❤️ Why You’ll Love Dolmades
Beautiful: These dolmades are stunning. They look so beautiful on a serving plate, on a charcuterie board, wherever you’re putting them Delicious: The combination of the herby rice mix with the lemon sauce on top is just so dang good Impressive: You’ll seriously wow your guests with this recipe and they’re so good for the holiday season
🍲 Ingredients
Grape Leaves – You can buy these in a jar, I use the Orlando brand. You can find them in the international aisle or in a Greek or Middle Eastern grocery store. Short Grain Rice – Short-grain rice has more starch than long-grain rice which tends to stick together when cooked. This makes it great for a filling and makes it way easier to roll these.
👩🍳 How to Make Dolmades
- Prepare the large pot: Set aside 8 grape leaves. Layer the bottom of the pot with a drizzle of olive oil and then layer 4 grape leaves, overlapping them to cover most of the bottom of the pot. Then add 4 slices of lemon, another drizzle of olive oil, and layer 4 more grape leaves. Set aside.
- When the dolmades are done, remove them from the heat and let them sit while you make the sauce.
- Make the lemon sauce: using a blender, blend together the water or chicken broth along with lemon juice, 1 tbsp cornstarch, and 2 eggs. Transfer to a small pot over medium heat, stirring often, and let it thicken as the sauce cooks – about 3-4 minutes. Season with 1/2-1 tsp salt. Remove from the heat.
- Serve the dolmades and allow people to spoon over the amount of lemon sauce they would like. Top with more fresh dill if desired and cracked black pepper and fresh lemon wedges.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
Don’t overstuff the grape leaves. You will just make your life a lot harder when you try to roll them up Wait about 20-30 minutes before eating the dolmades. You’ll want to give them some time to set and absorb all the juices
🗒 Variations
Here are some different variations you can make with your dolmades:
Vegetarian: You can make these vegetarian by swapping the beef for a plant-based substitute or omitting the meat entirely and adding more rice Meat: If you want you can swap beef for another ground meat like lamb, chicken, or turkey Veggies: Feel free to add minced veggies to the mix
🗒 Best served with
Greek Moussaka Greek Salad Tomato Fritters
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Put leftover dolmades in an airtight container when they have cooled, and eat within 3-4 days. You can enjoy the leftovers cold or reheat in a pan with a bit of water on medium-low heat until warmed through.
🤔 Common Questions
