Stuffed grape leaves are a delicious Mediterranean mezze. In my meatless version of this recipe, I stuff blanched grape leaves with rice, fresh herbs, and pine nuts. Lemon zest adds a lovely essence. They’re especially nice chilled, served alongside other salads and cold mezze for a light summer meal. If you’ve never tried them before, this is a fun vegan cooking project with healthy, delicious results!
Stuffing grape leaves used to intimidate to me. It seemed like such a complicated, foreign process. I sought advice from a friend of ours named Tony, who owns a Greek restaurant in Malibu. Tony makes the best meat-stuffed grape leaves ever (fingers crossed he’ll share his recipe with me soon!). He told me that stuffing grape leaves is a lot easier than it seems– all you really need is a little time and patience.
I decided to take his advice and try making vegetarian grape leaves first. And you know what? He’s right! There was a learning curve, but once I understood the process, it became second nature. The first time I made them, I used a simple herbed rice as a filling. Over time I tweaked it, adding more herbs, onion, and lemon for flavor and pine nuts for texture/protein.
The result? Delicious! Not to mention vegan, parve, gluten free, healthy– you get the idea.
How to Make Stuffed Grape Leaves
I’ve provided a clearly photographed step-by-step tutorial. Are you lucky enough to have a pesticide-free grape vine in the back yard? Use those leaves! If you don’t (wish I did!), you’ll need to buy 1 or 2 large jars of grape leaves. You can find these at Middle Eastern markets or specialty stores. They can also be found online. I usually end up using a little more than 1 large jar, since many of the leaves end up damaged and unsuited to stuffing. You can use the damaged leaves to line the bottom of the pot, which helps to prevent scorching.
When to Serve Stuffed Grape Leaves
I often make these vegan stuffed grape leaves for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. On this holiday we are encouraged to create dishes from fresh seasonal ingredients. Sukkot ushers in the autumn season, and menus are inspired by the bounty of the harvest. That means lots of apples, squash, eggplants, figs, grapes, and– you guessed it– grape leaves!
While these are very appropriate for Sukkot, you can obviously serve these stuffed grape leaves year-round. They’re especially nice served chilled during the hot summer months. Garnish them with fresh mint leaves, lemon slices and olives for a lovely presentation.
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Vegetarian Grape Leaves (Dolmades)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh minced dill
- 1/4 cup fresh minced mint
- 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 3/4 cups vegetable broth (a yellow broth is best), divided
- 50 large grape leaves (fresh or jarred)
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh mint leaves, lemon slices, and olives (for garnish - optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Pour the pine nuts into a skillet and lightly toast them over medium heat till golden brown. Reserve.Pour ¼ cup of olive oil into a medium pot and heat it over medium. Add minced onion to the pot and sauté until soft. Add the rice to the pot and stir to combine. Sauté for another minute. Pour in ¾ cup vegetable broth and lower the heat; simmer the rice uncovered for about 10 minutes till the liquid is absorbed and the rice is half cooked. Do not cook the rice fully, or you’ll end up with mushy grape leaves! Just cook it to an al dente texture. Remove pot from heat.
- Add the minced dill, mint, toasted pine nuts, 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to the pot of rice. Stir till all ingredients are well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
- Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. As the water is heating, trim the leaves by cutting the stems off, flush with the leaves. Trim any large, hard veins from the leaves. Place the leaves in the boiling water and let them soften for 3-5 minutes till they become pliable (fresh leaves may take a bit longer to soften than jarred).
- Drain, then cover the leaves with cold water. Drain the leaves again and pat them dry.Note: If using fresh leaves, try to use younger leaves (medium size)—they’ll be more tender than the very large leaves.
- Place a grape leaf shiny (smooth) side down, vein (bumpy) side up, on a flat surface like a cutting board.
- Place 2 tbsp of rice filling at the base end of the leaf, near where the stem was.
- Fold the stem end up over the filling.
- Fold the edges of the leaf inward.
- Continue rolling the leaf till it forms a neat rolled package. Do not roll too tightly; the rice will expand a little during cooking, and if you roll it too tight the leaf will unravel as it cooks.
- Squeeze the roll gently to seal.Repeat the process with the remaining leaves till all of the filling is gone.
- As you roll the leaves, you may find some leaves that are damaged or have large holes. Place those damaged leaves into the bottom of your saute pan to line it and create a bed for the stuffed leaves.
- Place the stuffed leaves in the bottom of the saute pan. Don’t be afraid to pack the leaves snugly; this will help keep the leaves intact as they cook. Make a single layer on the bottom of the pan. When you run out of room, make a second layer on top.
- Pour 1 cup of broth, ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil, and ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice over the stuffed grape leaves. Heat the pan over medium until it begins to simmer (don’t boil, or the leaves will start to fall apart).Cover the pot. Let the grape leaves cook for 30-40 minutes. The leaves are finished cooking when they are fork-tender.
