Butternut Tabbouleh
This fresh winter tabbouleh salad recipe features butternut squash instead of tomatoes, plus some dried cranberries for good measure! Simple and delicious.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on November 13, 2025
Make this herbaceous salad when youโre craving a healthy side dish this fall and winter. Itโs beautiful, fresh and relatively simple to make. You could serve it on your Thanksgiving or Christmas table, or make it for any meal between now and spring.
The recipe is a very abstract interpretation ofย tabbouleh, the classic Lebanese salad. Like tabbouleh, this recipe includes chewy cooked bulgur, chopped parsley and mint, and a simple lemon-olive oil dressing.
In this rendition, tiny cubes of tender, caramelized butternut squash replace the traditional tomatoes. I added some cranberries for pops of color and sweetness. Lastly, I replaced the usual green onion with shallot, though green onion would be nice, too. The sprinkle of tangy, crumbled feta is optional, but I recommend it.
How to Make This Bulgur Salad
Youโll find the full recipe below, but hereโs a brief preview. This recipe is not complicated, but it requires some careful chopping.
1) Prepare the butternut squash
Slice the butternut into cubes approximately 1/4 inch in size, or as close to that size as possible. Sautรฉ the butternut squash in olive oil, first covered to help it steam through, then uncovered until the edges are golden. Stir just every minute or so to give the edges time to caramelize.
2) Cook the bulgur
Bulgur is a quick-cooking grain, so it will cook while you work on the butternut squash. Set it aside to cool.
3) Chop and toss
While the butternut squash and bulgur cool down, chop away! Combine everything in a bowl and drizzle in olive oil and lemon juice. Taste, and add more lemon juice for more zing, or more olive oil for richness, or another pinch of salt for more flavor overallโor all of the above.
More Fall & Winter Salads
These hearty salads feature cool-weather produce:
- Balsamic Butternut, Kale and Cranberry Panzanella
- Hearty Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Salad
- Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Pistachios
- Roasted Delicata Squash, Pomegranate and Arugula Salad
- Spinach Salad with apple or pear
Please let me know how your butternut tabbouleh turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Butternut Tabbouleh
This fresh winter tabbouleh salad recipe features butternut squash instead of tomatoes, along with some dried cranberries for complementary flavor. This recipe yields 4 side salads. Feel free to double the recipe; if you do, youโll likely need to cook the butternut squash longer than indicated below.
Ingredients
Butternut
- 1 small butternut squash (about 1 ยฝ pounds), sliced into little ยผ-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
Bulgur
- ยฝ cup bulgur
- 1 cup water
- Pinch of salt
Everything else
- 1 cup (about ยฝ bunch) chopped fresh parsley
- ยฝ cup (1 small bunch) chopped fresh mint
- 1 shallot, minced (about โ cup minced)
- ยผ cup dried cranberries
- ยผ cup lemon juice, more to taste (1 to 2 lemons)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Optional garnish: crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- To cook the butternut, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the cubed butternut and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss to coat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, then uncover and continue cooking until the butternut is tender and the edges are nice and caramelized, about 7 minutes. Transfer the butternut to a medium-sized serving bowl to cool.
- While the butternut is cooking, combine the bulgur and water in a pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let the bulgur rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the bulgur with a fork and season to taste with salt. Set it aside to cool.
- Once the butternut and bulgur have cooled, toss them together in your serving bowl. Add the chopped parsley, mint and shallot, as well as the dried cranberries. Drizzle in the lesser amounts of lemon juice and olive oil. Taste, and add another tablespoon of lemon juice for more acidity or another tablespoon of olive oil for richness. Toss and serve with crumbled feta on top, if youโd like. Leftover keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Make it vegan/dairy free: Skip the feta!
Make it gluten free: Substitute quinoa for the bulgur, cooked according to these directions.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
this is the most fortuitous recipe post! i made butternut squash mac and cheese but had way more squash than the recipe called for. excited to use the leftovers to make this. love the concept of winter tabouleh.
Perfect! Hope you loved it, Kristin.
Wishing you much happiness in Kansas Have safe trip.
My husband says Iโm a butternut squash addict so this recipe is a keeper for me. What prompted my comment this morning are your photos. They are beautiful!
YUM! I love Tabouleh!
I really enjoy looking at these beautiful photos, so thank you for sharing! The recipe looks yummyโฆ.butternut gives it a whole new taste to Tabbouleh. I will prepare this one soon.
