Recipes with eggplant

52 recipes. Page 2 of 3

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Korean Soy-Pickled Eggplant

Cold, soft eggplant soaked in a sweet-sour soy brine, with garlic and a little hot chili running through it, makes a chilled side dish rather than a long-keeping preserve. The eggplant is cut into thick lengthwise quarters because its tender flesh collapses easily, and thick pieces still hold their shape after blanching. Absorbing the brine takes a full day of chilling, too long for same-day cooking, and the jar stays refrigerated rather than on the shelf.

Prep 1460min Cook 8min 4 servings

Pasta Easy

Pasta alla Norma (Sicilian Fried Eggplant Tomato Pasta)

Eggplant salted for 10 minutes and pressed dry browns in the pan instead of steaming, keeping a firm center under a golden surface. The dish comes from Catania in Sicily, where the browned eggplant flavors a simple tomato sauce that clings to the spaghetti.

Prep 15min Cook 20min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, and onion lose their surface moisture fast in a hot oven, so their sweetness concentrates and the edges pick up scattered char. Peppery arugula underneath answers that sweetness, and a splash of balsamic adds the acid. Even the preheated tray serves a purpose: vegetables that hit hot metal start roasting at once rather than sweating.

🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 12min Cook 25min 2 servings

Western Medium

Eggplant Parmesan

Breaded, pan-browned eggplant slices layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan bake into a casserole that should still cut into clean layers. Salting the slices first draws out water and some bitterness, and without it the eggplant goes soft under the sauce. Restraint with the sauce matters just as much, because a pool of it around the dish softens the crust. A five-minute rest after baking lets the layers settle before slicing.

Prep 25min Cook 35min 4 servings

Asian Easy

Go-ae (Eggplant with Crushed Edamame Dressing)

Boiled edamame, crushed into a thick bean dressing called go and seasoned with sugar, miso, and dashi, coats soft eggplant and fine strips of crisp myoga. In season the dressing turns a vivid green. The dish comes from mountainous Nichinan in Tottori, where scarce farmland made soybeans an important protein and ground beans were used to dress vegetables and mushrooms. Served cool, it is a mild summer side for rice.

Prep 20min Cook 10min 4 servings

Rice Easy

Korean Eggplant Rice Bowl

The eggplant goes into a very hot pan, spread out in one layer and browned only lightly on the outside. Left over low heat, it soaks up oil and turns heavy. Once seared, it is pushed to one side, ground pork and garlic are fried in the space beside it, and both are glazed together with soy sauce and sugar.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 10min Cook 10min 2 servings

Stir-fry Medium

Korean Gaji Dwaejigogi Bokkeum (Eggplant Pork Stir-fry)

Eggplant in summer drinks oil readily. Here the cut pieces are salted briefly and patted dry, which cuts down how much they soak up, then stir-fried with pork in a salty soy and oyster sauce.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 14min Cook 11min 2 servings

Grilled Hard

Amego Hirara-yaki (Miso Trout Hot-Plate Grill)

In the Iya area of Tokushima, river trout, tofu, konjac and vegetables were traditionally cooked over a layer of sweet miso on a heated flat stone called a hirara. Here a lidded electric griddle stands in for the stone, and chicken thigh, potatoes and shiitake join the trout, enough for four on one plate.

Prep 30min Cook 35min 4 servings

Soups Hard

Tsugani-jiru Mitten Crab Soup

This soup comes from the Shimanto, Niyodo and Monobe river basins in Kochi, where it was made in autumn as the mitten crabs move downstream. The crabs are ground shell and all and strained, and as the liquid boils the crab protein gathers into soft curds; eggplant and a stalk vegetable called ryukyu go in with them. Raw freshwater crab can carry parasites and contaminants, so the recipe never uses crabs you caught yourself, only ones sold for cooking by a licensed supplier.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 45min Cook 30min 4 servings

Steamed Easy

Korean Steamed Eggplant with Seasoning

The eggplants are steamed whole, then torn by hand along the grain instead of sliced. The torn surface is rough, and the soy dressing clings to it. It is a summer side dish for when eggplants are everywhere, and it can go to the table chilled.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 10min Cook 8min 2 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Fresh Eggplant Kimchi

Tearing steamed eggplant by hand along its grain, instead of slicing it, leaves ragged surfaces that pull the chili, garlic and fish sauce dressing deep between the fibers. There is no fermentation, so it is eaten the day it is made, ideally in summer when eggplant is in season and a quick extra side dish is needed. Spooned over cold rice and mixed, it becomes a simple meal on its own, with soft eggplant and spicy dressing coating every grain.

Prep 20min Cook 10min 2 servings

Pasta Medium

Sesame Soy Eggplant Tomato Penne

Even with no meat in the dish, each cube of eggplant, seared over high heat until just browned, soaks up tomato and soy sauce like a sponge and turns soft and savory. Sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds lend a nutty Korean finish, and fresh basil sits on top.

