| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 1 hr |
| Inactive: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 12 to 15 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 pounds ground pork
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1 cup chopped white onion
- 1 cup chopped spring onion
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons ground pepper
- Tomato puree
- Butter
- Olive oil
- 1 jar preserved grape leaves in brine
- Lemon juice
Instructions
- Mix the ground beef and ground pork. Add the rice, dill, both onions, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and then mix.
- Make a puree by first melting some butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Then add enough olive oil and tomato puree until the sauce is orange-red in color. Stir over medium heat but do not boil. Add enough of the puree to the meat so that it is moist but not soupy. Let cool, about 20 minutes.
- Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with a layer of grape leaves. De-stem the remaining leaves and place vein-side up on your work surface. Place about 3 ounces of meat filling on each leaf and roll them up. Once you have rolled all your grape leaves, stack them in a circular pattern in the pan. Add a little lemon juice, some olive oil and enough water to just cover the top of your last stack. Cover and let simmer for about an hour.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 14 servings |
| Calories | 530 |
| Total Fat | 33 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Carbohydrates | 32 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 3 g |
| Protein | 27 g |
| Cholesterol | 99 mg |
| Sodium | 513 mg |
Reviews
Wish I knew how much tomato puree used. I had these in California back in 1978 at a Greek restaurant, can’t say I remember how they tasted then, but I loved them! These seem to be missing something. Still good!
I am an amateur at this, but I couldn’t tell if the rice was cooked when he added it in or not. I don’t want to mess it up! Also , how much dill. That’s not included in the recipe and neither is the lemon sauce
Best stuffed grape leaves recipe ever.
I love these! They taste like the ones at a Greek restaurant in Detroit that closed years ago, and they were delicious! Thanks soccerdoc for the lemon sauce recipe. That’s how they served them at New Hellas Cafe!
Excellent! My favorite food. I hate to admit it, but it’s better than my family recipe. It’s also really great that he shared his Yia-Yia’s recipe with us. I did add some mint (my recipe uses 1Tbsp-ish per pound of meat. My family loved it & I made it again within a week!
For zch2712 – the lemon sauce (if I remember right he basically started with a roux of flour & butter & then he added lemon juice and chicken stock (in unclear quantities. Upon serving, it appeared similar to the lemon sauce used at most Greek restaurants (in my experience. It’s a bit thin and translucent for my liking. I used my recipe for the sauce (enough for 1lb of meat, probably need 4x this for his quantity above: 2-3 eggs, beat in 1T cornstarch, the juice of 2 lemons and 1 cup of chicken stock. Heat after mixing (to avoid cooking the eggs before you’ve added the stock until thick enough to sit on top of the leaves/rice. Hope that helps.
Great recipe, I used tomato pastes and v-8 juice, and only white onion. I made a half batch and a little larger rolls and added what was left of the puree to the pot to cook. wonderful, and just like stuffed cabbage its better the next day!
Delicious, I didn’t add enough dill but should have.
Love it. Need to add the lemon sauce recipe.
Love it. Need to add the lemon sauce recipe.
i add dill to mine…delicious!