Want to know how to cook gemista like the very best you’ve had on your holiday to Greece? Otherwise known as stuffed peppers and tomatoes, this dish is a Greek classic dish that’s stayed popular for good reason. It’s healthy, it’s filling, it’s authentic, it’s amazingly tasty… and it makes fantastic leftovers!
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What’s gemista?
Go to any Greek taverna and you’ll find gemista / yemista (pronounced ‘yemist-ah’ and meaning ‘stuffed’!) on the menu.
Traditional Greek stuffed vegetables are part of the ‘ladera’ (pronounced ‘lather-ah’) group of dishes. This word comes from the Greek word for oil – extra virgin olive oil, of course!
Ladera are usually vegetarian and cooked with lots of good quality olive oil and often tomatoes and garlic as well. Which makes them vegan! Unless of course you add meat and feta cheese, like I do… whoops.
But it’s OK because there are as many versions of this recipe as there are restaurants and households in Greece. Everyone has their own favourite way of making it. You can keep it vegan, if you like.
I tweaked my version until it was the tastiest it could be!
Why this is the best gemista
- I’m not shy about adding plenty of herbs and spices, so it’s REALLY tasty.
- Like all good authentic Greek dishes, this recipe has got plenty of good quality olive oil in it. It makes a big difference to the taste!
- The recipe makes a large amount – enough for 6 to 8 people. It’s an easy recipe, but it takes a bit of time. It’s worth it though! We have it for dinner twice and there are still leftovers to freeze for another time.
- The recipe makes enough rice filling to make the meal twice. I usually freeze half for the next time I make gemista.
- With the potatoes tucked between the stuffed vegetables and the yummy tomato sauce poured over the top, this is a balanced one pan meal. Just serve with feta and crusty bread. No need for time consuming side dishes!
- This is a very versatile recipe. You can replace the meat with lentils, You can use different vegetables like zucchini/courgette or eggplant. You can add pine nuts and/or sultanas or raisins to the stuffing.
What ingredients do you need?
This is one of the longest ingredients lists you’ll find here on Scrummy Lane.
But don’t worry. A lot of the ingredients are herbs, spices and other flavourings. It might take a while to gather everything together, but as I said, it’s worth it 😉
PEPPERS/CAPSICUM AND TOMATOES: Use the biggest, reddest tomatoes you can find! I often use green peppers because they’re easy to find and often cheap, but yellow, red and orange are great too.
OLIVE OIL: You need more than you would think (but trust me) for the sauce, and more for cooking. Use a really good quality extra virgin olive oil. Preferably Greek! It makes all the difference to the final taste.
TOMATO SAUCE: Pouring loads of easy tomato sauce all over the dish before you cook it takes it from good to absolutely delicious. All you need is olive oil, tomato puree/paste, garlic, sugar/honey, salt and pepper. Whizz in a food processor with the flesh scooped out of your tomatoes and voila!
RICE AND BEEF FILLING: As well as rice and minced beef, you need grated onion, zucchini and carrot, more garlic, tomatoes and tomato puree. Plus loads of herbs and spices – oregano, allspice, cinnamon, parsley and mint.
POTATOES: Rice AND potatoes? Yep. You need just 2 or 3 to cut into wedges to tuck among the veggies!
TO SERVE: Unless you’re a vegan (in which case see below) you HAVE to serve your gemista with a chunk of feta cheese. Just trust me and try it.
How to make it
These delicious mince stuffed tomatoes and peppers are one of those recipes that’s worth the little bit of extra effort.
Here’s the basic (easy, 5 step!) process:
- Scoop flesh out of tomatoes and dump into food processor with a few more simple pantry ingredients. This will be your sauce for pouring over during cooking.
- Scoop seeds and ‘bits’ out of peppers. Stand hollowed-out tomatoes and peppers in a big baking dish.
- Make a simple rice, minced beef, vegetables and herb filling on the stove top. Cook it until the rice is part cooked.
- Stuff vegetables with rice and meat filling. Tuck potato wedges into the spaces between the stuffed veggies.
- Pour tomato sauce you made over the top, along with some water, then bake. Serve with a big wedge of feta cheese.
