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Turkish Stuffed Peppers (Etli Biber Dolması): Recipe

Etli biber dolması step by step: what to ask for at the manav and kasap, the Turkish kitchen measures, and a pot that scales the recipe.

ByHatice Kulali
13 min read Updated: October 27, 2026
Summarize with:
A white plate with a gold rim holds three light-green peppers standing upright, each with a round red tomato slice on top, in a red sauce; a bowl of white yogurt, a loaf of bread and a steel pot with more peppers stand around it
Illustration made for this guide: etli biber dolması with yogurt and bread.

Etli biber dolması (ET-lee bee-BEHR dohl-mah-SUH) is a hot Turkish dish: soft green peppers filled with minced beef and rice, capped with a slice of tomato and cooked upright in a pot. This guide gives every amount in grams and millilitres with the Turkish kitchen measure beside it, the words to ask for each ingredient at the manav, the kasap and the bakkal, and a pot that scales the recipe to the number of peppers.

In short · checked 27.10.2026

Peppers, mince, rice, and a pot on the lowest heat.

  • What it is. Dolma means «filled» and etli means «with meat». The peppers are filled with minced beef, rice, onion and herbs, and cooked in a tomato sauce.
  • Three shops. The manav (greengrocer) sells the peppers, tomato, onion and parsley; the kasap (butcher) the minced beef; the bakkal (small grocer) the rice, paste, mint, spices, oil and yogurt.
  • Cooking. Boil, then cook on the lowest heat with the lid on for 30 to 40 minutes, and rest the pot for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
  • To serve. With süzme yoğurt (strained yogurt) and bread.

The dolma pot

How many peppers?

Set the number of peppers. The pot grows to hold them, the card scales every amount, and the three slips give the Turkish lines to read out in each shop.

12 peppers in the pot

Ingredients for the peppers in the pot
IngredientAmountTurkish measure
dolmalık biberpeppers for stuffing12 peppers12 tane
sert domatesfirm tomatoes; a slice of each is a cap2 tomatoes2 tane
kuru soğandry onion, the ordinary kind1 onion1 tane
dana kıyma, orta yağlıminced dana, medium fat250 g250 gram
pirinçrice (Osmancık), washed and drained100 ml½ su bardağı
domates salçasıtomato paste: half in the filling, half in the sauce30 ml2 yemek kaşığı
maydanozparsley, chopped½ bunch½ demet
kuru nanedried mint5 ml1 çay kaşığı
tuzsalt5 ml1 çay kaşığı
karabiberblack pepper2.5 ml½ çay kaşığı
kimyoncumin, one pinch1 pinchbir tutam
zeytinyağıolive oil: half in the filling, half in the sauce60 ml4 yemek kaşığı
sıcak suhot water for the sauce: a start, pour to halfway up the peppers300–400 ml1½–2 su bardağı
patatesa wedge pushed into the one free space, so the peppers stay upright1 wedge1 tane

Amounts in grams and millilitres are rounded; the Turkish measure is rounded to a quarter. This page counts 1 su bardağı as 200 ml, 1 yemek kaşığı as 15 ml and 1 çay kaşığı as 5 ml. The sauce water is a start: pour until the liquid is halfway up the peppers.

Three shops, three slips. Read out the top line, then the list.

manavgreengrocer

Dolmalık biber arıyorum.I am looking for stuffing peppers.

  • 12 tane dolmalık biberstuffing peppers, counted in pieces
  • 2 tane sert domatesfirm tomatoes
  • 1 tane kuru soğana dry onion
  • 1 demet maydanoza bunch of parsley
  • 1 tane patatesa potato

kasapbutcher

Dana kıyma istiyorum, orta yağlı olsun.I would like minced dana, medium fat, please.

  • 250 gram dana kıyma, orta yağlı olsunminced dana in grams, medium fat

bakkalsmall grocer

Şunlar lazım.I need these.

  • Osmancık pirinçOsmancık rice
  • domates salçasıtomato paste
  • kuru nanedried mint
  • tuzsalt
  • karabiberblack pepper
  • kimyoncumin
  • zeytinyağıolive oil
  • süzme yoğurtstrained yogurt

What dolma means: a vegetable, filled

Dolma (DOHL-mah) is a vegetable hollowed out and filled. It comes from dolmak (DOHL-mahk), «to become full». The Turkish dictionary of the Turkish Language Association (TDK) defines a dolma as a dish in which animals such as chicken or lamb, or vegetables such as pepper, tomato and courgette, are filled with a prepared stuffing, made either with meat (etli) or with olive oil (zeytinyağlı).

