Yemista or Gemista

Learn how to make the best yemista (gemista), traditional Greek stuffed vegetables. This recipe stuffs hollowed out vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and zucchini with a mixture of rice, herbs and vegetables baked in a rich tomato sauce. This is a perfect meal that always reminds me of summers in Greece. It can be enjoyed year round however.

Growing up in a Greek home, it was not unusual for my parents to cook with fresh, wholesome ingredients that came straight from their garden. That is why in the summer, when the fresh produce was abundant, they would often make dishes like Fried eggplant with tomato sauce or Zucchini fritters – Kolokithokeftedes and even Greek okra stewed in tomato sauce. They would also often make large pans of gemista, or stuffed vegetables that they would harvest from their garden. Veggies like tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplant. Then, when they had collected enough of them, they would also make yemista using zucchini blossom flowers – always an incredible treat!

Why I love this recipe

When I make yemista I tend to stuff tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and peppers (both bell and the longer ones pictured above…what are those called?).  Every vegetable tastes different and everyone in my family has their favourites.  Keep in mind that even if you opt not to stuff zucchini, you will still need to incorporate some shredded zucchini into your filling.

In order to cook yemista you need a pretty hot oven and a few hours.  As a result, in Greece it is not uncommon for families to deliver an unbaked pan of yemista to the local baker on their way to the beach.  They pay a nominal sum to have it cooked and then, on their way home, they pick it up and it’s ready to eat.  You likely won’t be able to do the same where you are (or maybe you can…in which case…I want to visit!), but you can pop your roasting pan into the oven, put your feet up for a couple of hours, and take comfort in knowing that you are going to be serving up a meal which is nutritious, delicious, and pretty darn impressive.

If you are looking for a great Greek meal to feed a crowd, then yemista (gemista) is a great option. You can prepare a huge pan of stuffed vegetables for many people, rather easily and inexpensively. I love my yemista to be made without meat, so this classic recipe of my parents’ is one of my absolute favourites.

Key ingredients

The ingredients used in yemista are very simple.  For this reason it is important to use the freshest and best quality ingredients possible.

Do not be discouraged by the long list of ingredients in the recipe. If you cook often, you may already have many of these things in your kitchen. If you don’t, no worries, they are easy to find, and inexpensive.

Vegetables – You can stuff a wide variety of vegetables when making gemista. I typically like to use tomatoes, bell peppers (different varieties and colours), eggplant and zucchini. The eggplant and zucchini are harder to hollow out than the tomatoes and peppers are, but they are worth the effort and I show you how to do it easily!

Rice – The base of the filling for this gemista recipe is rice. You can really use any white rice you like; I tend to use medium or long grain white rice.

Tomato sauce – A good quality tomato sauce (or passata) is used both in the filling and in the baking pan. If you have the time, consider making your own tomato sauce. You can follow my family recipe and technique for homemade tomato sauce recipe.

Olive oil – This recipe uses a generous amount of olive oil. A good quality olive oil has health benefits but also has a deep fruity flavour that is wonderful in these gemista.

Herbs – The fresh flavour of the yemista comes from fresh herbs like parsley and dill

Aromatics – Onions, garlic and green onions all add flavour to the gemista

Vegetable oil – I use vegetable oil when I bake the yemista because the flavour it lighter. I sometimes use olive oil throughout the recipe however.

Sugar – I add a bit of sugar to the bottom of my hollowed out tomatoes if they are not fresh from the garden. I also add a touch of sugar to my tomato sauce when I pour it over the stuffed veg before baking.

Potatoes – Although this is optional, I like to take the opportunity to add some potatoes to my roasting pan of yemista. They cook up delicious, and help fill in the spaces between veggies, and help to prop them up well.

How to make it

The English translation of yemista is stuffed, and that is exactly what this recipe asks you to do.  This meal involves stuffing vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplants with rice-based deliciousness, baking them for hours, and then feasting until you too, are stuffed.

Step 1
Select the vegetables you will be stuffing. Wash them well and cut off the tops (which you will reserve) to create a lid. Now, hollow out your vegetables (complete and detailed instructions are available within the recipe card). Some vegetables, like the peppers, zucchini and eggplant will need to be blanched in boiling water before stuffing them. Reserve what you have scooped out of the tomatoes and the zucchini.

Step 2
Finely chop the zucchini innards, and place them in a bowl. Add to that some grated carrot, and more grated zucchini, until you have a total of 2 cups.