Just like this:
How to make it your own
As with other traditional Greek recipes like moussaka (you have to try this too!), everyone seems to have their own recipe. It’s sometimes been passed down through many generations!
So don’t be afraid to create your very own perfect recipe. Some recipes leave out the tomato sauce but I think that’s one of the things that makes it so delicious.
- Try stuffing different vegetables such as zucchini/courgette, big onions, mushrooms, or eggplant/aubergine.
- Swap the beef mince out for turkey mince. Or skip the meat altogether. Add more grated vegetables, or replace the meat with cooked lentils or beans.
- Vary the herbs and spices. Add some chopped dill if you like it (about a third to half a bunch) or even coriander.
- Add some pine nuts and/or sultanas or raisins to the filling. Just trust me on this one. I’ve had gemista like this, and it’s amazing!
How to serve it
What I think takes my gemista recipe from good to excellent is:
- the large amount of Mediterranean spices and herbs in the filling
- the simple but delicious tomato sauce spooned all over everything
- the big wedge of feta that you serve on the side
Tip: Don’t skip the feta cheese. In fact, be greedy with it. Eat a little bit with every mouthful!
This makes a great family meal, but also a perfect meal for serving to guests. Serve with some fresh crusty bread and red wine and they’ll think you’re serving them a Greek feast!
You can serve it hot or let it cool down a bit and serve it at room temperature like the greeks sometimes do.
Making it ahead, reheating & leftovers!
This is a perfect meal for making ahead. You can literally assemble it to the point where you’d put it in the oven, then keep it in the fridge until about an hour and a half before you’re ready to eat.
Leftover yemista will keep well for a few days in the fridge. You can also freeze it in sealed containers.
This meal reheats well. Just cover and microwave on full power for 5 minutes. Check then microwave again for another 3 to 5 minutes. I know that sounds like a lot but I find the rice filling in the centre sometimes takes a while to reheat properly.
You’ll also find you have quite a lot of the part cooked rice mixture left after stuffing your peppers and tomatoes. I usually freeze it for the next time I’m in the mood for yemista!
What to serve as an appetizer
If you’re making the gemista for guests, why not serve some halloumi fries or zucchini fries as an appetizer? That’s my idea of a perfect meal!
More scrumptious Greek main meals
- Greek oven baked fish (your new favourite way to cook fish!)
- Baked Greek chicken and potatoes
- Traditional easy moussaka (my favourite!)
- One pan Greek couscous with halloumi (a vegetarian option)
- Greek lamb with lemony garlic potatoes (highly recommended if you’re looking to impress!)
- Greek spinach and feta filo pie (spanakopita)
- Baked Greek chicken orzo (another tasty one pot meal)
Or if you’re just enjoying the whole Greek food vibe in this post, you might like to check out my Greek recipes archives!
IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON BY LEAVING A COMMENT AND RATING BELOW… AND DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE ALL MY NEW RECIPES BY EMAIL!
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The tastiest gemista (Greek stuffed peppers and tomatoes)
Equipment (affiliate links)
Ingredients (UK/Australia? Click below for grams/ml)
For the peppers and tomatoes
- 4 large tomatoes or 6 slightly smaller ones
- 4 large green peppers Australia: capsicum, US: bell peppers
For the tomato sauce
For the filling
- 1 large onion grated
- 1 zucchini (UK: courgette) grated
- 1 carrot grated
- 3 cloves garlic (crushed with a garlic crusher or grated along with the rest of the vegetables in a food processor)
- 1 pound minced beef (UK/Australia: 500 gram pack)
- 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup rice Risotto/Arborio rice is best
- 14 ounces chopped tomatoes (1 can)
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree US = paste
- 1 bunch fresh parsley chopped
- ½ bunch fresh mint or 1 heaped teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
To tuck around the vegetables
- 3 medium potatoes (2 to 3) peeled and cut into wedges – not too big
To serve
- 5 ounces feta cheese UK/Australia 150 grams (roughly – I usually get a 200 gram pack in case people want more)¼
Instructions
For the vegetables and tomato sauce
- Slice the top of the tomatoes off (keeping each top close to its corresponding tomato), then scoop the flesh out of them using a teaspoon. Leave enough around the edge so that the tomato ‘shell’ stays intact. Put the tomato flesh straight into a food processor.
