Gluten Free Tabouli Pasta Salad
This traditional arabic salad gets a fun remake with our Gluten Free Tabouleh Pasta Salad.
I love salads and I love pasta, so it’s no surprise that I decide to merge the two and make a salad that is super delicious and a twist on the traditional version with this Gluten Free Tabouli Pasta Salad.
What is Tabouleh or Tabouli?
Tabouleh is an Arabic salad that is made mainly from parsely, wheat, tomatoes, cucumber, lemon and olive oil. Although these are the main ingredients in the version we get in Trinidad, some recipes can also include mint, chives or green onions.
As you can see, one of the main ingredients is not gluten free and so I’m always on the lookout for ways that I can substitute it.
One of my go to substitutes is quinoa and you can find the recipe for our Quinoa Tabouli here. I’ve even used cooked millet which the family says they prefer over the quinoa. But with this last version, not having either quinoa or millet in the pantry, I decided to add some pasta and that is how this Gluten Free Tabouleh Pasta Salad was born.
How to make this Gluten Free Tabouleh Pasta Salad?
It’s simply adding pasta to the tabouli parsley based and seasoning it accordingly. All you need to ensure is that you use cooled pasta so you can keep that freshness from the parsley and you don’t cook the herbs and veggies.
You might also need to add more salt as the pasta does take up more salt and allows the salad to stretch more than if you uses quinoa or millet.
Choosing your pasta
This recipe works best with a pasta that has ridges that can hold the specks of parsley and the dressing so you get flavor in every bite. I recommend rotini or twists. But it does work with other pastas as well.
Tips from the kitchen
- One of the things I should mention, is that the parsley flavor is not a strong in the pasta salad version of this dish as it is in the quinoa version. But if you love parsley you can always add more to give they extra flavour, but this ratio works for use and the family enjoys it quite a bit.
- This recipe is perfect for traveling as it doesn’t have any mayo so it makes a great side for a potluck or christmas gathering; especially with the red and green from the tomatoes and parsley.
- Other than that, you can make this your own with the addition of some mint or chives. It’s a hard side to mess up!
I hope you make the recipe and as always if you do, don’t forget to tag us on social or comment and let us know how it turned out!
Happy Cooking Foodies
Gluten Free Tabouli Pasta Salad
This traditional Arabic salad gets a fun remake with our Gluten Free Tabouleh Pasta Salad.
Ingredients
- 4 oz dried pasta, preferably twists or rotini
- 1 cup parsley finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes diced (medium)
- 1 cucumber diced (medium) about 1 cup
- 1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain rinse and let cool completely. You can even store it in the fridge overnight.
- Next, to make the pasta salad, in a large bowl add parsley, tomatoes and cucumbers. Mix to combine, then add the pasta along with the lemon juice and olive oil. Mix until well combined then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Chill for at least one hour before serving.
