The first dolma I ever ate came out of the kitchen at Ayse’s Turkish Cafe, a tiny spot tucked behind a strip mall in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was on a food tour with a dozen other writers, and we were trading bites of everyone’s lunch. Then my lamb dolma landed and I quit sharing. A big dinner was waiting for us that night, and I ate every last bite anyway.
These lamb stuffed peppers are my homemade take on that plate. Ground lamb and a little lean beef get loaded with fresh mint, parsley and toasted pine nuts, and toasted cauliflower rice keeps the filling light. Want it closer to the dolma that hooked me? Use cooked rice, the way the classic is made. The peppers bake in tomato sauce until they go tender, then a cold, garlicky mint yogurt on top cuts right through all that rich lamb.
🔪 Ingredients for Lamb Stuffed Peppers
- Ground lamb: rich and a little gamy, and the backbone of the filling.
- Lean ground beef: stretches the lamb and keeps the filling from going greasy.
- Cauliflower rice: toasted in a dry skillet and cooled first, so it doesn’t water down the filling. Cooked rice works too (see Substitutions).
- Paprika
- Fresh mint and parsley: chopped. This is where the dolma flavor comes from, so use fresh, not dried.
- Pine nuts: toasted and cooled.
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Large bell peppers: red, green, yellow or orange. Pick wide, flat-sided peppers so the halves sit level in the dish.
- Olive oil
- Tomato sauce
- Water
For the mint sauce
- Greek yogurt
- Fresh mint
- Garlic
- Thyme and oregano
- Red pepper flakes
Equipment
- Baking dish: big enough to hold 8 pepper halves in one layer.
- Instant-read thermometer: the only way to know the filling is done.
📝 How to Make Lamb Stuffed Peppers
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Put the ground lamb, beef, toasted cauliflower rice, paprika, mint, parsley, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix with your hands just until everything is evenly combined.
- Cut the peppers in half from the top down, pull out the seeds, pack each half with filling and lay them flat.
- Drizzle the olive oil into the baking dish, spoon in the tomato sauce and season it with salt and pepper.
- Nestle the stuffed peppers into the sauce. Pour the water in carefully at the side of the dish, spoon a little sauce over each pepper and sprinkle with more paprika.
- Bake about 40 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling reads 165°F in the center of the thickest pepper. Let them rest 5 minutes.
- While they rest, whisk the yogurt, mint, garlic, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the peppers out with plenty of sauce and top with the mint sauce.
These are baked in tomato sauce with mint, parsley and pine nuts in the style of Turkish dolma. For a smoky Tex-Mex stuffed pepper, make our Enchilada Smoked Stuffed Poblano Peppers. For more weeknight lamb, try the Crispy Lamb Arayes, Creamy Indian Lamb Meatball Curry or Ground Lamb Dan Dan Noodles, and find the rest in our ground lamb recipes.
🔄 Substitutions
- Cooked rice for cauliflower rice: closer to traditional dolma and a heartier filling. Use cooked, cooled rice in place of the cauliflower rice, never raw. Raw rice won’t cook through in the filling in 40 minutes.
- All lamb or all beef: all lamb is richer and more gamy, all beef is milder. Keep the total weight the same.
- Walnuts for pine nuts: chopped and toasted, with a bigger crunch.
- Crushed tomatoes for tomato sauce: a chunkier sauce in the dish.
💡 Meat Nerd Tips
- Dry out the cauliflower rice. Toast it in a dry skillet until it stops steaming, then let it cool. Wet cauliflower makes a soggy filling, and warm rice starts cooking the raw meat in the bowl.
- Mix with a light hand. Stop once everything is evenly mixed. Overworked ground meat bakes up dense.
- Temp the thickest pepper. Ground meat is done at 165°F. If the center is short, give it 5 to 10 more minutes and check again.
- Pour the water at the side. Poured over the top, it washes the paprika and sauce off the peppers.
🍽️ What to Serve with Lamb Stuffed Peppers
- Warm pita or flatbread: for dragging through the tomato sauce left in the dish.
- Cucumber tomato salad: dressed with lemon and olive oil, cold and crunchy next to the hot peppers.
- Rice pilaf: if you went with cauliflower rice in the filling and want something to soak up the sauce.
