Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Iraqi Dolma
Vine leaves and vegetables stuffed with tomato-and-pomegranate rice, packed tight and steamed until sweet-sour and tender.
Iraqi · advanced · serves 6
prep 60 min · cook 75 min
~533 cal · 27g protein · 72g carbs · 15g fat · 5g fiber · 8g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Iraqi dolma is the beloved stuffed-vegetable feast of Baghdad, vine leaves, onions, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes packed with a tangy rice filling of tomato, herbs, and pomegranate or , then simmered together in one pot. Richer and more sour than its neighbors' versions, it is a dish of celebration.
The filling's signature tartness, from or , sets Iraqi dolma apart, along with the mix of many vegetables layered and cooked together until meltingly soft. Often lamb is layered in, and the pot is inverted onto a platter to serve.
Made for gatherings, holidays, and guests across Iraq, dolma is a labor of love, eaten from the communal platter.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 cups medium-grain rice
1 lb ground lamb
1 jar vine leaves (jarred), rinsed
3 onions, to hollow and stuff
3 bell peppers, to hollow and stuff
4 tomatoes, to hollow and stuff
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp
Hard to find? pomegranate juice boiled down hard with a squeeze of lemon - reduce it until it coats a spoon and tastes more sour than sweet; the bottled kind keeps for a year and is cheap, so this is a stopgap rather than a plan
2 tbsp paste
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup dill, chopped
1/2 cup mint, chopped
1 tbsp baharat
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
1
Mix the rice, lamb (or mushroom mix), garlic, herbs, baharat, turmeric, half the tomato paste, molasses, and tamarind, oil, and salt into the filling.
✎ Chef’s note
Iraqi dolma leans on a double sourness: pomegranate molasses and tamarind together are what give the filling its distinctive deep sweet-sour tang.
2
Hollow the tomatoes and peppers, and simmer the onions briefly to loosen their layers.
3
Roll the filling in vine leaves and stuff the vegetables only loosely, leaving room for the rice to swell.
✎ Chef’s note
Under-fill everything. The raw rice expands a lot, and tightly packed dolma split open as they cook.
4
Line a heavy pot with tomato slices, then pack the dolma in tight, standing layers.
5
Whisk the remaining tomato paste, molasses, tamarind, lemon, oil, and salt into 3 cups water, pour it over, and weight with a plate.
6
Simmer very low for 70 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid nearly gone. Rest, then invert the whole pot onto a platter.
Baghdad family-feast tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Baghdad. Baghdad cooks along the Tigris, layering rice and meat into timman and quzi, and searing masgouf carp upright beside an open fire. Iraqi cooking loves sweet-sour depth, using tamarind, dried lime, and pomegranate in its stews.
🗺️
Iraq. Iraqi cooking descends from ancient Mesopotamia, famous for masgouf grilled river fish, dolma, and slow-cooked stews over rice. Dates, tamarind, and dried lime lend a distinctive sweet-and-sour depth.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Iraq
Kahi with GeymarFlaky layered pastry baked crisp, soaked in syrup, and topped with rich clotted geymar cream.
MasgoufButterflied river fish marinated and slow-grilled over open flame, Iraq's national dish and the pride of Baghdad.
KleichaSpiced pastry spirals filled with date paste and cardamom, Iraq's national cookie, made for every celebration.
Browse all Iraq recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Iraq meal
Iraqi ChaiDrink
KleichaDessert
MasgoufLunch
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Themes
Frequently asked questions
What is Iraqi Dolma?
Vine leaves and vegetables stuffed with tomato-and-pomegranate rice, packed tight and steamed until sweet-sour and tender.
Where does Iraqi Dolma come from?
Iraqi Dolma is a Iraqi dish from Baghdad, Iraq.
Can Iraqi Dolma be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Iraqi Dolma recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Iraqi Dolma safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Iraqi Dolma take to make?
About 135 minutes total (60 minutes prep, 75 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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