Turkish Dolmas (Stuffed Grape Leaves) Recipe

These rich Turkish preparations have their origin in the Ottoman Empire. It is a recipe that is prepared with vine leaves stuffed with minced meat that can be beef or lamb, accompanied by lemon, rice and other spices and vegetables.

If you want to make this stuffed vine leaves recipe, we recommend using a steamer so that they cook better. However, if that’s not possible, you can use a wide strainer and a nonstick skillet or pot with a lid. If you already have everything ready, read

Ingredients to make Turkish Dolmas (Stuffed Grape Leaves):

• 20 vine leaves
• 2 lemons
• 400 grams of ground beef or lamb
• 2 dessert spoons of pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon pitted raisins
• 1 cup coarse bulgur or basmati rice
• 1 piece of onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 handful of mint leaves
• 2 pinches of salt and ground black pepper to taste

How to make Turkish Dolmas (Stuffed Grape Leaves):

Pour two cups of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil with a pinch of salt and add the cup of bulgur once the water is boiling. Stir and cover until done, it will take about 15 minutes, but it depends on what the package says. Drain it and let it cool. Leave the grape leaves to soak so that they are clean and hydrated. Meanwhile, grind the onion together with the mint leaves and the garlic clove; no need to grind too much.

Add the crushed ingredients to the minced meat and add the rest of the ingredients:  raisins, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Stir the mixture so that the flavors integrate well. Drain the vine leaves and boil them over high heat to scald them, 5 minutes will suffice.

Once the bulgur is cold, add it to the meat mixture and integrate everything again to form a homogeneous paste. Drain and dry the boiled vine leaves. It’s time to roll up the Turkish dolman! It is not complicated, but it requires some patience. Take a tablespoon of the ground beef mixture and place it on a vine leaf. This should be upside down so that the tail of the blade is inward and can be folded over the meat. In this way, roll with the ends inward as you wrap the meat and shape it into a cigarette.

Meanwhile, prepare a pot or steamer with a liter of water and let it boil. Once you have all the meat wrapped with the leaves, add some lemon slices as thin as possible as the first layer before adding the dolmas. Place the dolmas without piling them up, if necessary do it in several batches.

Cover the Turkish dolmas again with lemon slices and cover, leaving to cook for 30 minutes. Once this time has passed, remove the lemon slices and serve hot.

Tip: You can also prepare these stuffed vine leaves without meat and only with rice. In that case, you can enjoy them cold.

Prepare a sauce to accompany the Turkish dolma rolls, we are sure that you will love to try it with a delicate sauce of yogurt or sour cream.

Tip: You can also buy canned vine leaves if you can’t find them natural.