Stuffed Grape Leaves

4.87 from 15 votes

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.

Prep Time1 hr

Cook Time2 hrs 30 mins

Total Time3 hrs 30 mins

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Romanian

Keyword: stuffed grape leaves

Servings:

Calories: 100.58kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
1/4 cup dill fresh, chopped
1 pounds ground pork
1 pound ground beef
3/4 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
1/2 cup white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio

US Customary - Metric

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 degrees. 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.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition