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tabbouleh

American  
[tuh-boo-luh, -lee] / təˈbu lə, -li /
Or tabouleh

noun

Middle Eastern Cooking.
  1. a variant of tabouli.


tabbouleh British  
/ təˈbuːlɪ /

noun

  1. a kind of Middle Eastern salad made with cracked wheat, mint, parsley, and usually cucumber

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tabbouleh

C20: from Arabic tabbūla

Explanation

Tabbouleh is a delicious Mediterranean salad made with bulgar, parsley, and tomatoes. The next time you visit your favorite falafel joint, order some tabbouleh on the side! Tabbouleh is a specialty of the Levant region of the Middle East, and it's found in the cuisines of many countries, including Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. It is usually made with bulgar wheat, a chewy grain, plenty of chopped parsley and tomatoes, mint, onion, and a light olive oil dressing. The name is Arabic in origin, from tabbūla.

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Vocabulary lists containing tabbouleh

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Sitting down for dinner alone, she “discreetly googled some of the words on her phone under the table: cotija, calabacitas, tabbouleh, bisque.”

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 14, 2026

This tabbouleh is delicious either at room temperature or slightly chilled.

From Washington Times Dec. 1, 2023

This tabbouleh finds the ideal balance between satisfying bulgur, cooling vegetables like cucumber and tomato, and zingy herbs and aromatics.

From Salon Feb. 11, 2023

It’s a part of cuisines across the Mediterranean and Western Europe, and a key ingredient in tabbouleh salad, salsa verde, fines herbes blend, and bouquets garnis.

From Seattle Times Jul. 25, 2022

Fried lentils replace the usual bulgur in a tabbouleh displayed on a swipe of hummus fueled with tamarind; Lebanese flatbread, sprinkled with za’atar, makes for a finger-blistering scoop.

From Washington Post

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