Looks great! Safe travels :)
<3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MwOarNpBcw
(Heard it today and thought of you!)
Love that song! Itโs so perfect. Thank you for sharing, Natalie. :)
I love tabbouleh, and I did a similar version with quinoa โ perfect warm salad to eat any time of year!
What gorgeous photos! I have been a fan of your food photography for a long time, but I also loved to see you outdoor photography.
Gorgeous salad here. Love the butternut addition.
Thank you, Kristie! Itโs fun to branch out and share more than just food! :)
Canโt wait to have you back in KC! Love seeing the photos of your trip to Israel โ they are gorgeous!
Have a safe trip back!! That tabbouleh sounds awesome. Iโve got some bulgur in my pantry begging to be used!
so full of delicious fall ingredients! and itโs so nice to see another israel-inspired recipe. looks awesome!
Now thereโs an ingredient I never would have thought to put in tabbouleh โ butternut squash! Simply. Brilliant.
I like to make big batch healthy lunches that will last me all week, Iโve been on a green lentil hype the past few weeks but I think iโve now eaten my lifetime of lentils! This looks gorgeous and is definitely going to be my new lunch next week so thank you for sorting that one for me :)
Ha, now Iโm tempted to try adding lentils to this tabbouleh! Chickpeas would be good, too. Enjoy!
OMG! Such a beautiful dog!!
Ooo what a delicious looking recipe, thank you for sharing, I definitely want to try this out sometime!
Kathryn
nimblenote.blogspot.com
Have a safe trip back and thanks for another yummy recipe!
Mmm, I love the bright colors of this dish. They are so welcoming during this drab, depressing tail end of winter. Sorry youโre coming back to KC to a freezing mess! Safe travels.
Thanks, Amy! I camped out at my parentsโ house halfway between Austin and KC. Iโm not ready to go home to the freezing cold weather yet! Next weekโs weather doesnโt look too bad.
OMG this looks super delicious!! <3
Oh, this was so yummy! Iโm so happy that finally this year we started getting butternut squash to our stores in Finland. I been making quite a few soups but this is now my favorite butternut receipe, and Iโll definitely make this again!
So glad you enjoyed it, Eija! I had never thought of butternut as exotic until now. :) Glad you can find it!
I hope you and Cookie are safely back home now. Even though thereโs always a post-holiday decompression period, just take heart in all the amazing dishes you can recreate to share with all of us, and on planning your next trip!
I canโt wait to try this delicious tabbouleh recipe โ Iโll just sub the bulghur for some quinoa so my GF tummy will be happy :)
Thanks Kate!
Thank you, Amy! Youโre sweet. Hope you love the tabbouleh! I think itโll be great with quinoa.
I hope you girls made it home safe and I canโt wait to see those tacos recipes. :)
Your photography from Israel is just stunning. I love all of the cute dogs! Iโd gobble this tabbouleh right up too!
how do you eat this? with bread or as is alone?
Eat it on its own like any salad.
So nice seeing the tabbouleh on here
Reminds me of my grandmas dishes in lebanon
Kate this is amazing food โ im in love with your style of cooking
Thanks for sharing
Thank you, Emz! Iโm glad you found my blog.
Beautiful photos! So warm amd lovely.
Thank you, Daina!
I could absolutely live on this tabbouleh for lunch!
This recipe was on the money!! I roasted the squash instead of sauteing it, but other than that โ perfect. Definitely a keeper :-)
Awesome! Thanks, Danyel!
How long and at what temp did u roast squash? Did you cube it first or cook it halved? Thanks!
I canโt wait to see your Austin-inspired recipes, but also canโt believe your month there is over! Werenโt you just leaving KC?! Iโve been craving some bright fresh flavors and this tabbouleh looks like it will hit the spot.
I canโt believe my month is over, either! Womp womp.
Hi Kate โ another great recipe! We enjoyed this last night for dinner and the leftovers today for lunch.
I love your recipes! For a busy mom of a 3 yo and 9 mo, your recipes provide a perfect balance of the healthy, easy and yummy foods that I am after. Many thanks!
This is my first time making a recipe of yours and it certainly wonโt be the last! Absolutely delicious and healthy to boot!
Thank you, Margaret! Delighted to hear it!
Made this for lunchโฆ.loved it .Thank you.been having tabbouleh in my pantry for sometime and when I saw your recipe wanted to try itโฆOne slight variation added some curry powder to the pumpkin..