- Add the olive oil, tomato puree, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. Pulse to combine and make a sauce.
- Now slice the tops off the peppers (keeping the tops close by) and scoop out the pith and seeds. Arrange the empty peppers and tomatoes in a large baking dish (keeping the tops close by).
For the filling/stuffing
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C / 390F. Heat up a big drizzle of olive oil in a large saucepan and add the grated onions, zucchini, carrot and garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes until softened, then add the beef. Cook and stir again until meat is browned (another few minutes).
- Add the oregano, allspice, cinnamon, salt and pepper and stir for about another minute.
- Add the rice, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and about 1 cup of water. Mix well, then cover and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes, until the rice is partly cooked.
- Stir through the parsley, mint, salt and pepper.
To assemble the dish
- Use a dessert spoon to fill tomatoes and peppers with the stuffing. Put the tops back on.
- Tuck the potato wedges in between the peppers and tomatoes.
- Pour the tomato sauce that you made in the food processor all over the tomatoes and peppers and potatoes. Then pour over 1 cup (250ml) water.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and bake for 1¼ hours or until the potatoes are cooked and the tops of the vegetables are starting to brown. Remove the foil half way through cooking.
- Serve a half to a whole tomato and a pepper and a few potato wedges for each person. Spoon over some of the tomato sauce. Serve with a wedge of feta.
Notes
Making the filling
I usually grate all the vegetables for the filling (including the garlic) using my food processor.Rice and potatoes
You’ll notice that you have far too much rice filling! Simple freeze it for next time. Don’t make the potato wedges too big because you want them to be properly tender by the time the vegetables are baked.Optional additions to the filling
- Add a quarter to a third of a cup of chopped dill if you like
- Add half a cup of pine nuts and a handful of raisins or sultanas if you’re feeling brave (it’s delicious!).
- If you want to leave out the meat, either add more grated vegetables or add cooked lentils and/or beans.
Sarah says
Hi there! You mention adding tomato puree to the filling but it’s not mentioned in the ingredients for the filling, just the sauce. How much tomato puree should I be adding? Thank you!
Helen says
Ooh sorry Sarah, and thanks for pointing this out! Just add 1 tablespoon of tomato puree to the filling mixture. I’ll change it in the recipe 🙂
Sarah says
This looks delicious! I do have some (possibly silly) questions though.
1. I only have brown rice, which takes longer to cook than others. Can I just simmer the mixture for close to 20 minutes or so, since brown rice usually takes 35ish minutes to cook fully? Or is 20 minutes not long enough?
2. Kind of embarrassed by this one, but when you say “put the tops back on” for the peppers, that’s without the stem, right? *blush*
Thank you!
Helen says
Hello Sarah! I’m so happy you’re keen to give the recipe a go! And these are not silly questions at all! You can indeed use brown rice, and you’re right about the time. You’ll need to roughly double the pre-cooking time to 20 minutes instead of 10. You may need to add a bit more water too – just keep an eye on it and add a bit more if it starts to get too dry. And no need to be embarrassed by the second question either – perfectly reasonable!! I tend to leave the stems on – for decoration more than anything because of course we don’t eat them.
I really hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear how you get on. Good luck!
Sarah says
Thank you! This helps a lot! 😀
greg marsh says
Shut the back door. This was excellent. I used ground turkey. I wished I had made more filling, and more tomatoes. Easy to make. Thank you.
Helen says
Yeah! So happy you liked them so much, Greg! (Huge smile) I do sometimes make extra filling for next time. Did you serve them with feta on the side too? Yum – you’re making me hungry just thinking about them. I really hope you try some of my other Greek recipes, too. I’d particularly recommend the Greek baked eggplant (with Greek meatballs on the side – I have recipes for both of these on the site) and easy moussaka. Have a great week!
cindy barnes says
These peppers were delicious! The addition of the honey provided a lovely sweetness to the sauce without overpowering. I did add a pinch of ground cloves, not having had any allspice, and also a few tablespoons of tomato paste to the hamburg onion mixture. All in all, a delicious recipe .
