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This lentil tabbouleh with grilled chicken is my favorite tabbouleh recipe. Super delicious, very easy, and a quick meal that makes a perfect healthy dinner.
Have you ever made tabbouleh at home?
Actually, I only came across tabbouleh recently, but I fell in love with it right away. I’ve made it in countless ways since, including this lentil tabbouleh with grilled chicken. This version may be my favorite!
Lentils are not only tasty, but they also provide the body with an incredible amount of protein, amino acids, and vitamins. Best of all, they are ABSOLUTELY delicious, creamy, hearty, and very comforting.
This dish gets its amazing flavors from an abundance of parsley, mint, lime, scallions, and olive oil, all tossed with perfectly cooked creamy lentils and finished off with a luscious yet healthy tahini sauce.
After that, just add grilled chicken on top for a serious protein boost, and you have yourself an incredibly tasty, nutritious, and satisfying meal!
How to make lentil tabbouleh
Do not let the long instructions fool you, this dish is very straight-forward to make! You’ll boil the lentils, blend the herb mixture in the food processor, mix together the tahini sauce, and grill the chicken. THAT’S IT!
First, we’ll start by prepping the lentils.
Step 1: Rinse your lentils under tap water in a strainer.
Step 2: Add the rinsed lentils and water (3 parts water to 1 part lentils) to a pot and bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer for about 20-25 mins until the lentils are tender.
Step 3: Add in the salt and set aside to cool.
Next, we’ll prepare the herb blend to mix with the lentils
Step 1: Place the scallions and mint in your food processor and process until they’re finely minced, but not bruised.
Step 2: Remove them into a large bowl and set aside.
Step 3: Using the same food processor, start pulsing the parsley in four batches, making sure not to fill the processor bowl more than halfway. It’s always better to pulse rather than process to make sure the parsley is the same size.
Step 4: Remove the parsley and add it to the bowl with the mint and scallion mixture.
Step 5: Repeat until all the parsley is done.
Step 6: Finely chop the tomatoes, then add them into the parsley mixture.
Step 7: Toss the parsley, tomatoes and mint scallion mixture, then add in the cooked lentils, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil.
Once the lentil mixture is ready, we’ll bring together the tahini sauce:
Step 1: In a bowl, whisk the tahini with lime juice and salt.
Step 2: Thin out the sauce with water to your desired consistency. Adding a tablespoon of water will make a thick sauce, so I recommend starting there and adding more water if you need to.
Step 3: Taste and adjust with salt, cumin or more lime to your taste.
Step 4: Add a thin drizzle on top of the tabbouleh salad, or serve on the side.
Finally, we’ll prep the chicken to top it all off with some protein!
Step 1: Slice each chicken breast in half, then season with all the ingredients.
Step 2: Grill the chicken on medium-high heat for 5-7 mins per side (depending on the thickness of your chicken). Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Serve alongside the salad with tahini sauce.
See? Each of these steps are quite simple, and the result is a meal so tasty that you’ll want to make it again and again!
Tips and tricks for this recipe
One of the hardest parts of making traditional tabbouleh is chopping the parsley finely enough. But after a little trial and error, I figured out how to overcome this challenge by using a food processor!
The trick is to pulse (never process) the parsley in batches. I break it into four batches and pulse each portion until it’s finely chopped but not mushed.
This is really the secret to perfect homemade tabbouleh without the hassle of chopping. After that, all you need to do is to toss it with the lentils and season it!
The next trick is the tahini sauce. You will notice a change in texture and body of the tahini paste when you first mix it with the lime juice and salt.
Don’t worry, it will become silky smooth with the water and constant whisking. So I recommend whisking the water in right away and adding the cumin at the end.
Lovely lentils for tabbouleh
I seriously love lentils! They’re meaty, creamy, super filling, and fueling. I’m using brown lentils for this lentil tabbouleh, but you can absolutely use green ones if you prefer.
Before cooking your lentils, rinse them thoroughly in cold water. Always cook the lentils on low heat to avoid them becoming mushy, and NEVER salt the lentils before they are fully cooked.
