This vibrant Bulgur Salad draws on the traditional flavors of a Middle Eastern Tabbouleh salad, and kicks them into overdrive with seasonal flavors like blood oranges, feta and pomegranate.
This gorgeous salad would decorate any festive table with its bold flavor and mix of textures.
This bulgur salad originally appeared in The Devil Wears Salad free digital cookbook. Get your FREE copy of the gazette and discover 32 exclusive salad recipes by subscribing to my newsletter!
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- This vibrant Bulgur Salad draws on the traditional flavors of a Middle Eastern Tabbouleh salad, and kicks them into overdrive with seasonal flavors like blood oranges, feta and pomegranate.
- A Festive Take on Tabbouleh Salad
- Ingredient spotlight: What is bulgur wheat?
- How to prepare bulgur for salad?
- Ingredients for Bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate and herbs
- Directions on how to make bulgur feta salad
- Equipment
- Making ahead & storage
- Adaptations
- Accompanying dishes
- Pin for Later!
- Recipe
A Festive Take on Tabbouleh Salad
When most people hear about bulgur wheat salad, they immediately think of tabbouleh salad: that Middle Eastern / Lebanese staple that combines bulgur wheat, a variety of herbs and cucumber, tomato and sometimes onion.
It's a herb-heavy, flavor forward wheat salad... That feels just a bit too herby for my taste.
Instead, I prefer bulgur recipes and particularly bulgur wheat salads that are:
- balanced in flavor
- full of different textures - a bit of crunch, a bit of creaminess, a bit of softness
- a full meal
- combine sweet and salty ingredients
- beautiful
- easy to make
And this bulgur feta salad ticks all the boxes, with its mix of feta, oranges, parsley and mint!
Ingredient spotlight: What is bulgur wheat?
But in case you're wondering, what is bulgur wheat - I am here to answer all your questions!
Bulgur is a grain made from durum wheat, and specifically cracked durum wheat. It's mostly known from bulgur recipes like tabbouleh or kibbeh, both Middle Eastern dishes.
Most bulgur wheat you buy is partially cooked, which means it can be cooked and rehydrated fairly quickly - just scroll down for instructions on how to cook bulgur for salad.
Is bulgur healthy to eat?
Yes, it is! Or at least, as healthy as any whole grain.
Bulgur wheat is a whole grain because you eat the entire wheat kernel - germ, endosperm and bran.
The nutritional value of 1-cup (182-gram) serving of cooked bulgur wheat has:
- Calories: 151
- Carbs: 34 grams
- Protein: 6 grams
- Fat: 0 grams
- Fiber: 8 grams
Bulgur wheat is a notable source of Manganese, Magnesium and Iron.
How to prepare bulgur for salad?
There are really two ways to make bulgur for salad: making it like quinoa, or making it like couscous.
The first method involves combining bulgur and water in a saucepan in a ratio of 1:2, bringing it to a boil and then lowering the heat and letting it cook for 12 minutes.
The second method is even easier: all you do is boil water in a ratio of 2:1 (1 being bulgur), and pour it on the bulgur in a bowl. You cover the bowl and let it the bulgur steam and hydrate in the water for 12-15 minutes, off the heat. And that's it!
I have a bulgur salad that uses the second method here, but you can use it in this recipe as well.
Other bulgur wheat recipes:
Ingredients for Bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate and herbs
Making a bulgur salad with feta, blood oranges and pomegranate seeds couldn't be easier! As you can possibly guess from the salad's name, the ingredients you'll need are:
- ½ cup fine bulgur
- 1 bunch curly parsley
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh mint
- ⅓ cup green onion, thinly sliced
- 150 grams blood oranges or regular oranges, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and and coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup pomegranate arils
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 TBs lemon, juice of
- 1 teaspoon garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon tsp salt
- pinch black pepper
Directions on how to make bulgur feta salad
To cook bulgur, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Once boiling, add grains, reduce heat to low, and cover with a lid. Let simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes. Remove from stovetop and let stand, covered, for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool before proceeding (you can make this in advance).
In a food processor or blender, combine parsley, mint and green onion. Pulse in 1 second intervals until fully diced - take care not to process into a paste!
In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic clove, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.
On a large platter, combine cooked bulgur and herb mixture. Top with diced blood orange, feta, black olives and pomegranate seeds.
Equipment
The equipment you'll need for making this bulgur feta salad is:
- Cutting board
- Chef knife
- Medium saucepan
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Serving platter
- Serving spoons
Making ahead & storage
The bulgur for the salad can be made ahead, and stored separately in an airtight container for a couple of days.
Once assembled, the entire bulgur wheat salad will keep for 4 days. The reason for that is that the pomegranate seeds are quite perishable and will begin to lose their colour and aroma the longer they sit in the fridge.
Can I freeze bulgur salad?
You can freeze bulgur wheat, but not the whole bulgur feta salad. The reason for that is that the oranges will lose their texture when defrosted.
If you omit the blood oranges, however, you CAN freeze this bulgur salad.
Adaptations
Can you make vegan bulgur salad, or dairy free?
Yes! Simply omit the feta. You can also sub it for something crunchy, like pistachios.
Can you make gluten-free bulgur salad?
Yes, but it won't be bulgur salad 😉 Bulgur is a type of wheat that is inherently gluten-full. However, this salad tastes great with quinoa as a grain!
Accompanying dishes
To go with this bulgur salad and other bulgur wheat recipes, I recommend the following accompanying dishes:
See how to make this a Thanksgiving bulgur salad!
Pin for Later!
Recipe
Bulgur salad with feta, blood orange, pomegranate and herbs
Equipment
- Chef knife
- Medium saucepan
- Measuring spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Serving platter
- Serving spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup fine bulgur
- 1 bunch curly parsley
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh mint
- ⅓ cup green onion thinly sliced
- 150 grams blood oranges / oranges peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cup Kalamata olives pitted and and coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup pomegranate arils
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 TBs lemon juice of
- 1 teaspoon garlic clove minced
- ½ teaspoon tsp salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- To cook bulgur, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Once boiling, add grains, reduce heat to low, and cover with a lid. Let simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes. Remove from stovetop and let stand, covered, for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool before proceeding (you can make this in advance).
- In a food processor or blender, combine parsley, mint and green onion. Pulse in 1 second intervals until fully diced - take care not to process into a paste!
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic clove, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.
- On a large platter, combine cooked bulgur and herb mixture. Top with diced blood orange, feta, black olives and pomegranate seeds.
ANGELICA says
Thanks for this amazing recipe! And expect that this will be pinned on Pinterest. you deserve it. Thanks again!
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Angelica Aredidon
Media & Advertising Administrator
PhamilyPC.tk