Instant Pot Grape Leaves (Yab-ra')

This Instant Pot grape leaves recipe is a generations-old family recipe that originated in Syria. It's been passed down for decades and is a traditional holiday recipe. No Easter or Christmas dinner was complete without grape leaves!

I've taken my grandmother's tried and true stove top grape leaves recipe and converted it to the pressure cooker version. This recipe uses just a few simple and pantry staple ingredients but has intense flavor.

Grape leaves are stuffed with a lamb, rice, and allspice mixture, then pressure cooked with whole garlic cloves in a lemony broth. The smell and the flavor are amazing! It's one of my favorites, along with stuffed cabbage rolls, cabbage roll casserole, slow cooker kebab hindi and Middle Eastern beef stew.

This Instant Pot grape leaves recipe is low in calories and carbohydrates but high in protein, vitamins and minerals. It's healthy and delicious, which is always a winner!

Recipe Facts

Yield: 35-40 stuffed grape leaves.

Time: 45 minutes including preparing ingredients, pressure-building and pressure-releasing.

Servings: should feed a family of 4-6 people. Stuffed grape leaves can easily be made to feed more by doubling or tripling the recipe. For holiday dinners with a family of 16, I use 3 pounds of lamb meat and make approximately 130 grape leaves.

Ingredients

• Ground lamb: substitute with ground beef.
• White rice: use uncooked white rice.
• Grape leaves: also referred to as "vine leaves". My favorite are Orlando California Grape Leaves. They can be found at many international food stores and on Amazon.
• Lemon juice: I only ever make this with ReaLemon brand lemon juice. I think it provides the best flavor.
• Garlic: we're using whole garlic cloves
• Allspice: ground
• A dash of salt

Equipment

• Pressure cooker: any size Instant Pot works with this recipe, but if you're increasing the servings, then you'll need a 6, 8, or 10 quart pressure cooker.
• 3 plates: you'll need a workstation with 3 plates to roll the grape leaves. One is for the leaves, one is for rolling them, and the last is for keeping the rolled yab'ra until putting it into the Instant Pot.
• Tongs: to remove the grape leaves from the Instant Pot.

Rolling grape leaves may sound labor intensive or difficult if this is your first time, but I promise it's not! In this Syrian version, they are rolled on the thinner side, similiar to the shape of cigars.

Lay the leaf flat with the glossy side down. Cut off the stem on bottom. Lay 1 to 2 tablespoons of meat mixture on the bottom of the leaf. Roll the bottom edges of the leaf up and tuck them under the meat. Then turn in the sides and roll the leaf up, tucking in the sides as you go as in the picture above.

The picture below comes from my grandmother's cookbook and is another demonstration of how to easily roll them up.

Step-By-Step Instructions

This recipe is pretty quick, with the most time consuming part being the stuffing of the leaves. So grab some helping hands!

Once rolled, the pressure cook time is only 10 minutes. Any meat-based recipes should be given a natural release so we are doing a 10 minute natural release followed by a quick release. All in all, it will take about 45 minutes for these Instant Pot grape leaves to be ready to serve.

STEP 1: Rinse the uncooked white rice until the water runs clear. Peel the garlic cloves and leave them whole. In a large bowl, mix the ground lamb, rice, allspice, and salt. Set aside while preparing the grape leaves and your work space.

STEP 2: Prepare a work space with 3 plates. Remove the grape leaves from the jar and gently squeeze them dry. Lay the grape leaves flat on one plate. The second plate will be for rolling the leaves and the third for keeping the rolled grape leaves until putting into the Instant Pot.

STEP 3: *See above for step-by-step pictures of how to correctly roll the leaves. Lay one leaf flat, with the glossy side down. Cut off the stem and place 1 to 2 tablespoons of meat mixture on the bottom of the leaf, depending on its size. Roll the bottom edges of the leaf up and tuck them under the meat. Then turn in the sides and roll up, tucking the edges of the leaf in as you go. The rolled leaves will look like cigars. Set on a plate until all leaves have been rolled.

STEP 4: Add the water and lemon juice to the inner pot. Stack the rolled grape leaves in the pot and add the garlic around them. They should be tightly arranged next to one another with the seam side down so they don't loosen while pressure cooking.

STEP 5: Close and seal the pressure cooker lid. Set to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. When done, complete a 10 minute natural release, then quickly release any remaining pressure.

STEP 6: Allow to cool for a few minutes. Arrange on a serving platter, carefully removing the cooked grape leaves using tongs. This version of stuffed grape leaves is served hot, with lots of extra lemony broth and garlic!

Variations

• Use cauliflower rice to make it keto-friendly!
• Greek dolmas: are served cold, room temperature, or warm and are made with rice, ground beef, fresh herbs, and spices.
• Cypriot koupepia: are dolmades stuffed with ground pork or veal, rice, fresh herbs and seasoning, and cooked with tomatoes and lemon juice.
• Armenian meat dolma: this version is stuffed with a mixture of lamb, beef, rice, and spices and is also served hot.