Last updated on July 1st, 2012
IN MY QUEST FOR SEASONAL DELICIOUSNESS, I recently turned beet leaves into the burritos you see pictured up top. These are filled with the most fragrant rice-mixture in the world, for it is infused with lemon, fennel, and dill. Can I offer you a taste?
If you are growing beets in your garden, feel free to cut some of the leaves. Just don’t cut all of them. A few leaves are needed in order to nourish the edible root below. For beet burritos, try to use medium-sized leaves.
Beet Leaf Burritos
Ingredients for about 36 rolls (Even if you are making fewer than 36 rolls, I hope you’ll make all of the filling — it’s outrageously-delicious all on its own.)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups chicken stock, preferably unsalted; vegetarians can substitute vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
Grated zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons sour cream, plus more for a dipping sauce
36 (or less) beet leaves
Special Equipment – a large skillet with a cover; a kettle of boiling water; a large bowl or casserole dish for wilting the leaves; paper towels for blotting the leaves
The filling – Set the skillet over low heat; add the oil and onions. Cover, and cook until the onions are soft — about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice, chicken stock, fennel, lemon zest, lemon juice, a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat. Then cover the skillet, and immediately reduce heat to its lowest setting. Simmer undisturbed until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid — about 20 minutes. Allow the filling to cool while you prepare the beet greens.
Note: If you are not making the burritos right away, you may cover and refrigerate the filling for up to 2 days.
The beet greens – rinse off any dirt which might be clinging to the leaves; trim off stems. If the vein at the stem-end of a leaf seems particularly tough, cut it out by making “V”-shaped incision, as pictured above.
Wilting the leaves – Place the leaves in a casserole dish or bowl, then pour boiling water over them until all are submerged. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and let sit until the leaves are tender enough to roll without tearing — about 5 minutes.
Drying the leaves – lay the softened leaves on paper towels; blot tops to remove excess moisture. The leaves needn’t be perfectly dry.
Adding the sour cream and dill – Pour the rice mixture into a bowl; stir in the sour cream and dill. The sour cream will act as a binding agent, and make the rice easier to work with. Trust me on this one. Taste the mixture carefully for seasoning — you might like to add more salt and/or pepper.
Filling the leaves – Place a teaspoon (or slightly more) of filling at the stem-end of a leaf.
Fold the stem-end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle…
Serving – Arrange the burritos on a platter, and serve alongside a bowl of sour cream which has been sprinkled with finely chopped dill.
Need a cut-and-paste version of the above recipe? Here goes:
Beet Leaf Burritos
Kevin Lee Jacobs, A Garden for the House
Ingredients for about 36 rolls (Even if you are making fewer than 36 rolls, I hope you’ll make all of the filling — it’s outrageously-delicious all on its own.)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups chicken stock, preferably unsalted; vegetarians can substitute vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
Grated zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons sour cream, plus more for a dipping sauce
36 (or less) beet leavesSpecial Equipment – a large skillet with a cover; a kettle of boiling water; a large bowl or casserole dish for wilting the leaves; paper towels for blotting the leaves
The filling – Set the skillet over low heat; add the oil and onions. Cover, and cook until the onions are soft — about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice, chicken stock, fennel, lemon zest, lemon juice, a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat. Then cover the skillet, and immediately reduce heat to its lowest setting. Simmer undisturbed until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid — about 20 minutes. Allow the filling to cool while you prepare the beet greens.
Note: If you are not making the burritos right away, cover and refrigerate the filling for up to 2 days.
The beet greens – rinse off any dirt which might be clinging to the leaves; trim off stems. If the vein at the stem-end of a leaf seems particularly tough, cut it out by making “V”-shaped incision, as pictured above.
Wilting the leaves – Place the leaves in a casserole dish or bowl, then pour boiling water of them until all are submerged. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and let sit until the leaves are tender enough to roll without tearing — about 5 minutes.
Drying the leaves – lay the softened leaves on paper towels; blot tops to remove excess moisture. The leaves needn’t be perfectly dry.
Adding the sour cream and dill – Pour the rice mixture into a bowl; stir in the sour cream and dill. The sour cream will act as a binding agent, and make the rice easier to work with. Trust me on this one. Taste the mixture carefully for seasoning — you might like to add more salt.
Filling the leaves – Place a teaspoon (or slightly more) of filling at the stem-end of a leaf. Fold the stem-end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and roll up into a cylinder.
Serving – Arrange the burritos on a platter, and serve them alongside a bowl of sour cream which has been sprinkled with finely chopped dill.
Think you’ll try these filled beet leaves? You can let me know by leaving a comment. As always, I love to hear from you.
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Greg says
Thanks for the heads up on beet leaves. I wasn’t sure how many I could “steal” from my plants without hurting the actual beets. I like to add the leaves to salads, but now I’ll try stuffing them!
