When I recently asked my husband if he’d like tabouli, a salad made of parsley, mint, scallions, bulgur, tomatoes, cucumbers and a lemony dressing, he responded that we’d just had it.
But what he referred to was couscous salad.
Sure the dishes contained similar vegetables. However, I pointed out that bulgur is the grain in tabouli, while couscous is in the salad of the same name.
He shrugged and gave me that ” if you say so” look. Then, as the good husband of a blogger, my husband said, “you really ought to write a post about the difference between bulgur and couscous.”
So here it is. Yes, tabouli and couscous salads can look similar – and so can the grains.
Bulgur and couscous do come from a common source – wheat. But there are differences.
Bulgur
Bulgur (on the right in the photo above), is considered a whole grain. Another name for bulgur is wheat groats. (Groats is a general term for hulled grains, including oat, rye and barley as well as wheat.) Made of durum (hard) wheat, bulgur is cracked and partially cooked before packaging.
In the US, there are 4 grinds of bulgur, ranging from fine or extra fine (the name differs depending on the brand) to coarse or extra coarse. The color variation below is because Bob’s Red Mill (on the far right) bulgur, is from red wheat. The two to the left are from more common, brown, wheat.
In the photo below, you can really see the variation in the grains of the fine and medium grinds and the irregularity of the individual pieces of bulgur.
Bulgur is a common ingredient in cuisines throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East, even as far east as India. Besides tabouli (or tabbouleh) and other salads, bulgur is an ingredient in rice pilafs, soups, stuffing, and hot side dishes.
You will also find bulgur in sweet dishes, including an Indian dish known as dalia and a Sephardic Jewish pudding known as prehito, moustrahana or belila.
Although you can cook bulgur for 5-7 minutes (depending on the grind), I don’t do that. Instead, I pour very hot or boiling water over the bulgur, let it stand for a while, and then drain it well.
Couscous
Unlike bulgur, couscous is not whole grain. Rather, couscous comes from husked and crushed wheat called semolina. Couscous was originally made from millet, not wheat. Technically the term covers small, round pellets made from other grains too, and even rice, corn or black-eyed peas.
However, in the US, what we refer to as couscous is the semolina wheat variety.
Couscous is made by sprinkling the semolina with water and rolling it into tin, regular granules. Most packaged couscous that I’ve found is refined. I did find a whole wheat version at Whole Foods. As you can see below, the whole wheat is slightly darker than the refined. However both are small, regular-shaped “pearls.”
Couscous is traditional in North, West and even Central Africa, as well as the Middle East.
I love couscous salads, but the more traditional use of the grain is in hot meals, covered with meat, poultry, vegetables, and beans in a stew or broth. In several Middle Eastern countries, couscous is also a dessert, piled in a dome with nuts, sugar and cinnamon.
It’s not just a matter of the difference between bulgur and couscous, but also the types of couscous.
The larger round shaped so-called couscous, called Israeli or Jerusalem couscous is actually tiny balls of pasta.
The couscous we get in the West is generally pre-steamed and dried. Therefore, you only cook it by adding boiling water and letting it sit for a few minutes. Couscous sold in the Middle East or elsewhere is steamed for considerably longer. And Israeli or Jerusalem couscous (ptitim in Hebrew) is boiled like other types of pasta.
Now that you know the difference between bulgur and couscous, which one do you prefer?
Silvia Odete Morani Massad says
Awesome blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring
writers? I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a
little lost on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for
a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m totally confused ..
Any suggestions? Many thanks!
Laura says
Thanks. I don’t have any tips but if you check on the web for writers and bloggers, you’ll find lots of advice. One of my personal favorites is Jane Friedman’s blog.
Marcia says
Excellent explanation of the two different grains, bulgar and couscous. Is one better as nutrition?
Laura says
Marcia, I checked and bulgur wins. Not surprising as it is a whole grain and most cous cous is not whole grain. Here is a link that does a nutritional comparison: https://skipthepie.org/cereal-grains-and-pasta/bulgur-cooked/compared-to/couscous-cooked/
Edivaldo Oliveira da silva silva says
Very good, I liked it
Richard says
Hey! So in a big supermarket by me there is a common brand I wholewheat couscous. It is made from 100% wholewheat durum grain. I use it often in the summer months with lots of veg, fresh herbs etc but I was wondering about bulgar wheat and the differences. But what is this stuff I’m buying… You say bulgar wheat I durum grain so is ‘wholegrain’ couscous made from durum wheat, essentially a type of bulgar? Thanks!
Laura says
Richard, I looked at a number of sources – it’s such a confusing area for me. Basically, as far as I can figure out, whole wheat cous cous and bulgur can both be made from durum (the hardest type of) whole wheat. The difference is in the preparation. Cous cous is milled and rolled, whereas bulgur is parboiled, dried, then cracked or ground. https://lesliebeck.com/foods/couscous-bulgur But when you read the labels and web pages from Bob’s Red Mill on that company’s whole wheat cous cous and bulgur, the difference seems to be that the cous cous is toasted while the bulgur is parboiled. Compare https://www.bobsredmill.com/whole-wheat-pearl-couscous.html to https://www.bobsredmill.com/bulgur.html Hmm. Hope that helps.
Jayne says
This is still a bit confusing – bulgur and couscous are both forms of durum wheat, even though they are different products. Your explanation is slightly ambiguous, making it appear that one is from ‘durum wheat’ and the other from something different called ‘semolina’. Semolina is a derivative of exactly the same durum wheat, it’s just that bulgur is the whole grain form and semolina has been refined. It’s important that people realise they are the same thing because many people (me included) can eat most of the everyday soft wheats that we buy as good old plain flour but can’t have some of the harder wheats, of which durum is probably one of the most extreme.
I was recently given bulgur in a salad in a fairly smart pub – the menu said it was ‘barley salad’. Stupidly, even though I kept thinking ‘what on earth could they have done to this barley to make it so much like bulgur?’ I still ate it. Absolutely my own fault, and I spent three days being extremely ill indeed. When I was feeling better and called the pub to suggest that they needed to be more careful, the manager actually said ‘well, barley and bulgur are basically the same thing. Aren’t they?’ Er, no, barey is totally unrelated to bulgur.
But bulgur and semolina are the same grain in different forms. And so is couscous and so is moghrabieh (giant couscous), and Israeli couscous or pearl couscous – they are all made from durum wheat. And most commercially made Italian-style pastas are also made from durum wheat, so that’s off the menu too. Pizza dough and shortbread almost always contain semolina too – it’s what gives them their crunch and slightly gritty texture. That delicious slightly chewy yellow-coloured bread you get in Greece? Yep, durum wheat.
A good rule of thumb is that if a bake looks slightly creamy-yellow in colour, the chances are it contains durum wheat in one form or another.
Anyway, enjoy your delicious looking salads, whether they are made from couscous or bulgur. I’ll have to substitute barley, but that’s OK.
Laura says
Jane, thanks for stopping by. The post does say “Bulgur and couscous do come from a common source – wheat.” That should alert anyone with celiac disease that they shouldn’t eat either one. Yes, barley is a good substitute for those who are gluten-sensitive. I make barley into a risotto and that’s delicious too. It does look creamy, but it’s definitely not wheat. https://motherwouldknow.com/vegetarian-barley-risotto/