Lahanodolmades — Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Avgolemono

Four lahanodolmades in a white bowl of golden avgolemono sauce, with lemon, and crusty bread

Lahanodolmades — Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Avgolemono

Cabbage leaves wrapped around pork, beef and rice, simmered slowly and finished with a silky egg-lemon avgolemono. A Greek winter classic.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Greek

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 1

Servings

Calories 784kcal

Author by Jenny Skrapaliori Graves

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (450 g)
1 lb ground pork (450 g)
½ bunch of fresh dill chopped
½ bunch of fresh parsley chopped, plus a handful for the pot
2 onions one finely diced, one sliced
3 scallions sliced
1 cup white rice (200 g) uncooked
1 large cabbage about 3–4 lb (1.4–1.8 kg)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil (80 ml), plus 1 tbsp (15 ml) for the pot
1 pinch ground cumin
1½ teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

For the avgolemono

2 eggs at room temperature
4 lemons juiced

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Remove the entire core of the cabbage with a knife. Immerse the head in the boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Peel off each leaf with tongs as soon as it's flexible and set them aside in a colander.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and pork, the diced onion, the rice, sliced scallions, chopped dill and parsley, cumin, salt and pepper. Fry a teaspoon of the mixture in a small pan and taste it, then adjust the seasoning.
Shave the thick rib off each leaf with a knife held almost flat. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle of each leaf, fold the sides over, and wrap into a snug roll.
Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat and sauté the sliced onion for a few minutes. Once softened, lay a handful of fresh parsley on top, then any torn or leftover cabbage leaves.
Transfer the rolls to the pot in tight layers, seam side down. Cover them with an upturned heavy plate so they can't unwrap while cooking.
Pour in enough water to just cover the rolls and add the remaining ⅓ cup olive oil.
Put the lid on and simmer on low for 60 minutes. Remove from the heat, uncover, and let it sit for 10 minutes so the broth cools.

Prepare the egg-lemon sauce

Whisk the room temperature eggs hard for about 2 minutes, until pale and frothy. Add the lemon juice and keep whisking. Drizzle in a ladleful of the hot broth while whisking constantly, then a second ladleful. Pour the sauce over the rolls and shake the pot to distribute. Serve.

Notes

Use room temperature eggs. Take them out of the fridge half an hour before you make the sauce, or sit them in warm tap water for 10 minutes. Cold eggs going into hot broth are the most common cause of a split avgolemono.

Don't boil after the avgolemono goes in. Once the sauce is in the pot the dish is finished. Shake to distribute and serve. Reheat leftovers gently, never at a boil.

Make ahead and freezing. Roll uncooked and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Or cook without the avgolemono, freeze in the broth up to 3 months, thaw overnight, reheat gently and make the sauce fresh.

A vegan version of this recipe.

Substitute the meat with 1½ cups (300 g) of rice.
Sauté the diced onion in a little olive oil before adding it to the mixture.
Add the chopped parsley, dill and sliced scallions to the stuffing.
Add 3 tbsp raisins, ⅓ cup (45 g) pine nuts and ⅓ cup (40 g) chopped walnuts.
Finely dice 2 medium carrots and add them to the mix.
For the vegan avgolemono: use 2 cups (480 ml) of the cooking broth, the juice of three lemons, and 2 tbsp cornflour to thicken. Sprinkle in chopped fresh dill. Adapted from Argiro.gr.

Nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on the products used.

Nutrition