Easy Bulgur Salad Recipe
This easy bulgur salad recipe with cranberries, cucumbers and chickpeas is an easy and satisfying 15 minute whole grain side dish that works great hot or cold! The combination of textures, colors and flavors is sure to please everyone! Add simple grilled chicken to make this side dish an entree meal!
Thank you to Bob’s Red Mill for providing the giveaway for this post. And Thank You for supporting the brands that support me and allow me to continue to grow my blog. All opinions, recipe and photographs are my own.
For the most part, side dishes get the total shaft at my house. I am usually so focused on creating a main entree my family will love that my side dishes are often very plain and boring and totally last minute thoughts.
For a while now, I have been wanting to include more whole grains into our family’s diet. And as a history buff, I am totally digging the “Ancient Grains” trend!
But figuring out a good way to introduce ancient grains to my family in an easy, quick, and delicious way seemed daunting. A lot of the grains I want to try take like 30-45 minutes to prepare – and I’m sorry but I don’t have time/brain power for that anymore.
This easy bulgur salad recipe is a perfect solution – its easy, delicious, and very kid-friendly!
What is Bulgur?
Bulgur originates from Middle Eastern cuisine, and is a grain made from parboiled grouts of wheat.
It is considered a whole brain and has a light, nutty flavor.
Bulgur is great for making porridge, tabbouleh, and is often used in the same manner that rice or couscous can be used.
How to Make this Easy Bulgur Salad Recipe
This easy bulgur salad recipe only takes about 15-20 minutes to make, and is no harder than cooking rice.
- Boil the water
- add the bulgar and simmer on low for about 10 minutes
- toss in some fun additional ingredients like cucumbers, cranberries, and chickpeas.
You now have yourself a whole grain side dish you are going to love with barely any work!
Sweet dried cranberries, cool and crisp cucumbers, chickpeas and an easy and refreshing lemon vinaigrette combine perfectly with the earthy bulgar to create a light and refreshing, but totally filling dish.
I love that it is good whether you serve this warm or cold. And leftovers of this bulgur salad recipe is perfect on a bed of lettuce and topped with some leftover diced or shredded chicken.
Bob’s Red Mill has long been one of my favorite grain and flour companies. You can tell they have a passion for quality healthy ingredients! And I love the fact that they use traditional stone grinding mills for their flours and cereals – that way they can retain as much nutrition and flavor as possible.
This easy bulgur salad recipe would pair great with simple Grilled Greek Chicken Kebabs!
Easy Bulgur Salad Recipe with Cranberries, Cucumbers and Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bulgur
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium cucumber seeded and chopped
- 1 cup chickpeas
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- zest and juice from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TBSP fresh chopped parley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan with a lid, boil the water.
- Add the bulgur, reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until most of the water has evaporated and the bulgur is tender.
- Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and fresh chopped parsley.
- Toss the bulgar with the lemon vinaigrette, the cranberries, cucumbers and chickpeas.
- Serve and enjoy!
I haven’t gotten a chance to jump on the bulgar train yet, but this looks like a great first recipe to try! Adding this to my week’s meal plan right away!
Enjoy!!
Wow! This looks really good! I love using chickpeas! I have a lot of bulgur right now too, so this will be on the menu soon!
Let me know what you think!