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Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono

4.1 stars, average of 59 ratings
By Martina Slajerova, updated August 9 202022
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I love Greek cuisine and always try to find ways to make my favourite meals suitable for a keto diet. This delicious Greek appetiser is inspired by a popular resource for Mediterranean recipes, My Greek Dish. I followed the original recipe and made small adjustments to make my version grain-free and low-carb.

Hands-on Overall

Serving size about 5 dolmades + 1/4 cup avgolemono

Allergy information for Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono

✔  Gluten free
✔  Dairy free
✔  Nut free
✔  Nightshade free
✔  Pork free
✔  Avocado free
✔  Coconut free
✔  Shellfish free

Nutritional values (per serving, about 5 dolmades + 1/4 cup avgolemono)

Net carbs5.2 grams
Protein12.9 grams
Fat22.5 grams
Calories279 kcal
Calories from carbs 8%, protein 19%, fat 73%
Total carbs7 gramsFiber1.8 gramsSugars1.8 gramsSaturated fat5.8 gramsSodium404 mg(18% RDA)Magnesium23 mg(6% RDA)Potassium364 mg(18% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 10 servings)

Dolmades:
  • 1 small white or yellow onion (110 g/ 3.9 oz)
  • 500 g minced beef (1.1 lb)
  • 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
  • 2 tbsp freshly chopped mint
  • 4 cups cauli-rice (480 g/ 16.9 oz) - here is how to make cauliflower rice
  • 1 tsp salt (I like Himalayan salt)
  • 1/4 tsp ground pepper
  • 250 g vine leaves, drained (8.8 oz)
  • 3-4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
Avgolemono:
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice (2-3 lemons, 120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
  • 2 cups stock from cooking dolmades

Instructions

  1. Prepare the vine leaves (aka grape leaves). Remove the leaves from the jar, and carefully separate them. To minimise the risk of tearing, pour water over the leaves and wait until they start to separate. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  2. Drain the leaves, remove and discard the stems. Place some leaves on the bottom of large pan or casserole dish until it's covered. If you have any torn leaves, use them here - they can't be used for wrapping. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  3. Prepare the filling. Peel and dice the onion. Place in a hot pan greased with ghee and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, for 5-7 minutes. Place minced beef and cauliflower rice (uncooked) into a bowl.Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  4. Add the cooked onion, freshly chopped herbs (parsley + mint), salt and pepper. Mix until well combined and set aside.
    Note: To make the cauliflower rice, follow this recipe. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  5. To prepare the dolmades, place the vine leaves, one at a time, on a chopping board, shiny side down. Place about a tablespoon of the meat filling at the bottom part of the leaf (the part where you removed the stem). Make sure you don't overfill the leaves or they will not wrap well. Start wrapping the leaves by folding the bottom part over the filling, towards the centre. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  6. Bring the two sides together towards the centre and then roll up the dolmades from the bottom part up tightly. To see how to wrap the dolmades, check out my quick Instagram video. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  7. Place the stuffed vine leaves, fold side down, in the casserole dish where you layered the vine leaves. Place them tightly next to each other in 2-3 layers. Put a large inverted plate on top to weigh the dolmades down and add 3-4 cups of water. Place a lid on top and cook over a medium heat for 25-30 minutes. When done, take off the heat. Pour the stock from the dolmades in a small sauce pan and set aside - keep 2 cups and discard any remaining stock. Pour olive oil all over the dolmades. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  8. Prepare the Avgolemono sauce. Place 3 eggs in a bowl and whisk until frothy using a hand whisk or a mixer. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and keep whisking. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  9. While whisking, slowly pour in about 1/2 cup of the hot (not boiling) reserved stock. Then add the remaining stock. The aim is to gradually warm up the egg & lemon mixture by slowly mixing it with the warm stock. Doing that will prevent it from curdling. Once all the stock is added, pour the mixture in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Cook over a medium heat for a minute or two until thickened and then take off the heat. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono
  10. Serve the dolmades with the prepared avgolemono sauce. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono Dolmades taste great warm or even cold, as an appetiser or main dish, served with avgolemono sauce or even full-fat Greek yogurt. Keto Greek Dolmades with Avgolemono

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, about 5 dolmades + 1/4 cup avgolemono)