Step 3
Start to prepare the filling by sautéing onion in some olive oil. To that add the rest of the filling ingredients (herbs, vegetables, rice, tomato sauce and seasonings).

Step 4
Begin stuffing your vegetables. Top them with their lids and then arrange them in your roasting pan. If you have space between your stuffed vegetables, place potato wedges in the spaces.

Step 5
Pour tomato sauce and olive oil all over the vegetables and bake for 2 hours in a 375 degree Farenheit oven. Check on your pan every once in a while – add water if the yemista are not yet cooked, but the liquid has already all been absorbed.

Recipes substitutions

Grains

Instead of using white rice in the filling you can use brown rice. This will make the filling more nutritious but will also take longer to cook. You may need to add more liquid.

Herbs

You can easily play around with the fresh herbs used in this recipe (and others). If you prefer to try something different than parsley and dill, consider chives, basil and even mint.

Recipe variations

There is more than one way to stuff a vegetable and many variations of yemista include minced meats or cheese and different kinds of grains.  My parents typically choose to prepare a rice and vegetable based filling, making their yemista an incredibly satisfying, vegan meal.

However, if you would like to add meat to your Greek stuffed vegetables, cook up some ground beef, lamb or turkey and add that to the filling along with the rest of the ingredients. You can cut the amount of rice by half.

Cooking tips

Hollowing out the veggies

The most challenging part of this recipe will be preparing the vegetables, as some are more amendable to hollowing out than others.  Tomatoes and peppers are easy, zucchini and eggplant slightly less so.  In order to tackle these more difficult vegetables, it is handy to have a long handled spoon.  This is particularly useful if you are going to be stuffing long slender zucchini. Although, if you are trying this meal for the first time, choose the shorter, typically pale green zucchinis versus the longer, darker ones; the former will be easier to deal with. You can also carefully insert a knife into the zucchini and eggplant and gently twist it around to mush up the vegetable innards. You can then insert a spoon and scoop out the inside of the veggies.

Stuff carefully

Be careful not to pack the filling in too tightly or right to the top. Also, make sure that there is some liquid from the filling added to each vegetable which is stuffed.  

Add a touch of sugar to the tomatoes

When stuffing tomatoes, I add 1/2 teaspoon white sugar to the bottom of each tomato shell before stuffing it.  According to my folks, this is essential, especially, when the tomatoes are not fresh from the garden. I listen to my parents, but you don’t have to of course. If you prefer to omit the sugar, you can!

Arrange well

When placing long veggies (like long peppers/zucchinis or eggplants) in the pan, ensure that they are not lying flat; prop them up with a potato; this prevents them from losing their liquid, and helps ensure that the rice cooks well.

How to serve

My favourite way to eat yemista is with a nice big hunk of feta cheese on the side. This will re-categorize this as a vegetarian meal versus a vegan one, but if you are okay with that, do it.  It’s so good.

Making yemista is a bit of a commitment.  It will take about an hour to prepare them,  and another 2 hours or so for them to bake.  In order to make the task more manageable, I often make yemista in phases. I prepare my filling and stuff your vegetables on one day, refrigerate it all, and then bake it the following day.

I suggest that if you are going to decide to make yemista, you make a big batch. They keep well, baked,  in the fridge for several days and make a perfect take-along lunch.  Because every vegetable tastes differently, you won’t feel as though you are eating the same thing every day.

Serving, storing and reheating

Yemista are delicious both hot from the oven, at room temperature (the way I prefer them) and slightly chilled. This makes them great for leftovers and perfect for a make-ahead meal when you are hosting, or contributing to a potluck.

If you have leftovers, keep them in the refrigerator. If you want to enjoy them warmed up, then the microwave is the easiest way to do this.

Related recipes

If you love this classic Greek recipe of stuffed vegetables, I think that you will also love these recipes that use a rice filling.

Greek cabbage rolls (lahanodolmades) with zucchini and rice A vegetarian version of stuffed cabbage rolls, topped with the classic Greek avgolemono (egg lemon) sauce.

Dolmades (Ντολμάδες) These vine or grape leaves are filled with rice and herbs. Serve them with Greek yogourt or tzatziki and with some lemon wedges. So good!

Greek stuffed calamari This is a really special meal that I love to make for company. It is so impressive, so delicious and pretty easy to make as well!

Serving size

The following recipe will make enough filling to stuff 12-15 medium sized vegetables.  It can easily be doubled, or halved.

Thanks for sharing!