📋 Ingredient Notes
To make this recipe you’ll need the following ingredients:
Ground meat: Generally, lean ground beef is used in Greek Yemista, but if you prefer you can also use pork or lamb.
Tomatoes: They should be ripe but firm enough to handle hollowing without breaking apart.
Bell peppers: Choose your favorite colors or one of each (red, green, yellow, orange, light green).
Zucchini: In this recipe it is only used for the filling, but you can also pick 1-2 large ones for stuffing. Use their flesh for the filling.
Rice: short grain rice such as Arborio, Carnaroli or the Greek Karolina should be used. In Greece we have another type called ‘nyxaki’ which is used for gemista.
Fresh herbs: Parsley and spearmint are traditionally used in this version with meat. I don’t like dill in this recipe, but you can add some if you prefer. If you can’t find spearmint, use mint instead.
Pine nuts: Optional, but use them if you can.
Raisins: Optional, but use them if you can. Sultana or golden raisins are used for this recipe.
For the complete list of ingredients with quantities, please see the recipe card ⬇️ at the end of this post.