You’ve never had onions like this before, and these Middle Eastern Style Stuffed Onions are to die for. They’re perfetly flavorful, easy to roll and make, absolutely a show stopping dinner.
Middle Eastern stuffed onions are a traditional dish found across the region, in countries like Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Turkey, and Iraq. This dish is known as basal mahshi in Arabic, and it’s usually made by blanching onions to soften them. You then carefully separate the layers, which are later stuffed with a filling and slow-cooked in a flavorful sauce. I skip the boiling and use the microwave for an easier and more convenient method. The result is tender, sweet onions wrapped around a savory spiced filling soaking up a delicious, rich and aromatic sauce.
If you’re looking for more stuffed vegetable recipes, try my delicious Malfoof recipe. Malfouf is a stuffed cabbage with a spiced rice and beef filling. You could also check out my Stuffed Grape Leaves (Yalanji) recipe.
What Makes Middle Eastern Stuffed Onions Great:
I know as Arabs we stuff ALOT of vegetables, and most of the time they’re kind of time consuming. These vegetarian stuffed onions are alot easier to stuff and roll and don’t take as much time at all!
1. Let’s talk onions:
- We use yellow, round onions are for this dish.
- You partially boil or steam the onions to soften them and make the layers easier to separate without tearing. In this recipe, I steam them in the microwave for convenience.
- Once you steam the onions, peel the layers gently apart, and you form a natural “wrapper” for the filling.
2. Vegetarian Stuffed Onions Filling:
- This filling includes rice mixed a few different herbs, tomatoes, and optionally ground beef or lamb. I use a few herbs like dill and parsley. Spices such as 7 spices, coriander, Aleppo pepper, dried mint, garlic powder, and of course salt and pepper. For extra flavor, we’re adding extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and pomegranate molasses to the filling too.
- Different variations could be filled with meat. However, I prefer my stuffed vegetables to be meat-free and vegetarian with extra vegetables. You can totally add ground beef to the filling if you like too.
3. Sauce
- We cook these stuffed onions in a sauce that complements their flavors. I prefer a delicious tomato-based sauce, it has a slight lemony tang mixed with pomegranate molasses, which brings a tangy, sweet-sour taste.
4. Cooking Process
- We simmer the stuffed onions are typically slowly in the sauce, allowing the flavors to meld and the onions to become very tender. The onions are baked and ready in a little over an hour! This helps the onions be a little more sweet and caramelized, in my humble opinion.
How to Make These Vegetarian Stuffed Onions:
To Prep the Onions:
- To start, cut the both ends off your onions, and peel them.
- Cut a deep slice down the middle to reach the core. Be careful, cut slowly so you dont split the onion in half. It should still stay intact. You want it to be a wedge cut into them, not a full cut to split it into 2 pieces.
- Transfer the onions to a large microwave safe bowl. Pour 1 1/2 cups of hot water on top.
- Transfer to the microwave and microwave on high heat for a few minutes. They should be soft. Remove from the water and let them cool.
To Make the Filling:
- Now, wash the rice a few times until the water runs clear.
- Then, soak the rice in lukewarm water for 15 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl.
- Combine the rice with the chopped parsley, chopped dill, minced garlic, and chopped tomatoes.
- Add the 7 spices, coriander powder, Aleppo pepper, garlic and onion powder, black pepper, salt, and the dried mint. Mix well.
- Now drizzle on top the pomegranate molasses and the extra virgin olive oil and set aside.
Assembly:
- Separate the onion layers carefully.
- Add the filling to the onion layer and roll. Place them in a single layer the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Combine the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl, and carefully pour on top of the onions. Cover with parchment paper, and a layer of aluminum foil.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the onions are soft.
- Once baked, let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Stuffed onions are a delicious, unique, and deeply flavorful part of Middle Eastern Arab culinary heritage, balancing the sweetness of the onions with a savory, spiced filling that speaks to the region’s love of well-spiced, slow-cooked dishes.
Some More Delicious Recipes You Might Wanna Try:
Stuffed Zucchini (Kousa Mahshi)
Sfeeha- Middle Eastern Meat Pies
Nescafe Cake- No Bake Coffee Cake
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Middle Eastern Stuffed Onions
Ingredients
Filling:
- 3 pounds yellow onions
- 2 roma tomatoes, medium size
- ½ cup parsley finely chopped
- ¼ cup dill finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups cal-rose or sushi rice washed, and soaked for 15 minutes in lukewarm water.
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons 7 spices
- 1 tablespoon dried mint you can substitute for 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leave
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
- 1½ cups hot water to microwave the onions
Sauce:
- 30 oz tomato sauce (2 15oz cans, about 445 ml each)
- 3 cups hot water
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 tablespoon vegetable stock powder or substitute salt, to taste
Instructions
To Prep the Onions:
- To start, cut the both ends off your onions, and peel them.
- Cut a deep slice down the middle to reach the core. Be careful, cut slowly so you dont split the onion in half. It should still stay intact. You want it to be a wedge cut into them, not a full cut to split it into 2 pieces.
- Transfer the onions to a large microwave safe bowl. Pour 1 1/2 cups of hot water on top.
- Transfer to the microwave and microwave on high heat for 7-8 minutes. They should be soft. Remove from the water and let them cool.
To Make the Filling:
- Now, wash the rice a few times until the water runs clear.
- Then, soak the rice in lukewarm water for 15 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl.
- Preheat your oven to 375 °F.
- Combine the rice with the chopped parsley, chopped dill, minced garlic, and chopped tomatoes.
- Add the 7 spices, coriander powder, Aleppo pepper, garlic and onion powder, black pepper, salt, and the dried mint. Mix well.
- Now drizzle on top the pomegranate molasses and the extra virgin olive oil and set aside.
- Separate the onion layers carefully.
- Add about 2 tablespoons (or more, depending on the size of the onion layer) and roll. Place them in a single layer the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Combine the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl, and carefully pour on top of the onions. Cover with parchment paper, and a layer of aluminum foil.
- Bake at 375 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the onions are soft.
- Once baked, let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve with salad, or yogurt.
Notes
- Dont cut through the onion! we want layers that we can roll, not half pieces!
- Add 1 pound of ground beef to the filling to make it more protein filled.