Stuffed Grape Leaves
This recipe for Stuffed Grape Leaves is another one of my favorite popular Romanian recipes that I want to share with you. These grape leaves are stuffed with ground meat and rice, topped with a tomato sauce and baked to perfection.
Servings: 40
Calories: 96kcal
Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped
- ¼ cup dill fresh, chopped
- 1 pounds ground pork
- 1 pound ground beef
- ¾ cup rice long grain
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 pound grape leaves (1 jar)
- 4 cups passata or tomato juice or sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- ½ cup white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio
Instructions
- Make your stuffing: Mix together onion, dill, ground meat, rice, vegetable oil and salt and pepper - with your clean hands!
- Optional step: Soak your grape leaves in water for approximately 10 minutes OR to remove even more salt content from your grape leaves, you can boil them in a large pot for about a minute, then remove and let cool. Pat them dry a little bit with paper towels.
- Roll grape leaves: Using a tablespoon, spoon your stuffing mixture onto your grape leaves and roll. I found the best way to roll was to roll the bottom up, fold in the sides, then continue rolling up. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Transfer the rolls to a large deep oven proof pan or ceramic casserole dish.
- Make the sauce: In a large bowl combine, tomato passata, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and white wine then mix well.
- Preheat oven: To 350℉. Pour the sauce over the rolls and cover dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake: Transfer the pan to the oven and bake the rolls for 1.5 hours covered. Then remove aluminum foil and bake for another 1 hour. Serve hot topped with sour cream, yogurt or tzatziki.
Video
Notes
- This recipe should yield about 40 to 45 stuffed grape leaves, depends on how big you make them.
- Stuffed grape leaves will last in the fridge for up to 5 days. Drizzle the rolls with olive oil to prevent drying out, and store in an airtight container.
- To freeze the grape leaves, again drizzled with olive oil, place together into a freezer bag or portioned into separate freezer bags, and they will last up to 6 months.
- Nutritional information is based on 1 stuffed grape leaf.
Nutrition
Serving: 1stuffed grape leaf | Calories: 96kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 81mg | Potassium: 226mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3272IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg