Stuffed vegetables (memulaim)

Stuffed vegetables, memulaim in Israel, are one pot of hollowed vegetables, peppers, zucchini, baby aubergines, onion layers and vine leaves, filled with rice and beef and simmered slowly in a sweet and sour sauce. It is a grandmother's dish in every community, from Iraq and Kurdistan to Turkey and Greece, and a full pot is one of the most impressive sights on a holiday table.

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Gluten freeDairy freeMeat

Updated

Stuffed vegetablesIllustration
Time2 h 50 minCook 1 h 20 min · + Soak 10 min
Amount8 portions3.6 kg
Per portion535 kcal21 g protein · a 450 g portion
Cost of the pot₪71for the pot, about ₪8.9 a bowl

The story of Stuffed vegetables

Stuffing a vegetable is an old and simple idea: take a hollow vegetable, fill it with a little meat and a lot of rice, and feed a large family. Stuffed vegetables have been a pillar of Iraqi cooking since medieval Baghdad, and the Ottoman Empire spread dolma, from the Turkish word for filling, from the Balkans to the Gulf. Each community took the idea its own way: sweet and sour in Iraq, sour in Kurdistan, olive oil and herbs in Greece, tamarind and apricots in Aleppo.

In Israel stuffed vegetables are a holiday dish, above all for Sukkot: stuffed food stands for plenty, and the harvest festival arrives while summer vegetables are still in the market. Ashkenazi families cook stuffed cabbage, families from Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Turkey stuff almost any vegetable, and in today's Israeli home a mixed pot of memulaim is close to a Friday institution. Kurdish Jews call stuffed leaves yaprach, Iraqi Jews call the pot dolma, and Syrian Jews mahshi.

What makes Stuffed vegetables itself

Good stuffed vegetables are a balance of three things: the vegetable, the filling and the sauce. The vegetable has to soften without falling apart, the filling needs room because the uncooked rice swells inside it, and the sauce has to cook the rice and flavour it. In the Iraqi version the sauce is sweet and sour, lemon and sugar with tomato paste, and at the end of cooking it reduces and caramelises the bottom of the onions, the part everyone fights over.

Stuffed vegetables for any number of people

Change the number of people and the portion size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per portion.

Portion size
Units
3.6kg of food
5Pot to use, litres
₪71Cost of the pot
₪8.9per portion
535kcal per portion
21.0g protein per portion
IngredientAmountCost
The vegetables
Medium bell peppers, tops and seeds removed640 g · 4 pcs₪6.3
Pale zucchini, halved crosswise and hollowed (the pulp goes into the sauce)900 g · 6 pcs₪12
Large onions, for their layers500 g · 2 pcs₪3.0
Baby aubergines, hollowed400 g · 4 pcs₪2.8
Vine leaves in brine, rinsed60 g · 16 pcs₪2.7
Tomatoes, sliced, for the bottom of the pot250 g · 2 pcs₪2.0
The sweet and sour sauce
Water900 g
Tomato paste80 g₪2.8
Fresh lemon juice100 g₪2.0
Sugar40 g₪0.2
Salt8 g₪0.0
Dried mint2 g₪0.4
Canola oil30 g₪0.5
The filling
Round or Persian rice, rinsed and uncooked350 g₪4.5
Ground beef600 g₪27
Onion, finely chopped (the onion hearts work)120 g₪0.7
Chopped parsley30 g₪1.5
Chopped fresh mint8 g₪0.7
Grated tomato100 g · 1 pcs₪0.8
Canola oil30 g₪0.5
Baharat4 g₪0.5
Salt10 g₪0.0
Black pepper2 g₪0.3
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Stuffed vegetables? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Stuffed vegetables has 119 calories per 100 g. A 450 g serving made with our recipe has 535 calories: 21 g protein, 22.5 g fat and 56.8 g carbohydrates.

Lighter

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 4 pcs14 kcal per serving
  • 6 pcs18 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs25 kcal per serving
  • 4 pcs12 kcal per serving
  • 16 pcs7 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs6 kcal per serving
  • 80 g14 kcal per serving
  • 100 ml3 kcal per serving
  • 40 g19 kcal per serving
  • 8 g0 kcal per serving
  • 2 g1 kcal per serving
  • 30 ml30 kcal per serving
  • 350 g160 kcal per serving
  • 600 g185 kcal per serving
  • 120 g6 kcal per serving
  • 30 g1 kcal per serving
  • 8 g1 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs2 kcal per serving
  • 30 ml30 kcal per serving
  • 4 g0 kcal per serving
  • 10 g0 kcal per serving
  • 2 g1 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Stuffed vegetables

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
One large egg837.35.5
A tablespoon of oil122013.8

How to make Stuffed vegetables

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Vegetables: cut a lid off the peppers and remove the seeds. Halve the zucchini crosswise and hollow them with a corer, leaving 5 mm walls. Hollow the baby aubergines the same way. Chop the zucchini pulp and keep it.
  2. Onions: trim the ends, make one cut down the side of each onion to the centre and boil for 6 to 8 minutes, until the layers soften. Separate 10 large layers and chop the hearts for the filling.
  3. Vine leaves: rinse off the brine, soak in hot water for 10 minutes and drain.
  4. Filling: mix the rinsed rice, beef, chopped onion, herbs, grated tomato, oil and spices, and knead for a minute until even.
  5. Fill to three quarters only: about 70 g in a pepper, 35 g in half a zucchini, 45 g in a baby aubergine. Put 20 g on an onion layer and roll it into a cigar, and 12 g on a vine leaf and roll it tight.
  6. Sauce: mix the water, tomato paste, lemon juice, sugar, salt, mint and oil. Taste: it should be clearly sweet and sour, because the rice will take up some of the flavour.
  7. In a wide, heavy 30 cm pot lay the tomato slices and zucchini pulp on the bottom, the vine leaves and onions tightly over them, then the peppers, zucchini and aubergines standing upright, packed close.
  8. Pour in the sauce to three quarters of the height of the vegetables, set a heavy plate on top, bring to a boil and cook covered over low heat for 60 minutes.
  9. Test a vine leaf: if the rice is soft, uncover and cook 15 minutes more so the sauce reduces. For a deep colour, move the pot to the oven at 190°C for 20 minutes uncovered.
  10. Rest for 15 minutes and serve 5 or 6 pieces a portion, with the sauce.

The science of Stuffed vegetables

Kitchen science

Why the filling of stuffed vegetables bursts

Uncooked rice absorbs about twice its weight in water as it cooks, and its volume grows two and a half to three times. A vegetable filled to the brim leaves it no room, so the filling pushes the walls or escapes from the opening. Filling to three quarters, and rolling vine leaves tight but not strangled, gives the rice room to swell.

Kitchen science

Why the onions are boiled

Onion layers are glued together with pectin, and raw they are crisp and snap when rolled. Six to eight minutes in boiling water break down some of the pectin in the cell walls, and the layers become soft, pliable and easy to separate.

Kitchen science

Acid keeps the vegetables whole

The pectin that holds zucchini and peppers together breaks down quickly in heat under neutral conditions and slowly under acidic ones. Lemon and tomato keep the vegetables whole even after an hour of cooking, but they also slow the softening of the rice, which is why the cooking is long and gentle.

Kitchen science

The caramel at the bottom

At the end of cooking the sauce reduces and the temperature at the bottom climbs past 100°C. Above about 160°C the sugar in the sauce and the onions caramelises, and amino acids from the meat join in through the Maillard reaction. That makes the shiny brown bottom, and missing the moment means bitter burnt notes.

Kitchen science

Meat and rice inside a vegetable

The filling needs to reach 71°C at its centre, and 60 minutes over low heat takes it safely past that. Cool cooked stuffed vegetables within two hours and refrigerate them, because cooked rice left warm at room temperature is an easy home for bacteria.