Donna B. says
This seems very similar to Grecian recipes using grape leaves! MMmmmm…
I’m trying to lean towards a less starchy-based diet… Especially since for dinner yesterday between two people we downed a box of angel hair pasta… Oof. Too too much.
[I blame the lemon sauce – it’s DIVINE. Served with a cajun tilapia filet… mmm…]
Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m adding Beets to my seed order…
mmmmm.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Greg – Beet leaves are also wonderful sauteed, and tossed with pasta.
Donna B. – It’s weird — I’ve never liked stuffed grape leaves. But these beet leaves? Love ’em!
beetree says
I was thinking the same thing- dolmas! I’ve had good and bad experiences with those- it’s all in the recipe, I suppose. These look so good! And gorgeous presentation. As soon as my beets get big enough, I’ll be stealing some leaves for sure. Thanks for the recipe!
badger gardener says
I don’t have beets but seems chard would work in this recipe. Aren’t they in the same family?
The rice sounds wonderful. I love dill. Speaking of, my dill is not doing so well. It is fading to brown from the bottom on up. I’ve kept it watered. I did put it in a spot that I did not treat particularly well w/ compost so maybe a nutritional deficit? I will have to pick some up at a farmer’s market as it would be a disappointing summer w/o fresh dill.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
beetree – so glad you liked the presentation. I like my food to look pretty. Of course, it needs to taste wonderful, too!
badger gardener – You could just as easily make these with Swiss chard or kale. As for dill…has your weather been horribly hot? I only ask because some (though not all) of my dill is beginning to lose its rich color. This I attribute to two recent heatwaves, plus soaring humidity. In any event, I plan to plant a second crop for autumn enjoyment.
JD Pence says
Oh wow- these look absolutely mouth watering!
Darlene says
Kevin, I just made 12 of your beet “burritos” and they are fab! You are right about the rice mix, it’s really out of this world. Have to say I added more sour cream to the rice, which made it even better. Planning to make more of these little bite-size wonders for our Fourth of July picnic.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
JD Pence – They are!
Darlene – you’ve done me proud. So glad you tried — and liked — the beet leaves with their extra flourish of sour cream!
Nancy Fopeano from Schenectady says
Thanks again for the fabulous tour of your garden last Saturday. My sister and I really enjoyed it and took away a few great ideas!
What a clever fellow you are to turn beet leaves into dolmathes. I can’t wait to try the idea. The meatless filling sounds delicious.
Dorothy Ernst says
Thank you for the wonderful way to use beet leaves. I’m definitely going to make these!
KimH says
Yum!! Cant wait to give these a try… Thanks for a great idea & recipe!
sandy says
great idea with the Beet leaves Kevin. I’ve been using chard for all sorts of ‘roll-ups’. Can do alot with the clever name Beet Burritos! Love your enthusiasm and insights.
Brenda Johnson says
This was a real “outside the box”tasting for me (I haven’t met a “green” that I’ve liked- until now) – and I LOVED them!!! The creamy lemony rice swaddled in the tender beet leaves dipped in cool dilled sour cream is such a wonderful combination! Perfect for summer entertaining! They disappear quickly! So I’d recommend readers make a lot of them!!! Thanks for expanding my horizon Kevin! (and chatting with you over a plate of delicious food is always a treat!)
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Nancy Fopeano from Schenectady – So glad you could attend the tour here on June 23. Lovely meeting you and your sister. The stuffed beet leaves are green, serene, and — in my humble opinion — delicious.
Dorothy Ernst – If you try the leaves, I hope you’ll let me know how they turned out for you.
KimH – You’re welcome!
Sandy – You’ve been making “Swiss Chard Burritos!”
Brenda – Thanks for testing these. I love how you bring poetry to my sometimes-crazy cooking adventures.
Syl Grant says
This is a lovely idea, I have do wraps with grape leaves but never beet leaves. I will try this for sure since I have more beet greens that I can use in salads. I use to make a similar recipe years ago with the grape leaves but used pine nuts and only used the dill and not the fennel. Thanks will try it soon.
Kip Morrissette says
I didn’t see YOUR comment regarding trying to use Grape Leaves. I went to a Greek fund raiser and bought two jars of their grape leaves and haven’t done a thing with them. Your filling sounds so simple and delicious, do you think there is even a remote possibility they could be used with your filling?
Betty Frebrowski says
No information on how to bake them. Does anyone have this information?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Betty – These appetizers are not baked. Serve them cold or at room temperature. Delicious!
Terena says
I make beet leaf rolls similar to this, with rice cooked in the chicken broth as well, sometimes I add small cubed ( cooked) chicken breast meat: then instead of the sour cream dip- I make a cream & DILL sauce to pour over top the casserole of rolls & BAKE 350 for 20 min YUMMY 🙂
Lydia says
Recipe looks delightful. Since there is only the two of us do you know if these freeze well? Thanks
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Lydia – Beet leaves would probably disintegrate if frozen. Best to eat when fresh!