Five small plates on a cream table: a stuffed pepper with a tomato cap, a stuffed tomato, a stuffed aubergine, two stuffed courgette halves and a plate of rolled vine leaves
Illustration made for this guide: tap a dot to see which dish it is.
  1. Biber dolmasıThe pepper (biber, bee-BEHR), the dish of this page. The pepper is filled and capped with tomato.
  2. Domates dolmasıThe tomato (domates, doh-mah-TEHS) is hollowed, filled and closed with its own top.
  3. Patlıcan dolmasıThe aubergine (patlıcan, paht-luh-JAHN) is slit and filled.
  4. Kabak dolmasıThe courgette (kabak, kah-BAHK) is cut, hollowed and filled.
  5. Yaprak sarmasıNot a dolma: sarma (SAHR-mah) is a leaf, here a vine leaf, wrapped round a filling.
Rolled vine leaves in a red sauce on a white plate around a small bowl of yogurt
Etli yaprak sarma: vine leaves rolled round a filling. Photo: E4024, 10.07.2015, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

In a dolma the vegetable is hollowed and filled with a mix of minced meat and rice; in a sarma a leaf (vine, chard, cabbage) is rolled round the filling (the Ministry of National Education, MEB). A cabbage or vine leaf with a rice filling is often called sarma, and it usually sits on the table beside the dolmas.

Which kind is this page about?

The word
etli (ET-lee) means «with meat in it» (TDK).
The filling
Minced meat and rice, with onion and herbs.
At the table
A main dish (MEB). The recipe on this page is served hot.
A white plate with gold rim holding four light-green stuffed peppers, one stuffed onion and pieces of tomato in a red-orange sauce
Etli biber dolması, with a stuffed onion, in Ankara. Photo: E4024, 01.04.2017, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.
The word
zeytinyağlı (zay-TEEN-yah-luh) means «with olive oil added» (TDK).
The filling
No meat: rice, olive oil and water (MEB).
At the table
Usually cold, after the hot dishes; in many regions it is eaten hot (MEB). It is served at room temperature, and a covered dish keeps a few days in the fridge (Ministry of Culture and Tourism).
A white plate with a stuffed green pepper and a stuffed tomato, topped with dill and parsley
A serving of various dolmas: a pepper and a tomato. Photo: E4024, 29.08.2016, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

Dolma, not dolmuş

A dolmuş (DOHL-moosh) is a shared minibus. Say dolma for the dish, not dolmuş. More on the word is in Tomatoes in Türkiye.

Sources: TDK, MEB «Sebze Yemekleri», Ministry of Culture and Tourism «Dolmalar» · checked 27.10.2026

What to buy and how to ask

The pot needs three shops, and each has its own word. Read the Turkish line on a card to the seller or show it on your phone.

Courgettes, aubergines and red peppers piled on a market stall under a cloth, with green beans behind
A vegetable stall at the Göztepe Pazarı in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Photo: E4024, 17.06.2013, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

Four words for where to buy

manav (mah-NAHV)
A shop that sells fruit and vegetables (TDK). The peppers, tomato, onion and parsley come from here.
kasap (kah-SAHP)
A shop that sells meat (TDK), and the butcher who works there. The minced meat comes from here.
bakkal (bahk-KAHL)
A shop that sells food and drink at retail, and the person who runs it (TDK). Rice, paste, spices, oil and yogurt come from here.
pazar (pah-ZAHR)
A temporary place where sellers set out their goods on fixed days (TDK): an open-air market, like the vegetable stall in the photo.

TDK · checked 27.10.2026 · sozluk.gov.tr

Manav · greengrocerDrawing of light-green stuffing peppers

Dolmalık biber (DOHL-mah-luhk)

A pepper «for making dolma» (TDK). Light green, with a very soft skin. The recipe uses 12.

Dolmalık biber arıyorum.I am looking for stuffing peppers.

TDK · Culture and Tourism

Manav · greengrocerDrawing of a whole tomato and a cut half

Sert domates

A firm tomato (sert means «hard»). A slice of it caps each pepper; one tomato makes about six caps.

Sert domates var mı?Do you have firm tomatoes?

Culture and Tourism

Manav · greengrocerDrawing of a whole onion and a cut half

Kuru soğan (SOH-ahn)

The dry onion, the ordinary onion of the kitchen; the filling takes one medium onion, chopped fine.

Bir kuru soğan, lütfen.One dry onion, please.

Manav · greengrocerDrawing of a bunch of parsley tied with string

Maydanoz (my-dah-NOHZ)

Parsley, sold by the bunch (demet, deh-MEHT). Half a bunch goes in the filling.

Bir demet maydanoz, lütfen.One bunch of parsley, please.

TDK

Manav · greengrocerDrawing of two potatoes and a wedge

Patates (pah-tah-TEHS)

A potato. A wedge of it is pushed into the one free space in the pot so the peppers stay upright.

Bir patates, lütfen.One potato, please.