Helen says
Hello Cindy! I’m so happy you enjoyed them. Your substitutions sound great. I often find a drizzle of honey added to tomato based dishes works really well to balance out the flavours. I hope you go on to try some of my other Greek recipes. The easy moussaka is my favourite!
Steve B says
Wow this was good. I made the recipe as written, and it was probably the best stuffed peppers I ever made. I had some big peppers so there wasn’t as much filling left over as I had hoped! I will definitely make this again!
Helen says
Hi Steve! Wow, thanks so much! I was pretty confident that this is a good version of gemista, but it’s nice to have other people confirm that. So happy you liked it! 🙂
Yvonne says
Hello Helen,
I am having difficulty with my Yahoo email, so will use this one for now.
It was so lovely to hear from you in answer to my email about your delicious Greek recipes I made for birthday celebrations. Thank you so much.
This weekend is going to be much cooler here in this part of Canada, so I will make the Greek filo pie. Will let you know how it turns out.
I am happy to read this Yemista recipe. I have a zucchini that my neighbour gave me yesterday, and was thinking of making the vegetarian option. They look so delicious.
Bye for now
Helen says
You’re so welcome, Yvonne – it was lovely to hear from you, too! I think you’ll enjoy the filo pie and the gemista (well I hope you do!). Have a great week and hope to hear from you again!
steve g says
You know what? I’m thinking if you take a small can of black beans and put in with your meat and rice, this would take this meal over the top. Love to hear thoughts on this??
Helen says
I don’t see why not, Steve. Give it a go!
steve g says
Have not yet tried this recipe, but grew up n stuffed peppers, and have made versions of my own . Kids love them, and why not 🙂 delish. Oh and first time I went to the Philippines and made these, my girlfriend’s Mom was caught hiding a couple in the back of the refrigerator for later hehehe.
Helen says
🙂
Eva says
Ta cuisine inspiré dans le méditerranée est toujours plein de couleur ! J’aurais tellement aimée gouter ce plat pour mon diner ce soir et me transporté en Greece !
Helen says
Merci, EVa! C’est pour ca que j’aime tant la cuisine mediterranee! 🙂
[email protected] says
Just in case you missed this on SnapChat (or was it Instagram stories?? I can’t keep up!!), made this with the most gorgeous little yellow capsicums!!! <3 N xx
Helen says
I DID miss it on SnapChat, Nagi 🙁 but that sounds wonderful. I actually think smaller capsicums would work better!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
This is seriously yum Helen! I don’t know anyone that would ever say no to stuffed vegetables and this is a super versatile idea too 😀
Helen says
Thank you, Lorraine! It is indeed versatile – you can add whatever veggies you like to the rice, skip the meat, add other goodies etc. … perfect!
Marissa says
Your timing is perfect, Helen! My friend just e-mailed me saying that she got a whole bag of bell peppers in her CSA share and was asking me what to do with them. Holy moly! THIS is the answer. 🙂 These look fantastic.
Helen says
Well of course I had a sixth sense about that, Marissa, and posted this just for you!!
Marissa says
haha, lucky me! 😉
anna @ annamayeveryday says
I love stuffed peppers and tomatoes, haven’t had them ages, great reminder. Yours look delicious!
Helen says
Thanks, Anna! I hadn’t made these for ages either, but they’re SO worth the effort!
mira says
These look fantastic! And we make similar ones in Bulgaria 🙂 Love your Greek recipes Helen! Pinned!
Helen says
Thank you, Mira! 🙂
[email protected] says
There is something so good about a stuffed pepper and I have my usual recipe I make but I think it’s time to shake things up with your recipe. I’m loving all the flavors going on.
Helen says
Thanks, Janette – hope you enjoy this as much I as do!
Bam's Kitchen says
Fabulous meatless Monday Recipe! I love the sauce. Great comfort food as the days grow cooler. Sharing everywhere!
Helen says
Hello Bam! Thank you so much for the shares!
Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom says
With or without meat, these sound fantastic! I absolutely love the flavors in Greek cooking and this one is certainly no exception! Plus, it’s always more fun to be able to eat the ‘container’ the filling comes in 😉
Helen says
Totally agreed! I especially love eating the tomatoes!