- Stuffed grape leaves can be served warm or cold, as-is or topped with a variety of sauces. I like serving them with fresh tzatziki or tahini sauce—recipes for both can be found on my blog. Store them in the refrigerator; they will keep for about 1 week.
Julia says
Wow, these look amazing!!!!
sippitysup says
This is exactly the kind of recipe I meant when I said to you that I was looking for something that would make Ken’s Sephardic mom happy! GREG
Samantha @ Ferraro Kitchen says
My mom and I always made stuffed grape leaves with meat and rice….ohh yes…I remmeber sitting for hours rolling, and rolling those leaves..washing the leaves when I was little! My moms comming to visit next month, and we havent made grapeleaves together..in years! So cant wait!
Melanie says
I love stuffed grape leaves, I made the ones with meat before, but never the vegetarian version. Your photos look amazing!
Claudie says
Stuffed grape leaves is one of the typical foods we’ll eat in Bulgaria around Christmas. As a child, I used to hate them and would have to be convinced to at least try one. Then, after a while, something happened and once I moved to the US I started craving them. Now I LOVE them!! (how come? I have no idea.)
I’ll have to admit though: I’ve made them myself only once with the help of a friend. I must try again though, this time all by myself, and I will use your recipe! Yours look so pretty, and I love the addition of pine nuts in them.
Kate @ Kate from Scratch says
These looks and sounds so good! I love the flavors and vegetarian is always a bonus, in my opinion. Delicious!
Laurie Piekarsky says
These look absolutely delicious! Is there any alternative ingredient you would suggest to replace the (pine) nut?
Tori Avey says
Hi Laurie! Try 1 cup of cooked chopped chickpeas (garbanzo beans). I’ve used that in the filling before and it’s delicious, too!
patrujo says
pine nuts are awesome, but the local Armenian grocery store charges $25-35 a pound! I will try to substitute with garbonzos, Thanks!
Peggy says
I’ve always been intimidated by making stuffed grape leaves also, but you definitely make it look so easy and simple =)
Kelly says
Wow these turned out great! I’ve never tried grape leaves before but your presentation is amazing 🙂 Love these!
RavieNomNoms says
Oh I am sure these are just wonderful! I love that they are vegetarian!
Tina@flourtrader says
I have always admired anyone that had the skill for creating this type of dish. I cannot believe that this is the result of your first try. I would think that the leaves would be so delicate and tear, but your pictures indicate I was wrong! This post does inspire. Great step by step photos and a delicious recipe-thanks!
Tori Avey says
Thanks Tina! This wasn’t my first try, I’ve made them several times. It’s not all that difficult to master, once you get the hang of it.
Jen says
I am so excited you posted this! I am Greek yet have never dared to make these before, sadly. Saving it. Thanks for posting!
Erika - In Erika's Kitchen says
I only made these once and I’m still intimidated – but I’ve been meaning to try again. You’ve given me new motivation!
Maya@Foodiva's Kitchen says
I’ve always loved to order dolmades in restaurants but have never known how to make them at home. Your step-by-step is tremendously helpful and of course, everything is beautifully shot. Are you going to do a video tutorial someday, because you’re a natural in front of the camera? 🙂
Tori Avey says
Thanks Maya! I’ll be posting some videos soon, stay tuned. 😉
Ann says
I’ve never been a stuffed grape leaf person…but I really, REALLY like the filling – you may just change my mind on this one. I can’t tell you how many dishes I used to avoid and once I made them the first time, I became a fan! Thanks!
David Girard says
I started several grape plants for the fruit but never thought about using them for cooking. Here in the north country the leave should be ready so I am going to try your recipe and share it with my friends and co-workers. Thanks!
Liz says
Thank you for such a detailed post on how to make these stuffed grape leaves. My mom has made them before…a meat filled version…and now I’d love to try them, too. Gorgeous photos…the top and bottom ones are stunning!
Kim Bee says
Tori these are so beautiful. Love the step by step photos. I’ve never eaten these let alone made them. Must pop them on the list of things to try. As usually you rocked my world. Lol!
carol says
NICE! Been looking for this!
Sally Grech says
Tori, I’ve heard that sushi rice, or short grain rice does not expand when cooked. Would that be an option for these? Yours look delicious and I can’t wait to try them! I have a grapevine and am thinking about trying home grown leaves for these!
Tori Avey says
Hi Sally! I’m officially jealous of your grapevine. 🙂 Sushi/short grain rice will work, but it has a different texture than long grain rice, so it won’t be quite the same. I’d go with long grain, but if you only have short grain on hand it will be okay. Don’t worry about the expanding problem– as long as you follow my instructions carefully and don’t roll the leaves too tightly, you should be good to go!