Stuffed Beet Greens Recipe With Meat And Rice
Stuffed beet leaves are a colorful and tasty dish. I recommend try if you have beet leaves available.
Origin of The Stuffed Beet Leaves Recipe
Stuffed beet leaves are a common dish in the summer in Siberia, Russia where I am from. I can call it Siberian Golubzi, Golubzi is Russian stuffed cabbage. This dish can serve as an appetizer or main dish. Traditionally we serve with sour cream with green dill. I live in the South of the USA, the state of Louisiana we like spicy food here. To give southern flavor to the dish serve with spicy sauce.
This recipe makes 2 layers of stuffed leaves in my 7″ x 7″ x 3″ dish.
*People in the South eat much spicier food than on the North because spices help the body resist heat.
Tip How to Cook Beet Leaves in Other Recipes
Easy and simple direction – just cook beet leaves like spinach.
Ingredients
Green leaves with stems from 3 beets
1 medium size carrot
1 medium size white onion
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound mixed beef & pork ground meat
1 cup white rice
Seasoning with fresh thyme, salt, pepper and other spices to your taste and choice
*This recipe makes 2 layers of stuffed leaves in my 7″ x 7″ x 3″ dish
Wash leaves very well and dry. Cut off stems. Leaf stems I used in the stuffing, don’t throw them away!
Cooking direction
- Chop stems and onion, shred carrot. Saute vegetables in vegetable oil to almost-done condition. Place hot sauteed vegetables over rice and set aside. Rice starts to observe juices from vegetables.
Rice can be so different. Takes different time to cook. Rice can be used halfway done in this dish.
2. I make cuts on the midvein of the leaf for flexibility. Place the knife on the leaf to protect the leaf from to much damage and flat the midvein with a mallet (cooking hammer).
The knife also protects from splashing juices when we pound midvein. Sometimes I also place a paper towel between knife and mallet, if beets leaves are very juicy.
Making Beet Leaves Rolls
Step 1
3. Place meat mixture on a wider side of the leaf.
Step 2
4. Roll beet leaf over the meat mixture.
Step 3
5. Cover the meat mixture from the left side and from the right side with the beet leaf. Roll it.
6. Place stuffed beet leaves in a pot.
7. I had excess meat, so I layered rolls with meat mixture on bottom and top.
8. Steam 40 min in the steamer. I use an electric steamer.
My old T-fall (on the photo) steamer brocked after 15 years of hard use. I bought another brand steamer and it produced much less powerful steam, I didn’t try to make stuffed beet leave in it but I am sure it takes more time.
My dish is ready to serve!
Traditionally we serve the dish with sour cream and garnish with parsley or dill greens. We can also make a simple sauce from sour cream. Mix sour cream with green dill and chives. If you like thinner sauce add little kefir.
Stuffed Beets Leaves
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I made this tonight and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I glad, Christine, you like my recipe!
Can this be cooked in the oven? Not sure how I would steam it
Thanks!
Sharon, yes. We can cook in the oven or on the stove. I need to make a few changes to the recipe. Rice should be halfway done before use for stuffing. Different rice absorbs a different amount of liquid. So we need to be sure we have enough liquid, when we steaming we always have enough liquid around. You can use good beef stock with spices as a liquid. Warm up the stock before adding it to the pot (don’t add freezer cold liquid). Use a spoon to pour the broth or pour it very carefully on the side of the pot. We need to do it to prevent leaves unwrapped when pouring stock. The liquid should be above the stuffed leaves 1 inch. After you pour liquid and sure you have enough, put a smaller than original pot lid on the top of stuffed leaves. We need to do it to prevent leaves unwrapped. Cover the pot. The temperature of the oven F350 (low simmer) approx. 40 minutes. If you use the stove make sure the dish a low simmer. Thank you for visiting my website!
Do you cook the rice prior or just mix it in with the meat mixture raw.
Allie. I soak rice in water it takes less time to cook. I cover the rice with a hot vegetable mixture and it takes less time to cook than completely raw.