This vegan-friendly Jennifer Aniston Salad is the answer to all of your meal prep woes. Made with bulgur wheat, healthy vegetables, chickpeas, and a vibrant dressing, it’s a hearty meal that tastes great all week long!
When I first tried the viral TikTok sensation that is this Jennifer Aniston Salad, my tastebuds were underwhelmed. So, I played with the recipe and came up with this ultra-flavorful and vegan-friendly version! One bite and you’ll be packing it up for all of your weekday lunches.
Some sources claim the actress ate this salad every day for 10 years while she was working on the set of Friends, but those rumors have since been cleared up. Regardless, this loaded and healthy salad is still delicious and worthy of the spotlight!
It’s made with bulgur wheat, pistachios, crisp veggies, fresh herbs, tofu feta, and a vibrant salad dressing. The best part is it stays fresh all week long. Talk about the ultimate solution for meal prep!
You’re going to love this tabbouleh-like salad because it’s:
- Fresh, light, and flavorful.
- Loaded with plant based protein.
- Perfect for meal prep and side dishes. It stays fresh all week long in the fridge!
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Ingredients and substitutions
You’ll find all kinds of colorful vegetables, nuts, and herbs in a Jennifer Aniston salad recipe. Here’s what my version calls for:
- Bulgur - Bulgur wheat is a hearty grain that’s delicious in anything, from salads to vegan burgers. It’s also packed with fiber and will keep you full for a long time. If you can’t find bulgur, make the salad with white quinoa, orzo, farro, or pearl couscous instead.
- Cucumber - Peeled or unpeeled. It’s up to you!
- Fresh mint and parsley - Fresh herbs are better than dried here.
- Red onion - Soak the chopped red onion in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes to tone down the strong flavors.
- Pistachios - Buttery pistachios are so luxurious here and add a crunch to each bite. Feel free to replace them with chopped smoked almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds.
- Chickpeas - One of the main sources of vegan protein. Canned chickpeas will help you cut down on prep time but you’re more than welcome to cook dried chickpeas from scratch if you want.
- Vegan feta - My easy vegan feta cheese is packed in Greek-style brine and adds salty, cheesy elements to this Mediterranean-inspired salad. Violife vegan feta is a wonderful storebought option!
- Salad dressing - I gave the typical lemon and olive oil salad dressing a boost by adding pomegranate molasses and ground cumin. If you can’t find pomegranate molasses, replace it with balsamic glaze.
How to make a Jennifer Aniston salad
My vegan Jennifer Aniston salad is low maintenance and just as easy to put together as my Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas. Here’s how it’s done:
- Cook the bulgur: Pour boiling water over the bulgur wheat in a bowl, cover with a lid, and let it sit until the wheat has soaked up all of the water.
- Make the salad dressing: Whisk all of the salad dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
- Assemble the salad: Add the cooked and cooled bulgur to a large bowl. Stir in the rest of the salad ingredients and dressing, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve or store: Serve the salad right away or store it in the fridge for later.
Tips for success
- The best way to cook bulgur - The key to a really good bulgur salad is to soak the bulgur, not cook it. The soaking method always results in slightly chewy bulgur that isn’t mushy.
- Save on prep time - Cook the bulgur 1 or 2 days in advance and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge until it’s time to assemble the salad.
- Cold bulgur - Once the bulgur is cooked, pop it in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes to chill. Assembling the salad with freshly soaked and warm bulgur can lead to mushy vegetables and herbs.
- Gluten free - Bulgur is a type of wheat, which means this salad is not naturally gluten free. Simply replace the bulgur with white quinoa if you’d like the salad to be gluten free.
- Portion size - This recipe makes enough salad for 6 people (smaller portions).
More salad topping options
Play with the salad toppings as you like! There’s plenty of room for more, such as:
- Green peas
- Edamame
- Bell peppers
- Shredded vegan cheese
- Sunflower seeds
- Cauliflower rice
- Microgreens
- Dried cranberries
- Leftover seitan chicken
- Beans
- Dill
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cilantro
- Olives
Storing
The assembled salad can be stored for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Looking for more easy vegan salad recipes?
Enjoy everyone! Happy Day! Please feel free to comment below and give this recipe a rating. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
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Jennifer Aniston Salad
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan-friendly Jennifer Aniston Salad is the answer to all of your meal prep woes. Made with bulgur wheat, healthy vegetables, chickpeas, and a vibrant dressing, it’s a hearty meal that tastes great all week long!
Ingredients
For salad:
- 1 cup uncooked bulgur wheat (see notes*)
-
1 and ¼ cups boiling water
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1 long english cucumber, seeded and diced small (about 2 cups)
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½ cup chopped fresh mint
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½ cup chopped fresh parsley, flat leaf
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⅓ cup red onion, diced small
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½ cup roasted and salted chopped pistachios
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1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
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½ cup vegan feta, crumbled or chopped small (completely optional - see notes*)
For dressing:
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
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3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (see notes*)
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2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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½ teaspoon ground cumin
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½ teaspoon salt
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Pinch of cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Cook bulgur: Add bulgur wheat and a pinch of salt to a medium bowl (I use a cereal bowl). Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Pour 1 and ¼ cups of boiling water over the bulgur. Immediately cover tightly with saran wrap and cover with a dish towel. Let sit for 30 minutes until all water is absorbed. Uncover and set aside to cool, fluff with a fork. Drain any excess water if necessary.
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Make dressing: Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
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Combine: In a large salad bowl add the cooled bulgur, rest of salad ingredients and dressing. Toss well, season with salt and pepper if necessary.
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Enjoy: Serve cold or room temperature. Enjoy! Serves 6 as a side dish or 3 to 4 as a main course. Step by step photos, Tips, suggestions and more in above post and notes section*
Notes
- Pistachios: could sub with smoked almonds
- Bulgur wheat: I always buy Bob’s Red Mill Red Bulgur wheat. It is my go to.. If you didn't want to use bulgur wheat you could sub couple cups of cooked quinoa, orzo, farro, pearl couscous, etc,..
- Pomegranate molasses: I find it at my local Walmart (Canada) in the international section. I use Cortas brand. (keeps in the fridge for 1 year or more!!) Could sub balsamic glaze (reduced balsamic vinegar) - 2 to 3 tablespoons. But I highly recommend the recipe as written.
- Vegan feta: could use my homemade. I find violife feta works well in this recipe, if using.
- To Store: salad will keep in fridge in sealed container for up to 5 days (perfect for meal prep!)
- Prep Time: 30 Minutes
- Category: Salads, Mains
- Method: mix in a bowl
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern, American, Canadian
Carol A McCollum says
Sounds yummy. Serves 6. Per serving: cal. 223. sodium 211.9mg. fat 6.3g. carb.36mg.
Is that including the 'optional' vegan feta, and dressing?
Rita says
Loved this recipe so tasty
Verna says
Thank you so much Rita! 🙂
Margaret says
Looking forward to trying this! Looks delicious.
Verna says
Thank you, enjoy!