🧊 Leftovers and Storage
- Fridge: cool, then store the peppers with their sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: cover and warm in a 350°F oven until the center reads 165°F.
- Freeze: wrap the cooked peppers well and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Mint sauce: keep it separate and chilled, and spoon it on after reheating.
Lamb Stuffed Peppers (Turkish Dolma)
Ingredients
- 16 oz ground lamb
- 5 oz lean ground beef
- 3 cups cauliflower rice toasted and cooled
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp fresh mint chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1/3 cup pine nuts toasted and cooled
- kosher salt and pepper
- 4 large peppers red, green, yellow or orange, cut in half from the top down and seeds removed
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 14 oz tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
For the mint sauce
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh mint chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix the ground lamb, beef, toasted cauliflower rice, paprika, mint, parsley, toasted pine nuts, salt and pepper into a bowl.
- Stuff the mixture in each half of the peppers and lay flat.
- Meanwhile, drizzle the oil in a baking dish.
- Spoon in the tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper.
- Nestle the stuffed peppers into the sauce and pour the 1/2 cup water in carefully on the side.
- Spoon a bit of the tomato sauce over each of the peppers and sprinkle with additional paprika.
- Bake for 40 minutes, until the filling reads 165°F in the center of the thickest pepper.
- Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.
Make the Mint Sauce
- Whisk the yogurt, mint, garlic, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Spoon the peppers out and serve with the mint sauce.
Notes
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Quick Summary
Bell pepper halves packed with ground lamb, lean beef, toasted cauliflower rice or cooked rice, pine nuts, mint and parsley, baked in tomato sauce at 350°F for about 40 minutes until the filling reads 165°F. Top with a garlicky mint yogurt sauce. Serves 4.
❓ FAQs
In Turkish, dolma means stuffed, and the name covers a whole family of filled vegetables and grape leaves. Stuffed peppers are biber dolması, and the classic filling is rice, herbs and often ground lamb.
Yes. Swap the cauliflower rice for cooked, cooled rice, which is closer to traditional Turkish dolma. Use it cooked, since raw rice won’t cook through in the filling.
165°F in the center of the thickest pepper. It’s ground meat, so check with an instant-read thermometer rather than going by time.
No. The raw pepper halves soften in the tomato sauce during the 40 minute bake.
Yes. Stuff the peppers, cover and refrigerate up to 1 day, then bake. Cold filling takes longer, so bake until the center reads 165°F.
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I made a few adaptations..but used all your ingredients, ground chicken replaced beef, and added a few extra veggies, peppers, onions, and leftover corn on the cob…these were delicious. Especially liked the mint sauce. A definite keeper.
The first time I had Ayse’s lamb dolmas I actually teared up. I felt like my grandma had just made me something because she loved me. I wish I had Ayse’s recipe.
I’m looking forward to trying your recipe.
You left out how much parsley.
Thanks Douglas, the recipe has been updated!
Hey there! So excited for this recipe. When “toasting” cauliflower rice, is it the same process as with toasting pine nuts? Meaning throwing in a skillet an dry roasting?
Yes, tho, pine nuts are dry and I find my cauliflower rice (frozen or fresh) is always a little damp, so you can add a little oil if needed to keep from sticking, or making sure the water evaporates as it toasts and moves with a spatula as needed. If it’s sticking to the pan, try not to push too hard as it will rip the cauliflower. Id love to see pics when it’s plated! Enjoy
Thank you for this recipe. I actually used to order this dish all the time as take out from Ayse’s Cafe when I lived in Ann Arbor. Like you, I tried these for the first time at this little inconspicuous strip mall restaurant and fell in love! Now, 15 years later, I was looking up recipes and typed in Ayse’s Cafe dolma and found yours! I can’t wait to try!
Thank you so much for leaving a comment Dr. P, it made my day. I would love to know how the recipe turned out for you and if it lived up to your memory of Ayse’s Cafe!
Well, I am all prepped and ready to make this wonderful sounding meal. There’s a key instruction missing, however. 40 minutes at WHAT TEMP??
Thanks for that catch Dr Strand! I will edit the recipe immediately! I just switched recipe cards and noticed not all of the major info transferred seamlessly ><