15 Easy Eggplant Recipes (Healthy And Tasty)
These eggplant recipes use simple ingredients to showcase the best ways to cook eggplants (or aubergines as they’re known in the UK). These meaty vegetables have a rich and complex flavor and make truly satisfying dishes such as eggplant parmesan baked in the oven.
Eggplant dishes are easy to make, such as eggplant pasta, and are good for meal prep or on-the-go lunches. Discover eggplant dinner recipes for parties, potlucks, or just a simple eggplant recipe for supper. These recipes are vegan or vegetarian.
The Best Healthy Eggplant Recipes
Eggplants are a great addition to any vegan diet or healthy eating plan. They’re low in calories and high in fiber, making them a perfect weight-loss food. They’re also a good source of potassium, manganese, vitamin B-complex vitamins, and antioxidants. So what are you waiting for? Get cooking!
1. Simple Roasted Summer Veggies
The simplest way to cook eggplant is to slice them up into half-inch slices with a selection of summer vegetables – zucchini and bell peppers work best.
Arrange on a baking sheet, season, and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in a preheated oven (approx 400 F (200 C)) for 25 to 30 minutes until soft and golden brown and serve with a few torn basil leaves. Sometimes simplicity is best.
2. Eggplant Parmesan
If there’s one recipe that will explode all your misconceptions about eggplants it’s this one. Eggplant Parmesan is a dish that will make you look at the humble eggplant in a completely different way.
This is a vegan version, a dairy and egg-free twist of a traditional Italian recipe. Roasted eggplant in bread crumbs topped with a fresh tomato sauce. This recipe uses vegan parmesan cheese which tastes and smells exactly like the real deal but feel free to use authentic parmesan.
Full recipe on Minimalist Baker
3. Chargrilled Aubergine (Eggplant) With Carrot Top Pesto
You don’t need to be a meat-eater to enjoy a barbecue. Eggplants taste wonderful when chargrilled. Carrot tops and fresh pesto make this healthy vegan dish sing!
Full recipe on Lauren Caris Cooks
4. Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant with Tahini Sauce
This baked eggplant recipe uses simple ingredients, mushrooms, whole tomatoes, and cooked quinoa drizzled with tahini.
Full recipe on Simply Quinoa
5. Baked Eggplant Parmesan Crisps
Did I tell you eggplant was versatile? It makes amazing crisps! This recipe uses far less oil than traditional crisps – just a spritz of cooking spray before placing the baking sheet loaded with the eggplant chips in the oven.
Flavored with Italian seasoning, I like to eat mine sprinkled with cheese and dipped in fresh tomato sauce.
Full recipe on Simply Quinoa
6. Eggplant Puttanesca
This eggplant pasta supper is a rustic combination of onion and eggplant sauteed in a little olive oil with olives, capers, and red pepper flakes for a flavorful dish.
Full recipe on The Simple Veganista
7. Chickpea Ratatouille
Ratatouille is traditionally a side dish combining eggplants, big juicy tomatoes, bell peppers, and zucchini. Adding chickpeas provides protein and elevates this recipe to a main dinner dish.
Garlic cloves and fresh herbs add depth to this delicious food. I like to serve mine with a chunk of wholemeal bread.
Full recipe on The Simple Veganista
8. Authentic Baba Ganoush Recipe
Baba Ganoush is a wonderful eggplant dip made from just 5 ingredients – eggplant, tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Authentically this dish is cooked over a wood-burning fire but there are two easy alternatives to add the traditional smoky flavor to the dish.
Serve with olives and lightly toasted pita bread.
Full recipe on Feasting At Home
9. Grilled Eggplant
A simple supper dish, grilled eggplant can be a meal on its own dribbled with a tasty sauce. Take it to the next level, (or not), with a herbed couscous topping.
Full recipe on Love & Lemons
10. Almond-Crusted Baked Eggplant
These baked slices of eggplant are shaped like crisps and covered in an almond crust. Top with marinara sauce and it’s a bit like eating mini cheeseless pizzas!
Full recipe on Jessica in the Kitchen
11. Spicy Couscous Stuffed Baby Eggplants
This cute baby eggplant dish makes a wonderful appetizer. Filled with spicy tomato-based couscous and drizzled with a simple cashew sauce, it should win over even die-hard eggplant skeptics.
Full recipe on Green Evi
12. Harissa Eggplant and Carrot Salad
The sweetness of the roasted eggplants and carrots is enhanced by the spicy harissa in this easy dinner recipe. When you roast the vegetables in your sheet pan double up the quantities – it’s time-saving meal prep for later in the week!
Full recipe on The Clever Meal
13. Grilled Eggplant Salad with Chickpeas & Tomatoes
Sliced lengthways eggplants cook quickly on the grill. Brush each side with a little oil, and dust with salt and pepper to get a lovely chargrilled texture.
Chop up and mix with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, and pine nuts for a colorful summer salad.
Full recipe on Veggies Save The Day
14. Garden Veggie Pasta
Take inspiration from the garden or take a trip to your local farmers market. This is one of my favorite kinds of eggplant pasta – a true taste of summer!
Balsalmic vinegar brings out the full flavor of the veggies. Top with fresh basil leaves and a sprinkle of parmesan.
Full recipe on Veggie Inspired
15. Eggplant Curry With Cucumber Mint Raita
Any decent list of eggplant recipes needs at least one curry dish. This one will satisfy anyone looking for a hit of spices!
Curry powder, mustard seeds, cumin, and coriander provide a great base for roasted eggplant. A well-stocked spice cupboard should have all the ingredients to hand.
Making the cucumber mint raita with yogurt is optional but its cool fresh taste offsets the heat of the eggplant dish. A perfect combination!
Full recipe on Making Thyme For Health
So there you have it – a few recipes to get you started with eggplant dishes. This vegetable is so versatile, with endless possibilities when it comes to cooking up a healthy and delicious meal. Whether you roast it, bake it, cook it on the grill pan, spice it up, or serve it as a simple supper pasta dish – I hope you’ll give one of these recipes a try!
