Eggplant

31 Eggplant Recipes to Help You Get Excited About That Summer Haul

Our best eggplant dishes include crispy fritters, hearty salads, and plenty of creamy dips.

By Meredith Stettner and The Editors of Epicurious

June 28, 2022

grilled fairy tale eggplants split open and smeared with tahini yogurt sauce

Eggplant is no one-trick pony. Sure, this versatile vegetable is amazing fried and baked into eggplant Parmesan, but that’s just one of the many eggplant recipes we adore. Whether roasted, fried, grilled, baked, or stuffed, eggplant is a worthy star in dishes across the globe. This meaty veg shines in creamy, smoky dips, hearty vegetarian dinners, and zesty side dishes (caponata, anyone?). Remember, eggplant soaks up and enhances the flavors it mingles with, so don’t skimp on the olive oil, tomato sauce, spices, or whatever else you’re adding to it. Read on to discover the many eggplant recipes we find ourselves making over and over.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou
1/31
Crispy Eggplant With Fish Fragrant Sauce
Fish fragrant sauce doesn’t have any fish in it, but the sweet, sour, and spicy elements in it are traditionally used for cooking Sichuan fish dishes, hence the name of this Japanese eggplant dish. Don’t skip the cilantro and sesame seed finish—then try this version with minced pork.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano
2/31
Mutabbal (Eggplant-Tahini Dip)
Not to be mistaken for baba ganoush, this eggplant and tahini appetizer leans heavily on spices like cumin and black pepper rather than focusing on citrus for flavor. Charring the eggplant enhances the smoky notes of the dish—and you can do it over the burners, inside the oven, or even on the grill.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
3/31
Classic Ratatouille
This is not the ratatouille made famous by the eponymous film, but we dare say it's just as good. It comes from the June 1991 issue of “Gourmet,” and the reviews speak for themselves.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
4/31
Grilled Whole Eggplant With Harissa Vinaigrette
Looking for a simple, easy eggplant recipe that'll impress some late-summer dinner guests? Cook the whole thing, unpeeled and uncut, in the glowing embers of charcoal after you've done the rest of your grilling, and dress it simply with a spicy, herb-flecked vinaigrette.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
5/31
Chickpea Crepe "Tacos" With Eggplant and Lamb
Thin, naturally grain-free chickpea flour pancakes (a.k.a. socca) stand in for tortillas in these warmly spiced lamb and eggplant “tacos.” The tomato-laced filling can be made ahead, as can the crepes.
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Photo & Food Styling by Joseph De Leo
6/31
Baigan Chokha
Eggplant is one of those vegetables that absolutely lives for high heat (chokha refers to roasting over fire). In this Trinidadian eggplant recipe, you’ll blast the eggplant beneath the broiler or on the grill for maximum smoky goodness and then mix the flesh with fried garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Serve with a nice big stack of roti.
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Photo by Evi Abeler
7/31
Baked Eggplant Parm
In this gluten-free slice of comfort food, you’ll swap traditional breading for a zesty mixture of ground almonds and Parmesan cheese. Then, you’ll bake the eggplant slices instead of frying and layer them with cheese and sauce.
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Photo by Laura Murray, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Simon Andrews
8/31
Grilled Eggplant With Garlicky Tahini-Yogurt Sauce
Grilled eggplant and tahini are soulmates, forever entwined by some primordial cosmic love. The charred, crispy eggplant skins cry out for the cool, rich creaminess of a yogurt-tahini sauce, which melts into the soft flesh of the cooked eggplant.
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Photo by Dan Perez
9/31
Broiled Eggplant Salad With Sumac Chicken and Pine Nuts
Cookbook author Reem Kassis took a Thai preparation for roasted eggplant and infused it with Middle Eastern flavors to give an Arab spin to this dinner party–worthy dish.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Laura Rege
10/31
Tortang Talong
In this popular Filipino dish, eggplants are heavily charred and then battered with egg and pan-fried, making them smoky, creamy, and satisfying. Serve tortang talong as a vegetable side to a bigger meal, or on its own with a bowl of rice and some fish sauce on top.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
11/31
Stuffed Eggplants and Zucchini in a Rich Tomato Sauce (Baatingan w Kusaa Bil Banadoura)
For this eggplant dish, stuff peak summer produce with spiced ground lamb, then cook it in an oniony tomato sauce. Top it off with crispy garlic, herbs, and yogurt for contrast.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
12/31
Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad
Spiced grains, roasted peak-season vegetables, and a lemony garlic dressing make this a stand-out side dish that doubles as a satisfying lunch. Can’t find ricotta salata? Swap in feta cheese.
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Photo by Matt Russell
13/31
Eggplant and Mushroom Tahcheen
Tahcheen is traditionally made with poached chicken, but this beautiful, saffron-hued vegetarian alternative swaps in rich, earthy portobello mushrooms and meaty eggplant. Entertaining? Prepare everything in advance and pop it into the oven a few hours before you're ready to eat.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege
14/31
Grilled Ratatouille Pasta Salad
Grilling eggplant and zucchini for this twist on the Provencal classic gives them a smoky depth and makes them the perfect partner for hot pasta, fresh tomatoes, herbs, and mozzarella.
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Meredith Stettner has covered food and lifestyle for various publications and worked in content editing and digital marketing for clients in the health and e-commerce sectors. She covered Brooklyn restaurants, chefs, and lifestyle for Industry Magazine, hyper-local real estate news for Jersey Digs, and science for Mechanical Engineering. Her writing has ... Read More

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The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here. ... Read More

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