Turkish Dolma w/ Meat Recipe: Stuffed Pepper or Capsicum

Originally published May 3, 2013, updated September 12, 2021

Turkish dolma with meat is green peppers stuffed with a mix of ground beef, rice, onion, tomato and herbs, then stood upright in a pot and simmered until the peppers are soft and the rice is cooked through. The whole thing comes together in one saucepan.

Stuffed pepper is one of my favorite Turkish dishes and I didn’t realize how easy it was to make Turkish dolma until I tried it for myself. Of course, as I am a carnivorous person, I do prefer the dolma containing ground beef. You can serve this as a main meal (lunch or dinner) with a side of mezze, salad, or pasta.

If you want the leaf-wrapped cousin of this dish, see sarma, stuffed grape leaves. For more recipes like this one, the Turkish recipes hub collects them in one place.

Ingredients for Turkish Dolma with Meat:

• 15 green capsicums
• 250g of lean beef mince
• 1 cup of white rice
• 50g of margarine (or 150mL of vegetable oil)
• 2-3 tomatoes
• 1-2 handfuls of flat-leaf parsley
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 cups of boiling water
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Red pepper flakes
• Dried mint

Method:

1. Wash the capsicums, cut the tops off (but keep them) and remove all the seeds. Salt the inside of the capsicums lightly, using your finger.
2. Rinse the rice and drain well.
3. Peel the skins from the tomatoes, remove the seeds, and dice them.
4. Peel and dice the onion.
5. In a large bowl, combine the minced beef, onion, half of the margarine, rice, tomatoes, dried mint and parsley and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Fill the hollowed capsicums with the mixture. Note: be careful not too fill them too much, as the rice will expand as it cooks.
7. Put the tops back onto the stuffed capsicums and stand them upright in a large saucepan.
8. In a bowl, combine the remaining margarine, tomato paste and boiling water. Pour around the peppers in the saucepan.
9. Bring the water to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer. Cook gently with the lid on for approximately 30 minutes, or until the stuffed capsicums are soft to touch with a fork and the rice is cooked through.

Stuffed peppers are part of a wide family of Turkish home cooking you can eat your way through in the city. If you would rather have a local order it for you, our Taste of Two Continents tour runs a Spice Market breakfast, a ferry across the Bosphorus, and an afternoon in Kadıköy with a maximum of 10 guests. We have run food tours since 2013 for more than 50,000 guests, with a 4.95/5 rating from 7,800+ reviews.