Stuffed vegetables in every kitchen

Iraqi, sweet and sour dolma

A mixed pot of onions, zucchini, peppers, aubergines and vine leaves in a sauce of lemon, sugar and tomato paste, sometimes with tamarind or date syrup. The onions at the bottom caramelise and count as the best part.

Kurdish, yaprach

Vine leaves and chard stuffed with rice and meat, in a sauce more sour than sweet, with plenty of lemon. Cooked tightly packed in the pot under a heavy plate.

Syrian, mahshi and yebra

Aleppo Jews cook stuffed vegetables and vine leaves in a tamarind concentrate sauce, sometimes with dried apricots. The taste is sweet, sour and fruity, and the rice and meat filling is spiced with cinnamon and allspice.

Turkish, dolma

Turkey has two kinds: olive oil dolma, with rice, pine nuts, currants and mint, served cold, and meat dolma served hot. The olive oil version is vegetarian and parve.

Greek, gemista

Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice and herbs, baked with potato wedges and olive oil. In Greece it is a vegetarian summer dish, alongside dolmades, small stuffed vine leaves.

Ashkenazi, stuffed cabbage

Cabbage leaves filled with meat and rice in a sweet and sour tomato sauce with raisins, or with just lemon and sugar. A dish for Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

Common Stuffed vegetables problems and how to fix them

The rice in my stuffed vegetables stayed hard

There was not enough sauce, the vegetables were packed so tightly that the liquid did not reach the filling, or the cooking was too short. Add a cup of boiling water, cover and cook 20 minutes more over low heat. Next time check that the sauce reaches three quarters of the height.

The filling came out of the vegetables

The vegetables were filled to the top, or the pot boiled too hard and they floated. Fill to three quarters, set a heavy plate on top and keep it at a gentle bubble.

The onion layers tear and will not roll

They were not boiled long enough, or the layers were forced apart. Boil until the outer layer is half translucent and comes away by itself, and use the large outer layers. Pair two small layers together.

The stuffed vegetables came out too salty

Brined vine leaves carry a lot of salt. Soak them for 10 minutes in hot water and rinse before rolling, and taste the sauce before adding salt to it.

The sauce is too sour or too sweet

Adjust gradually: for a sauce that is too sour add a spoonful of sugar and a cup of water, for one that is too sweet the juice of half a lemon. Taste before cooking and again at the end, because the flavour concentrates as the sauce reduces.

Storing, freezing and reheating

4 days

In the fridge

3 months, cooked in their sauce

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Reheat in a covered pot over low heat with half a cup of water for 15 to 20 minutes, or in the oven at 160°C, covered. Stuffed vegetables taste even better the next day, once the rice has soaked up the sauce.

Nutrition of Stuffed vegetables

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 450 g portion53521.022.556.87.8
Our recipe, 100 g1194.75.012.61.7
Typical Stuffed vegetables, 100 g1248.16.96.90.8
Typical Stuffed vegetables, 100 g (2)743.13.77.11.1
Typical Stuffed vegetables, 100 g (3)1315.06.312.51.5
Typical Stuffed vegetables, 100 g (4)1427.07.28.73.6

What the ingredients of Stuffed vegetables cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Ground beef₪46 per kg₪27Supermarket
Pale zucchini, halved crosswise and hollowed (the pulp goes into the sauce)₪13 per kg₪12Greengrocer
Medium bell peppers, tops and seeds removed₪9.9 per kg₪6.3Greengrocer
Round or Persian rice, rinsed and uncooked₪13 per kg₪4.5Supermarket
Large onions, for their layers₪5.9 per kg₪3.7Greengrocer
Tomato paste₪35 per kg₪2.8Supermarket
Tomatoes, sliced, for the bottom of the pot₪7.9 per kg₪2.8Greengrocer
Baby aubergines, hollowed₪6.9 per kg₪2.8Greengrocer
Vine leaves in brine, rinsed₪45 per kg₪2.7Supermarket
Fresh lemon juice₪20 per litre₪2Supermarket
Chopped parsley₪4.9 each₪1.5Greengrocer
Canola oil₪15 per litre₪0.9Supermarket
Chopped fresh mint₪4.9 each₪0.7Greengrocer
Baharat₪119 per kg₪0.5Supermarket
Dried mint₪200 per kg₪0.4Spice shop
Black pepper₪139 per kg₪0.3Supermarket
Sugar₪5.5 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Stuffed vegetables and its culture

