutely loved it. The only change I made was that I didn’t add as much oil as called for and I added a little more cumin at the end! 🙂 Thank you for the recipe.

  • I have made this salad twice now. The first time I made it with the red onion and despite soaking they were a bit too strong. This time I substituted green onion and it was great! Both times, the salad was great, actually, but I just preferred it with green onion. Love! Thank you!

  • This is a great salad! I made this for my wife who was taking it to a picnic lunch with the girls. I didn’t want to part with it!! Thanks Jennifer.

    • — George Ponaparte
    • Reply

  • Great Summer Time Salad for a pot luck. The bowl was empty about 1 hour into the pot luck.
    I forgot to add salt while cooking the bulgur, but added it during the mixing process, it was still good.

  • I like to saute onions in a little olive oil, cool and add to salads. It takes away the strong taste and adds a nice flavor.

  • The salad was a hit! My husband and I really enjoyed it!

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