Oil Free Tabouli Pasta Salad! Packed with an abundance of fresh veggies and wholesome ingredients, this healthy and colorful dish is a feast for the senses.
A delightful twist on the classic Middle Eastern tabouli, this Oil Free Tabouli Pasta Salad is a perfect choice for a scrumptious side dish or a satisfying main entrée salad. The addition of rotini pasta brings a playful and festive touch to this traditional parsley salad, creating a harmony of textures and tastes. Elevate your next meal with this refreshing and nutritious Tabouli Pasta Salad that is sure to be a hit at any gathering or dinner table!
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and can be gluten free based upon pasta selected or substituting the pasta with chickpeas.
Hi there, Ameera here!
Delight in the irresistible flavors of our favorite family obsession: Tabouli! A staple at our table almost daily, this revamped version is not only oil-free but also boasts a delightful pasta twist. The unanimous verdict? Pure love from everyone who tasted it!
Don’t miss out on this must-try recipe that’s sure to win over your taste buds—it’s a tabouli game-changer you simply can’t resist!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Oil Free Tabouli Pasta Salad is a fresh and fun spin on tabouli, making for a delicious side dish or main entrée salad. Rotini pasta adds a festive element to a healthy tabouli parsley salad that is brimming with fresh veggies and healthy ingredients.
- Temperature: This dish is excellent served cold or at room temperature.
- Rotini Pasta: We used a tri-colored rotini. Feel free to use your favorite (similar size) pasta. The measurement is 4 cups after the pasta has been cooked. If you have left over pasta, save it for a delicious additional to a salad.
- Gluten Free Pasta: If using gluten free pasta, this dish is best when served immediately after making the pasta as some gluten free pastas tend to seize up after refrigeration.
- Pasta Substitutions: Feel free to substitute the pasta for chickpeas or your favorite bean (drained and rinsed well).
- Finely Chopped Tomatoes: We used 6 cocktail tomatoes (about the size of a golf ball). We cut them in half, then in half again (4ths), then removed all the seeds and juice. Then diced the tomato flesh into small pieces. It is important to remove the seeds and juice (liquids) from the tomatoes, leaving only the flesh of the tomatoes in order to avoid a watered down pasta salad.
- Small Cucumbers: We used Persian cucumbers also known as mini seedless cucumbers.
- Green Onions: We used approximately 4 medium sized green onions to arrive at ½ cup of sliced onions. You may need more or less largely dependent upon the size of the green onions.
- Fresh Parsley: We used one bunch of fresh (straight) parsley. When finely chopped, this is approximately 1 cup of finely chopped parsley.
- Fresh Mint: We used store bought fresh mint typically found in the clear clam shell packages. This is approximately 1/3 cup finely chopped mint. Feel free to use more or less.
- Pomegranate Molasses: We had family members who loved the addition of pomegranate molasses, while others noted no difference in flavor. If you have it on hand and love it, then feel free to add it. Otherwise, it is not a necessary ingredient.
- Health Benefits of Fresh Parsley: Fresh parsley is excellent for calming down blood sugar levels. It is excellent for digestion and packed with wonderful vitamins like vitamin A, K and C. It is an excellent source of iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium and is full of other nutrients. It can also help with getting rid of leg swelling.
- Health Benefits of Fresh Mint: Fresh mint is known to stoke digestive benefits by boosting metabolism and alleviate an upset stomach and flatulence. Mint is also excellent for detoxification, flushing out toxins from the body. It is wonderful to remove constipation and helps fight chronic diseases.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.
This dish cannot be frozen.
Pantry Products:
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Large stock pot (to cook the pasta)
- Colander (to drain the pasta)
If you try this delicious salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
PrintTabouli Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Salad, Lunch
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern Inspired
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A delightful twist on the classic Middle Eastern tabouli, this Oil-Free Tabouli Pasta Salad is a perfect choice for a scrumptious side dish or a satisfying main entrée salad.
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked rotini pasta *
- 1 ¼ cups finely chopped tomatoes *
- 2 mini cucumbers, fine dice *
- ½ cup sliced green onions *
- 1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley *
- .5 oz. fresh mint (+/-) *
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1 ½ to 2 Tablespoons tahini
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon pure maple syrup *
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Optional Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ to 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses *
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. When al dente, drain the pasta into a colander and run the cooked pasta under cold water to rinse and remove any excess starches and to cool down the pasta. Continue running under cold water, gently flipping the pasta around in the colander until the pasta is cold. Shake thoroughly to remove any excess water. Set aside 4 cups of cooked pasta.
- Place all the Dressing Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk well until smooth and emulsified. Set aside.
- Add all the Salad Ingredients (including the cooked pasta) into a large bowl, mix gently until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and gently mix until all the salad ingredients are thoroughly coated with the dressing. Serve and enjoy! Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 4
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