MEDITERRANEAN BULGUR SALAD RECIPE

Our Mediterranean Bulgur Salad recipe combines the goodness of the Mediterranean Diet with the popular Dense Bean Salad to create magic! Cooking the bulgur in the Instant Pot makes this recipe even easier to prepare.

Mediterranean Bulgur Salad is a Dense Bean Salad that perfectly embodies the beauty of the Mediterranean Diet. First, it contains simple ingredients native to the Mediterranean region. Second, it is a plant-based meal with ingredients that provide a multitude of health benefits. There is fibre-packed whole grain bulgur, protein-packed chickpeas, vitamin-rich vegetables and herbs, and heart-healthy extra virgin olive oil. It is an incredibly healthy dish that makes for a great entree or a part of any celebration as a side salad.

Once you try our Mediterranean Bulgur Salad Recipe I have no doubts that it will become a new favourite. The most important factor of any dish that I share is the taste. The flavours of this salad will blow your mind with the variety of tastes and textures. There is fresh crunch and sweetness from the red pepper and cucumber, a nutty taste from the bulgur, a dense texture from the chickpeas, an earthy taste from the cumin and garlic, and it’s all balanced out with tangy lemon in the dressing. It sounds perfect because it is!

WHAT IS A DENSE BEAN SALAD?

A Dense Bean Salad is a salad which has beans as one of the main ingredients. Dense Bean Salads contain beans such as chickpeas, white beans, kidney beans, or black-eyed peas, and are accompanied by an assortment of different ingredients such as vegetables, chopped meats, cheese, nuts, grains, herbs, and dressing. When beans are added to salads it is easy to serve it as an entree due to their filling properties and high levels of protein, fibre, and other nutrient-rich vitamins and minerals.

Dense Bean Salads are usually easy to prepare and are a great choice for meal-planning packed lunches as they stay fresh and tasty up to 3 days. They also make a great addition to any meal or celebration as an easy side dish. Prepare our Mediterranean Bulgur Salad for your next celebration or potluck and people will be asking for this recipe.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE MEDITERRANEAN BULGUR SALAD RECIPE

• Delicious! This salad has a beautiful balance of flavours. The ingredients are chopped relatively small, so every bite has different tastes and textures.
• Easy! There is very little effort involved in making Mediterranean Bulgur Salad. The Instant Pot easily cooks the bulgur and while it’s cooking you can prepare the other ingredients. To save time you can even prep the bulgur the previous night.
• Super healthy! All of the ingredients combined make this salad high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and protein. The chickpeas and bulgur are packed with fibre which will make you feel full and satisfied longer. This is also great for maintaining a healthy weight. The addition of extra virgin olive oil elevates the heart-healthy and antioxidant compounds which have made the traditional Mediterranean Diet so famous.
• Budget-friendly! The cost of living is rising in pretty much all parts of the globe. With this, people are looking for economical ways to eat healthy on a budget. Bulgur and chickpeas are generally inexpensive sources of a multitude of vitamins and nutrients. The most expensive ingredient is extra virgin olive oil, which is essential in all Greek cooking, but the remaining ingredients are relatively affordable. This recipe creates four meal-sized portions and costs me less than 10€ in total, which makes it an excellent value for money. It’s important to always try to eat a healthy, balanced diet even when on a strict budget.
• Plant-based! Yay for plant-based food! The traditional Mediterranean Diet is famous for having naturally vegan dishes. A diet rich in plant-based food is associated with an incredible amount of health benefits. It is also great for the environment as plant-based food has a smaller environmental footprint than meat-based agriculture. One baby step toward a cleaner world for us all!

INGREDIENTS FOR MEDITERRANEAN BULGUR SALAD RECIPE

Bulgur Recipe:

• 1 cup dried bulgur
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2¼ cups water (1 cup for the liner, 1¼ for the recipe)

Mediterranean Bulgur Salad Recipe:

• 3½ cup cooked bulgur
• 1½ cup (approx 1 can) cooked chickpeas
• 1 (1 cup) small English cucumber peeled, diced
• 1 (1 cup) red bell pepper seeded, chopped
• 1/2 cup (approx 1/2 medium) red onion finely chopped
• 1 or 1½ garlic clove peeled, minced
• 3/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
• 1/4 cup (approx 1 lemon) lemon juice freshly squeezed
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1½ tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

HOW TO COOK BULGUR IN THE INSTANT POT

1. Place the trivet on the bottom of the Instant Pot liner. Pour 1 cup of warm water into the liner.
2. Combine bulgur, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and 1¼ cups of water in a mid-sized metal bowl that fits inside the liner. Stir to combine. Cover with aluminium foil and tuck the edges so it is secure. Place the bowl on top of the trivet inside the liner.
3. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and turn the release valve to the closed position. Set the manual pressure cook timer to 4 minutes.
4. When the cooking is complete, allow for Natural Pressure Release for 10 minutes. The pressure may release before this but allow it to settle for the full 10 minutes before you open. Carefully remove the lid.
5. The metal bowl will be very hot so do not touch it with bare hands. Carefully remove the metal bowl from the liner, either with oven mitts or by removing the whole trivet and bowl with tongs. Carefully remove the aluminium foil from the top of the bowl.
6. Fluff with a fork and let cool fully before using it in the salad.

HOW TO PREPARE MEDITERRANEAN BULGUR SALAD RECIPE

Cook the dried bulgur, following the directions above, and allow it to fully cool.

Combine bulgur, chickpeas, and all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Gently mix together with a large spoon until everything is thoroughly covered and combined.

Cover and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours melt together. The bulgur absorbs the olive oil and the flavours of the cumin, lemon, and garlic. This step is not mandatory but I highly recommend it because it makes such a difference in the taste of this salad. The taste changes from when you first mix it, compared to 30 minutes later, and is even stronger the next day.

ALLERGY INFORMATION FOR MEDITERRANEAN BULGUR SALAD

Our Mediterranean Bulgur Salad recipe is:

• Dairy-free
• Egg-free
• Nut-free
• Peanut-free
• Soy-free
• Sesame-free
• Fish-free
• Crustacean-free
• Celery-free
• Mustard-free

HOW TO STORE MEDITERRANEAN BULGUR SALAD

Store leftover Mediterranean Bulgur Salad in an air-tight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This recipe tastes even better the next day!

TRY THESE DELICIOUS MEDITERRANEAN SALADS NEXT!

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