Kasap · butcherDrawing of a white bowl of minced meat

Dana kıyma (DAH-nah KUH-ymah)

Kıyma is minced meat (TDK: «çekilmiş et», ground meat). Dana is a young bovine, a calf up to a year old once weaned (TDK). Orta yağlı means «medium fat».

Dana kıyma istiyorum, orta yağlı olsun.I would like minced dana, medium fat, please.

TDK

Bakkal · small grocerDrawing of a bowl of long white rice grains with a wooden scoop

Pirinç (pee-REENCH)

Rice (TDK: the grains of the plant used as food). Ask for Osmancık: a long-grain rice bred in Edirne and registered in 1997, with a glassy grain (the Trakya Agricultural Research Institute, TTAE).

Osmancık pirinç var mı?Do you have Osmancık rice?

TDK · TTAE

Bakkal · small grocerDrawing of two open jars of red paste

Domates salçası (sahl-chah-SUH)

A salted paste of tomatoes (TDK: salça is a paste of tomato or pepper that adds flavour and colour to a dish). Pepper paste is biber salçası; this recipe uses the tomato one.

Domates salçası, lütfen.Tomato paste, please.

TDK

Bakkal · small grocerDrawing of a bowl of crumbled dried mint with three sprigs

Kuru nane (koo-ROO nah-NEH)

Dried mint, a spice made from the dried leaves of the plant (TDK). One çay kaşığı goes in the filling.

Kuru nane, lütfen.Dried mint, please.

TDK

Bakkal · small grocerDrawing of three small dishes holding black peppercorns, cumin seeds and coarse salt

Baharat (bah-hah-RAHT)

Spices: karabiber is black pepper and kimyon is cumin. Pul biber is coarse flakes of dried red pepper (TDK), an option for those who like heat.

Karabiber ve kimyon, lütfen.Black pepper and cumin, please.

TDK

Bakkal · small grocerDrawing of a corked glass bottle of olive oil and a small dish of oil

Zeytinyağı (zay-TEEN-yah-uh)

Olive oil. Half goes in the filling and half in the sauce.

Bir şişe zeytinyağı, lütfen.One bottle of olive oil, please.

On the side · at the tableDrawing of a white bowl of thick yogurt with a spoon

Süzme yoğurt (SEWZ-meh YOH-oort)

Süzme means «strained» (TDK), so this is thick, strained yogurt. It is served beside the hot peppers.

Süzme yoğurt var mı?Do you have strained yogurt?

TDK

A butcher’s counter seen from the customer’s side, with a glass case of trays and a heap of fresh minced meat
Illustration made for this guide: a kasap’s counter, where the minced meat is bought.

If you would rather shop in a supermarket

The same ingredients stand on the shelves, and nobody needs to be asked. The chains are described in BİM and Carrefour in Türkiye; what the produce costs is in Food Prices in Türkiye, and the open-air markets are in Istanbul Markets and Bazaars.

Kitchen measures: glasses and spoons

Turkish recipes count in glasses and spoons. This page counts 1 su bardağı as 200 ml, 1 yemek kaşığı as 15 ml and 1 çay kaşığı as 5 ml, and puts the metric amount first.

Turkish measureWhat it isThis page counts
su bardağı (soo bahr-dah-UH)A glass for drinking water (TDK).200 ml
yemek kaşığı (yeh-MEHK kah-shuh-UH)The big spoon of the table; yemek is «food» and kaşık is «spoon».15 ml
tatlı kaşığı (taht-LUH)A spoon for sweet things, smaller than a soup spoon (TDK).Not used here
çay kaşığı (CHAI kah-shuh-UH)The small spoon used to measure and to stir sugar into tea (TDK).5 ml
A water glass and three spoons of different sizes laid side by side on a cream table
Illustration made for this guide: a glass and three spoons.

Glasses differ: a table in the Ministry of Health’s guide to cutting sugar counts a large glass, büyük su bardağı, as 225 ml. For the recipe, 200 ml is the measure.

Step by step: fill loosely, cook low

Etli biber dolması takes eight steps in two parts: prepare the peppers and the filling, then cook them upright. The amounts for the number of peppers you want are in the pot above; the steps use the 12-pepper amounts.

Prepare

  1. Core the peppers.Wash them, pull out the stem with its core and seeds so a round opening is left, and rinse the inside.
  2. Mix the filling.Wash and drain the rice. Mix it with the mince, chopped onion and parsley, dried mint, salt, black pepper, a pinch of cumin, 1 yemek kaşığı of tomato paste, 2 of olive oil and about 2 of water, until even.
  3. Fill loosely.Spoon the filling in, up to about 1 cm below the opening. The rice swells as it cooks and needs the room.
  4. Cap with tomato.Lay a slice of firm tomato over each opening.
Light-green peppers on a wooden board: one whole, one with its core cut out lying on its side, one hollowed and rinsed standing up, and the stem tops with a heap of seeds in front; a colander of peppers and a bowl of water stand behind
Illustration made for this guide: the stem and seeds come out.
A white bowl of raw rice-and-mince filling with chopped onion and parsley, a spoon of wood, a spoonful of tomato paste and a pinch of dried mint on top; small dishes of olive oil and water and a few grains of salt lie beside it
Illustration made for this guide: the filling.
Seven filled light-green peppers in a white enamel tray, each with a round red tomato slice on top; a bowl of tomato slices and an empty steel pot with its lid stand beside it
Illustration made for this guide: filled peppers with their caps.