Thanks, Ria! Curry powder sounds like a fantastic addition.
I just discovered your website and this is the first recipe of yours Iโve made. Its safe to say it will be a staple for me from now on. So delicious!
Thanks, Lucy, and welcome! So glad you enjoyed this one!
Thanks for another great recipe Kathryne! I used buckwheat as that is what I had on hand and pecans instead of the cranberries (canโt buy them where I live). I added some shredded chicken as well. Delicious! My husband said it was really good, and I responded with โyep, everything that comes from C+K is great!โ. If you want a reliably tasty recipe, your blog is hard to beat :) Thanks for helping us all put yummy food on tables around the world!
Holly, thank you! Blushing at your kind words. Iโm glad you both enjoyed this one!
Hi! Iโm making this for Thanksgiving and wondering how far in advance it can be made! Thanks! Very excited to have a healthier thanksgiving side.
I will be making this for 37 people for a 30 th Birthday in South Africa tomorrow. I bought the bday girls a lovely salad bowl and shared your blog with her. We live from your salads kate. Thank you so much. Antoinette and Laila cat.
Wow, that is a lot of tabbouleh! I hope it turned out great! :)
Delicious! So good Iโm making it to share with friends at a dinner party. I doubled the recipe โcause I know itโs going to go quickly.
Thanks for all your wonderful ideas!!
Thank you, Julie! :)
100% loved this recipe! Refreshing, filling, and so flavorful. Canโt wait to eat the leftovers again today.
I substituted tri-color quinoa for the bulgur which worked really well and added feta per your suggestion.
Thank you, Courtney! Glad to hear you enjoyed this one, too.
Kate, would you serve this as a main dish or as a side dish? As a side dish, would you serve soup with it?
Thanks,
Malia
Hi Malia, you could eat a large portion of it for a light meal. It would definitely go great with soup, or a big green salad.
Really lovely recipe , in fact all your recipes are top notch.
Shame about the super saccharine perfect life waffle ( + obligatory perfect moments photos) that precede all recipes these days
At least throw in a little savory humor to balance the over sweetness for the love of god.
Best regards
P
Thank you!
Delicious! Made this tonight with a can of drained chickpeas to help bulk it up โ great one-dish meal! Planning to make again next week :)
I want to make this for dinner this week, but I was wondering if this salad stays good in the fridge for a few days all mixed together, OR should I prepare the ingredients separately and mix altogether right before serving? Thanks!
Hi Kristin! If you want this to be as fresh as you can, I wouldnโt suggest letting it set all together. However, I do find the flavor still nice as it is prepared and sits in the fridge. It can just start to break downs some. I hope this helps!
This recipe was my introduction to your blog a few years ago when it showed up on my Pinterest feed and has become a go to meal. It pops with so many different flavors! The sweetness of the caramelized squash, sour of the cranberries and lemon juice, saltiness of the feta, and nuttiness of the grain makes keeps every bite interesting as each forkful has a different blend of ingredients. My daughter has Celiac, so I make it with red quinoa. Sometimes when I have barberries I substitute 2 tablespoons for the cranberries. I am so glad this popped up on my feed because many of your recipes are in my regular rotation. I like your cookbook, too!
This recipe looks amazing! Iโd like to try it as a make-ahead dish for a dinner party. How long will it keep? And when I take it out of the fridge the next day, should I serve it cold or warm it up?
Hi! It should keep for a few days. I think itโs great cold.
A great recipe. There werenโt any butternut squashes left in the store, so I used sweet potato instead. Very tasty.
Made this tonight with the following modifications: oven roasted the squash after sprinkling with sumac; cut the mint in half; substituted pomegranate seeds for dried cranberries. I then put it over some lettuce and sprinkled with chopped pistachios and feta. Amazing !! Will definitely be making this again
Great to hear, Amy!
Eight and a half years later and this recipe still rocks. I also subbed the dried cranberries for fresh pomegranate. Amazing. I took it to a Friendsgiving and despite no one knowing what it was, Iโm told it was one of the top dishes.
Should this be served warm or cold?
Either way! I hope you love it.
Hi , I have not tried your recipes yet, although on pictures they look scrumptious,I would like to know the calories per portions please .
Thank you Jo
Hi Jo, approximate nutrition information can be found by clicking โshow nutritionโ on each recipe.