Stuffed vegetables are a dish of shared work. Before a holiday, in the kitchen of an Iraqi or Kurdish family, the table fills with bowls of hollowed vegetables and a big bowl of filling, and several generations sit together rolling vine leaves and onions. Whoever rolls the thinnest, most even leaves wins glory, and the children start with the peppers, which are hard to ruin.

In Syrian Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Latin America, yebra with apricots is a fixed holiday dish, and in Turkey and Greece olive oil dolma is part of every mezze table. In Israel stuffed vegetables are among the hardest dishes to make at home in large amounts, so they are ordered for Sukkot, bar mitzvahs and sheva brachot, in pots and in trays.

From the pantry: what Stuffed vegetables needs

Pantry

Round or Persian rice, rinsed and uncooked

Pantry

Baharat

Price and where to buy

Make Stuffed vegetables a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Stuffed vegetables

Serve hot with the sauce, fresh bread for wiping and a chopped vegetable salad. Iraqi homes serve white rice alongside, and at Sukkot the whole pot goes in the middle of the table.

The cuisine behind Stuffed vegetables

Iraqi

Iraqi cuisine

Stuffing a vegetable is an old and simple idea: take a hollow vegetable, fill it with a little meat and a lot of rice, and feed a large…

Iraqi cuisine
Kurdish

Kurdish cuisine

Kurdish cuisine
Syrian

Syrian cuisine

Syrian cuisine

Stuffed vegetables in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 450 g portion. For trays, catering and community kitchens.

Guestskg of food3 kg traysCost of ingredients
25114₪222
50228₪444
1004515₪888
2009030₪1,776
50022575₪4,440

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Stuffed vegetables

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Stuffed vegetables

Order Stuffed vegetables for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

What are stuffed vegetables, or memulaim?

Hollowed vegetables such as peppers, zucchini, aubergines, onions and vine leaves, filled with rice and meat or rice and herbs and cooked in a sauce. Almost every community in the Middle East and the Balkans makes them, and in Israel they are tied above all to Jews from Iraq, Kurdistan and Syria.

Which rice goes into the filling?

Round or Persian rice, which sticks a little and holds the filling together. Long basmati falls out of the filling and stays drier. Rinse it well and do not precook it.

Do I need to cook the rice before stuffing?

No. Uncooked rice cooks inside the vegetable in the sauce and takes in its flavour. If you are in a hurry, blanch it for 5 minutes, then cut the cooking by about a quarter of an hour and use a little less sauce.

How long do stuffed vegetables cook?

About an hour over low heat from the boil, plus 15 minutes uncovered so the sauce reduces. Test a vine leaf or a pepper: when the rice is fully soft, the pot is ready.

How do I make vegetarian stuffed vegetables?

Replace the meat with extra rice, cooked lentils, pine nuts and herbs, and add olive oil. The pot is parve and suits vegans, and it can be served hot or at room temperature.

What is the difference between dolma and stuffed vegetables?

They are the same family. Dolma is the Turkish word for a stuffed thing, and Iraqi Jews use it for the mixed pot of stuffed vegetables. In Hebrew, memulaim is the general name for all stuffed vegetables.

How many stuffed vegetables do I need for 40 people?

As a main course allow 5 or 6 pieces per person, about 450 g, so about 230 pieces and 18 kg. That is roughly 5 pots like this recipe, which is why for an event people start two days ahead or order.

How many calories are in Stuffed vegetables?

A 450 g portion of Stuffed vegetables made with our recipe has about 535 calories and 21 g of protein. Per 100 g: 119 calories.

How much does it cost to make Stuffed vegetables at home?

A tray or pot of 8 portions costs about ₪71 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪8.9 a portion. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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