Vegetarian Collard Rolls with Rice Pilaf

These vegetarian collard rolls filled with rice pilaf take their cue from dolmades, the traditional Greek parcels of rice, nuts and herbs. Instead of the usual grape leaves, fresh collard leaves become the wrappers. 

The flavorful filling for these collard and rice rollups begins with brown rice cooked with onion and vegetable broth. When the rice is done, it’s mixed with sautéed garlic and zucchini, fresh herbs, crunchy walnuts and sweet raisins.

Click here to PIN Collard Rolls with Rice Pilaf!

Essential are chopped fresh herbs, your choice which ones. Classic Greek dolmades call for dill and mint. Here I used parsley, basil, and rosemary because, along with the collards, they came in our CSA farm share box. The walnuts and raisins replace classic pinenuts and currants.

The collard leaves themselves get a quick dip in boiling water, to make them pliable for rolling around the rice pilaf filling.

Nestle the assembled rollups in a pan on top of extra rice pilaf, ladle a simple tomato sauce over the rollups and pop them in the oven.

Made with love, these collard rolls with rice pilaf are well worth the effort. To make it easier,break the steps down into several days. The rice filling can be made earlier in the day, or days beforehand. Even easier, use a boxed rice or quinoa mix!

Collard Rolls with Rice Pilaf recipe notes:

• Allepo pepper’s fruity undertones provide agreeable spice. Substitute black pepper if you don’t have Allepo. (I order Aleppo pepper from World Spice Merchants in Seattle. Or you can buy Aleppo via my Amazon link here.)
• Save time and use a boxed quinoa or rice mix for the filling.
• Cooked rice keeps well in the freezer. And, once assembled, the rolls can be frozen. Let them thaw before baking.
• These would be fabulous with a simple dessert of thick creamy yogurt and fresh peaches with honey drizzled over.

Here’s another recipe featuring collard greens: Black-eyed Peas and Collards

Make it a fabulous week–get in the kitchen and cook something delicious!

Thanks for being here. To get my latest recipe posts and exclusive monthly newsletters, subscribe here. (I hate Spam too and will never share your email with anyone.)

Follow me on Instagram! It’s my favorite!

For more vegetarian recipe ideas, peruse my Pinterest boards.

Find daily vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my Facebook page.

This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!

If you make this recipe and love it, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe. If you’d also give the recipe a ✮✮✮✮✮ rating, I’d be delighted!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Collard Rolls with Rice Pilaf

Serve these Greek inspired rolls with a salad of sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives and feta cheese. Makes 8 rolls. Serves 4. 

Prep Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten free

Keyword: collards, rice pilaf, tomato sauce, collard rolls, dolmades

Servings: 8 collard rolls.

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 1 tablespoon plus one tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion , chopped
• 1 ½ cups brown rice
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 medium zucchini cut in ½-inch dice
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup currants or chopped raisins
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper , or 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, (see note)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

For the sauce:

• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

The collards and garnish:

• 8 large collard greens (see note)
• ½ lemon , very thinly sliced, optional

Instructions

Prepare the filling:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saucepan over medium flame. Add the onion: cook and stir about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
• Add the brown rice. Cook, stirring often, until the rice gets a bit brown and begins to crackle. Add the vegetable broth. Cover the pan. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to the lowest setting possible. Cook without stirring, 45 minutes to an hour. (To check if the liquid has been absorbed or not, tilt the pan to the side.) Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.
• While the rice is cooking, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium flame. Add the diced zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cubes begin to color. Stir in the minced garlic and cook a few more minutes.
• Add the cooked rice, walnuts, currants, parsley, basil and rosemary to the zucchini and garlic. Season with Aleppo pepper and salt. Set aside.

Prepare the sauce:

• In a blender puree the diced tomatoes. Stir in the remaining parsley and basil. Set aside.

Assemble and bake the rolls:

• Keeping the leaves intact, trim out the lower and thickest part of the main stem of each collard leaf. (see note) You will have a V at the base where the sides connect.
• To blanch and soften the collards, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice-cold water.
• Blanch the collard leaves in the boiling water for 4 minutes. Immediately transfer to the ice water. (The ice water stops the cooking and keeps the leaves green.)
• Drain the blanched leaves on kitchen towels. You can fill and roll the leaves on the towels.
• Preheat the oven to 375° F. Lightly oil a baking dish.
• Place about ¼ cup of the filling on each collard leaf. Fold the sides of the leaf over the filling, overlapping the 2 sides where the stem was cut out. Keeping the sides tucked in, roll up tightly.
• Arrange the collard rolls in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining filling around the sides. Keeping the green rolls visible, spoon the tomato sauce over them. Cut the lemon slices in half and place decoratively over the rolls.
• Cover and bake 20 to 25 minutes.
• Serve the rolls on a bed of the filling, garnished with the lemon slices.

Notes

• Allepo pepper’s fruity undertones provide agreeable spice. Substitute black pepper if you don’t have Allepo.
• The collard leaves in our CSA box were huge. I removed the stem completely and filled each side as if it were one large leaf.

Nutrition

Serving: 2g | Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 585mg | Potassium: 585mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 848IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 2mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @lettyskitchen or tag #lettyskitchen

Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and substitutions that are made.