Net carbsProteinFatCalories
Onion, white, fresh
0.8 g0.1 g0 g4 kcal
Beef, minced (ground), raw, grass-fed
0 g8.6 g10 g127 kcal
Parsley, fresh (spices)
0 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Mint, fresh
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Cauliflower rice, homemade (cauli-rice, KetoDiet app)
1.4 g0.9 g0.1 g12 kcal
Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Pepper, black, spices
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Grape leaves, vine leaves
1.8 g1.3 g0.1 g15 kcal
Water, still
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Olive oil, extra virgin
0 g0 g10.8 g95 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0.1 g1.9 g1.4 g21 kcal
Lemon juice, fresh
1 g0.1 g0 g3 kcal
Total per serving, about 5 dolmades + 1/4 cup avgolemono
5.2 g12.9 g22.5 g279 kcal

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Martina Slajerova
Creator of KetoDietApp.com

Martina Slajerova

I changed the way I ate in 2011, when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. I had no energy, and I found it more and more difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

That’s when I decided to quit sugar, grains, and processed foods, and to start following a whole-foods-based ketogenic approach to food.

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Martina Slajerova

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Comments (22)

Thank you so much for the sauce recipe. Will make this evening. Boyfriend taught me how to make the stuffed grape leaves and I used bagged cauliflower rice. Squeezed it through a strainer very good. Pretty much like your recipe. Can't wait to try your sauce. Sherri from Florida.

Thank you Sherri! I absolutely love stuffed grape leaves. I always did even before going keto 😊

This Recipe is great!
The only issue I had was that the cauliflower completely disintegrated and disappeared as they cooked. I wonder of parcooking the meat mixture without the cauliflower, letting it cool, adding an egg or two for binding, THEN the cauliflower, then stuff the leaves and shorten the remaining cooking time would help it not to “melt away”...

Thank you for your feedback! I think in that case it's either better to cook the cauli-rice for only 2-3 minutes (or skip the cooking altogether) and then adding to the meat and onion mixture. You still need the meat to be sticky so it's best to use raw meat before stuffing.

Right. What I’m saying, though, is that I did not precook the cauli-rice at all, not even for 2-3 minutes. However, the amount of time that was needed to cook the dolmades was too much for the cauli-rice. That’s why I mentioned slightly precooking and then cooling the meat and onions, then adding the cauli-rice, and using the egg to make the mixture sticky. Then rolling them and finishing the cooking.
I don’t know, it’s just an idea. I haven’t tried it.

I think that as long as you can keep the meat fairly sticky (before rolling), it shouldn't be an issue.

Do these freeze well? If so, would you recommend freezing before or after they are cooked?

I think you can freeze the wraps but without the avgolemono sauce. That will have to be prepared fresh.

What temperature do you set the oven?
I can't seem to find this information anywhere on the page...
So, I'm going to ask. 😊
Ann

Hi Ann, there isn't any oven needed, it's all done on the stove. I hope this helps 😊

Thanks so much for this. I am new to the Keto lifestyle and IF. I am passionate about Greek Food, and can't wait to make these.

Thank you Howard!

Hi, love the recipe! I am in Greece on holiday at the moment and can't wait to test it out when I get him. Just confused about the nutritional information - how many serves is the info based on is it based on 10 serves or 4-6 as a main? Many thanks, Emily

Thank you! It is about 5 of them - I'll add it now 😊 It is only an appetiser so you will need to add more for a main.

Maybe instead of cauliflower, I can add hemp hearts?

That's an option although I haven't tried it in this recipe. The problem is that you will need to use a large amount which will affect the nutrition facts - and it will be quite pricey.

thanks for the great idea to add cauliflower to the dolmades instead of rice! So fun to be able to add this dish to my low carb diet.
Somehow for us, the 4 cups of cauliflower was too much, or maybe I riced it too finely because the result was too watery for our taste. When I looked again at the photos of your bowl of ingredients, I see a higher meat to cauliflower ratio than I used... oops.
For my next attempts, I used about 2 cups cauliflower rice and also substituted my home-made Greek lamb/venison sausage meat instead of ground beef and it resulted in a more dense, less watery version.
Always experimenting!

Hi Nicole, thank you for your feedback! I would always go by weight, just in case (I use a kitchen scale to weigh all ingredients). I'm glad you liked it! 😊

Could I use Quorn (veggie) mince for this instead of meat? What's you view on using Quorn products or even tofu in recipes, e.g this or lasagna for instance? Thanks!

Hi Vicky, I'm not familiar with Quorn (I've heard about it but never tried it) - but I did check their website and I'm not a fan. The nutrition label for the ground meat substitute lists many ingredients to be avoided on a healthy diet. I suppose you could try them with some mushrooms instead (chopped and cooked in ghee and roasted onion)?

I love this recipe but where does the olive oil come in?  I don't see it in the instructions or did I miss it

Thank you Anni, it's in step 7 - I hope this helps!