Now, if you’re going to be cooking up lentils, I highly recommend cooking LARGE batches. You can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Once they’re cooked, you can toss them with soups or salads to make healthy, tasty dinners in a flash!
Adding the finishing touches
This dish has such amazing flavor. First, the lentils are tossed with scallion, parsley, mint, lime juice, and olive oil. Then, they’re drizzled with the yummiest tahini sauce ever!
This creamy tahini sauce is boosted with lime and cumin for a simple, easy, and ultra flavorful addition.
The simplest things like this sauce make a world of difference to a meal. The tahini sauce is perfect with fish, chicken, veggies, falafel, pretty much everything!
You can definitely eat this lentil tabbouleh as a light vegan dinner on its own, but if you’re looking for a boost of protein and a full meal, I love pairing it with grilled chicken breasts. Rather than take the time to marinate the chicken, we simply boost up the spice!
Slice each chicken breast in half and season with salt, pepper, fresh garlic, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, oregano, cayenne (optional) and lime juice.
This spice combination is outstanding. It adds a nice depth of flavor and makes the chicken taste like it’s been marinating for hours!
Of course, if you are feeling really fancy (or have guests you want to impress), you could make our amazing Stuffed Chicken Breast with the tabbouleh on the side. That’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser!
Storage
Due to the fresh herbs in this dish, it is best enjoyed the day it’s made.
However, if you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Other healthy dinner recipes
Here at Diabetes Strong, we are all about easy dinners that are both healthy and full of flavor! Below are a few more recipes I know you’ll enjoy:
For more recipes that include chicken, check out this list of my favorite healthy low-carb chicken recipes.
When you’ve tried this dish, please don’t forget to let me know how you liked it and rate the recipe in the comments below!
Lentil Tabbouleh with Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
Lentil Tabbouleh
- 5 scallions
- 1 bunch of fresh mint leaves, (about 1 cup)
- 2-3 bunches of fresh parsley, (about 4-6 cups)
- 2 Roma tomatoes or 3 tomatoes on the vine
- Juice of 1 lemon or lime, (2 tbsp.)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2/3 cup uncooked lentils
- 1 teaspoon salt
Tahini Sauce
- 1 tablespoon tahini paste
- ¼ teaspoon lime juice
- Pinch of salt, (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon cold water, (more depending on how saucy you like your sauce)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
Chicken
- 2 large chicken breasts
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves large garlic,, (minced)
- Juice of ½ lime
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, (optional - more or less to taste)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Lentil Tabbouleh
- Rinse your lentils under tap water in a strainer.
- Add the rinsed lentils and water (3 parts water to 1 part lentils) to a pot and bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer for about 20-25 mins until the lentils are tender.
- Add in the salt and set aside to cool.
Herb Blend
- Place the scallions and mint in your food processor and process until they’re finely minced, but not bruised.
- Remove them into a large bowl and set aside.
- Using the same food processor, start pulsing the parsley in four batches, making sure not to fill the processor bowl more than halfway. It’s always better to pulse rather than process to make sure the parsley is the same size.
- Remove the parsley and add it to the bowl with the mint and scallion mixture.
- Repeat until all the parsley is done.
- Finely chop the tomatoes, then add them into the parsley mixture.
- Toss the parsley, tomatoes and mint scallion mixture, then add in the cooked lentils, salt, lemon juice and olive oil.
Tahini Sauce
- In a bowl, whisk the tahini with lime juice and salt.
- Thin out the sauce with water to your desired consistency. Adding a tablespoon of water will make a thick sauce, so I recommend starting there and adding more water if you need to.
- Taste and adjust the salt, cumin or more lime to your taste.
- Add a thin drizzle on top of the tabbouleh salad, or serve on the side.
Chicken
- Slice each chicken breast in half, then season with all the ingredients.
- Grill the chicken on medium-high heat for 5-7 mins per side (depending on the thickness of your chicken). Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve alongside the salad with tahini sauce.