Prep 18min Cook 25min 4 servings

Western Medium

Ricotta-Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

Thin lengthwise strips of eggplant get roasted before rolling, which makes them bend around the ricotta filling without cracking. Keep the filling thick and use less than seems right; overstuffed rolls split or unravel in the oven.

Prep 30min Cook 35min 4 servings

Asian Hard

Kare-Kare (Filipino Peanut Beef Shank Stew)

The sauce is peanut butter melted into beef shank broth: nutty, smooth, and very mildly seasoned on its own. That is why Filipinos traditionally serve it with bagoong, a salty fermented shrimp paste, to spoon on to taste.

Prep 25min Cook 90min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Edo-Style Tendon (Japanese Tempura Rice Bowl with Sweet Soy Tare)

Warm soy tare goes over the tempura the moment it lands on the rice, and the grains take the sauce while the tops of the shrimp, sweet potato and eggplant stay freshly crisp. Shallow cuts along each shrimp's belly let it lie straight across the bowl.

Prep 18min Cook 16min 2 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Koneri (Thickened Eggplant and Pepper Stir-Fry)

Flour whisked into miso turns this eggplant and green pepper stir-fry into something closer to a thick, clinging coating than a sauce. Small dried sardines fry in the oil with the eggplant for a salty, savory note, and the finished pan should have no loose water beneath the vegetables.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 15min Cook 15min 4 servings

Grilled Medium

Hokkaido Jingisukan Lamb Grill

On the domed jingisukan pan, lamb fat and juices run down the grooves into the bean sprouts, onions and squash ringing the edge. This Hokkaido style skips the marinade and dips the lamb after cooking in a soy-vinegar sauce made with grated apple, pear, garlic and ginger. The fattiest pieces cook first in the center, and their rendered fat coats the grooves so nothing sticks without added oil. Everyone eats as things cook, lifting off meat and vegetables as they are ready, with potatoes and squash taking the longest. Hokkaido began eating lamb when sheep were raised for wool in the Taisho era, and the dish is now cooked at home year-round and outdoors at spring blossom parties and summer barbecues.

Prep 30min Cook 20min 4 servings

Steamed Easy

Korean Soy Braised Eggplant

The eggplant goes into the simmering soy sauce cut side down and is left alone for the first two minutes, long enough for the spongy flesh to drink in the sauce.

Prep 10min Cook 12min 2 servings

Kimchi Hard

Shibazuke (Eggplant and Red Shiso Fermented Pickle)

With only eggplant, red shiso leaves and salt, the pickle ferments at room temperature until a clear sourness, not the purple color, says it is ready. The salt is weighed against the eggplant alone. Only the dark brown liquid that rises on the first day is poured off, and after that the eggplant stays submerged in the brine that keeps coming up.

Prep 21630min 0 1 batch

Western Hard

Moussaka (Greek Eggplant Lamb Bechamel Bake)

Pan-fried eggplant, lamb sauce scented with cinnamon and a thick bechamel set into distinct layers that show clearly when the dish is sliced. Egg yolks whisked into the bechamel let it firm into a golden crust that holds everything in place. A day or two in the fridge deepens the flavors, which makes it a good dish to prepare ahead for a gathering. Ground beef in place of lamb, or potato and zucchini alongside the eggplant, are common swaps.

Prep 40min Cook 60min 6 servings

Asian Medium

Assorted Japanese Tempura

Shrimp, sweet potato, eggplant, and shishito peppers share the same oil but not the same timing, and each piece comes out as soon as it is done. The batter is cold water and egg with cake flour, stirred only a few times with chopsticks and used while small lumps remain.

Prep 20min Cook 15min 2 servings

Stir-fry Medium

Yu Xiang Eggplant (Sichuan Spicy Garlic Pork Eggplant)

The eggplant is fried and set aside first, then returned to the sauce at the end, which keeps the pieces whole. The sauce starts from the spicy oil released as ground pork and doubanjiang (chili bean paste) fry together, and the sourness is adjusted at the very end with a little vinegar at a time.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Steamed Easy

Korean Braised Eggplant with Shrimp

Soft, collapsing eggplant with springy shrimp in between. Oyster sauce goes in with the soy sauce, which makes it more savory than a plain eggplant braise, and with only a pinch of chili flakes it tastes salty and a little sweet rather than spicy.

Prep 14min Cook 16min 2 servings

Western Medium

Ratatouille

Thin rounds of eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and bell pepper stand in overlapping rings on a cooked base of onion, garlic, and chopped pepper, which sets this version apart from ratatouille stewed in one pot. Instead of stock or water, the juices the vegetables release in the oven loosen the base into a sauce. Part of the pepper is diced into the base and the rest sliced for the top, giving it two textures in one dish. It makes a full plate without any meat.

Prep 20min Cook 40min 4 servings