Cook

  1. Stand them in the pot.Caps up, shoulder to shoulder in a wide pot, with a potato wedge pushed into any free space.
  2. Pour the sauce at the side.Stir 1 yemek kaşığı of tomato paste, 2 of olive oil and a pinch of salt into 300–400 ml of hot water. Pour it down the side until it is halfway up the peppers.
  3. Boil, then lowest heat.Bring to the boil, turn to the lowest heat, cover, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the peppers are soft and the rice is cooked.
  4. Rest with the lid on.Leave the pot for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Three stuffed peppers on a white plate in an orange sauce
The finished dish: etli biber dolması on a white plate. Photo: E4024, 09.02.2018, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

A wide, shallow pot with a lid suits this dish; the kinds on sale are in Turkish Cookware Brands.

Why it goes wrong: four causes

  • Filled to the brim. The rice swells as it cooks, so a full pepper splits or leaves the filling hard. Leave 1 cm below the opening.
  • Sauce poured over the peppers. It washes the filling out from under the caps. Pour it at the side, halfway up.
  • Heat left high. The sauce boils away before the rice is soft, and the bottom of the pot catches. Turn it to the lowest after the boil, with the lid on.
  • No rest. Served at once, the filling is loose and the sauce thin. Rest the pot for 15 to 20 minutes with the lid on.

At the table: yogurt and bread

Three stuffed peppers on a white plate in an orange sauce, each with a spoonful of white yogurt on top
Etli biber dolması with yogurt. Photo: E4024, 09.02.2018, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

Etli biber dolması is served hot, with a bowl of süzme yoğurt and bread to take up the sauce. Spoon some of the sauce from the pot over each plate. To ask for a dish in a Turkish restaurant, see Ottoman Dishes.

Quick answers

Is it dolma or dolmuş?

Dolma, the filled dish. A dolmuş is a shared minibus (Ministry of Culture and Tourism).

Is it dolma or sarma?

In a dolma a hollowed vegetable is filled; in a sarma a leaf is wrapped round the filling (MEB). Stuffed peppers are a dolma.

Is etli biber dolması hot or cold?

The recipe on this page is served hot. The etli kinds are main dishes; the zeytinyağlı kinds are usually served cold or at room temperature (MEB, Ministry of Culture and Tourism).

Which rice?

Osmancık, a long-grain rice bred at the Trakya research institute in Edirne and registered in 1997 (TTAE). Ask: Osmancık pirinç var mı?Do you have Osmancık rice?

How do I ask for minced meat?

Say Dana kıyma istiyorum, orta yağlı olsun.I would like minced dana, medium fat, please.Kıyma is minced meat (TDK).

What does orta yağlı mean?

Orta is «medium» and yağlı is «fatty», so medium fat. The recipe uses 250 g of it for 12 peppers.

Sources and limits

Show the pages checked
  1. Güncel Türkçe Sözlük: dolma, dolmak, sarma, kıyma, salça, etli, zeytinyağlı, dolmalık, nane, maydanoz, pirinç, pul biber, süzme, manav, kasap, bakkal, pazar, su bardağı, çay kaşığı, tatlı kaşığı, dana — Türk Dil Kurumu, checked 27.10.2026
  2. Sebze Yemekleri (vocational module, Ankara 2011) — Ministry of National Education, checked 27.10.2026
  3. Dolmalar (e-book) — Ministry of Culture and Tourism, checked 27.10.2026
  4. Biber Dolması (e-book) — Ministry of Culture and Tourism, checked 27.10.2026
  5. Dolmalar, Mersin (Geleneksel Mutfak) — Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Kültür Portalı, checked 27.10.2026
  6. Osmancık-97 — Trakya Agricultural Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, checked 27.10.2026
  7. Türkiye Şeker Tüketimini Azaltma Rehberi (the large-glass row) — Ministry of Health, checked 27.10.2026

Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, each with its author, date, licence and file page in the caption. The pictures marked «Illustration» were drawn for this guide with an image tool and show no real place, person or brand.

The amounts are this page’s own recipe for 12 peppers. Sizes of glasses and spoons differ from kitchen to kitchen.

Article Information

Written by: Hatice Kulali
Published: April 3, 2022
Category: Turkish food

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