If you have a hankering for authentic Middle Eastern food, this classic Turkish eggplant dish, known as karniyarik, is just what you need. Referred to as aubergines in the UK and brinjal in Asia, eggplants make for a breathtaking table presentation. You’ll need a fork and a camera after seeing the deep purple, vibrant reds, and verdant greens of this Turkish Stuffed Eggplant dish.
Whether you serve this freezer-friendly dinner on a bed of bulgur wheat pilaf or with a side of creamy tzatziki or a serving of ayran, it’s bound to make mouths water. If you’re still craving Turkish cuisine after this picture-perfect meal, there are so many other recipes to try! You’ll rave about my garlicky Eggplant Yogurt Dip, hearty Simit Recipe, and spicy Turkish Kofta Recipe.
What is Karniyarik?
Karniyarik is a popular Turkish eggplant dish usually made during the summer months when eggplants are in season.
The original recipe is made by first frying whole eggplants and then filling them with a ground beef mixture. They are then finished in the oven after being drizzled with a quick tomato sauce.
Our version of this popular eggplant dish is made healthier (and easier) by roasting whole eggplants in the oven rather than frying them in oil.
Why Should You Try This Recipe
This Turkish ground beef stuffed eggplant dish is equal parts stunning and scrumptious. With so much to love, it’s impossible not to fall head over heels for this Middle Eastern main course.
- Visually impressive and easy to serve, this recipe makes for a gorgeous table presentation. Wow your dinner party guests the next time you treat them to this one-portion meal.
- Out of all the Turkish aubergine recipes, this one has stood the test of time. In fact, it was one of the most popular eggplant dish among Ottoman Empire royalty!
- Turkish eggplant recipes are a great way to eat from your garden this eggplant season without boring your taste buds.
- Say yes to healthy eating with this nutritious take on a classic. Though the original recipe uses fried eggplant, my version uses whole roasted eggplants (or even fire-roasted eggplants) instead.
Ingredients
Because this Turkish brinjal dish uses so many home-grown ingredients, you can eat fresh without a last-minute trip to the grocery store.
Eggplants:
For this recipe, you’ll need 5 medium-sized eggplants. To make your Turkish aubergine recipes as authentic as possible, try to find eggplants that are long and lean. However, amongst all the different kinds of eggplants, globe eggplants (the ones I used in the pictures) are the easiest to find so I use them in my recipe.
If they are too large to fit in one baking dish, you may have to roast them in separate sheet pans.
Pro Tip: When you’re on the hunt for the perfect eggplants, try to select ones that are heavy for their size, firm to the touch, and not bruised. Also, try to choose eggplants that are of similar size to one another to ensure even cooking.
The Stuffing – Meat Filling Mixture:
For the ground beef filling, gather olive oil, chopped onion, ground cumin, bell peppers, ground beef, garlic, diced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, Italian parsley, hot water, and tomato paste.
How To Make Karniyarik
Whether you’re new to Turkish cuisine or someone who is interested in the flavors of the Middle East, you won’t believe how simple it is to make this Turkish baked eggplant filled with ground beef.
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Prepare the eggplant: Wash the eggplants in the sink and dry them off with paper towels. Position them on a lined baking sheet and poke 7-10 holes in each with a fork.
- Roast the eggplant in the oven: Place the eggplants in the preheated oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, turning them over once or twice to ensure even roasting. Then, remove the eggplants and let them cool for a couple minutes on the counter. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare the meat mixture: While the eggplant is roasting, make the ground beef stuffing. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Then, add onion, ground cumin, pepper, and ground beef. Stir frequently for 10-12 minutes before adding garlic. Then, cook for 30 more seconds.
- Cook the stuffing: Add in the tomatoes, a little salt, and pepper. Bring the ground beef mixture to boil over medium heat before turning it down to medium-low. Let the stuffing simmer for 10-15 minutes (until the meat is fully cooked), and add more seasoning as necessary. Remove mixture from heat and add chopped parsley.
- Assemble: Mix the water and tomato sauce in a measuring cup, and place eggplants in a large casserole dish. Use a knife to create a slit belly in the center of each eggplant. Fill the sliced eggplants with a heaping portion of the meat stuffing and spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the tomato sauce mixture over each eggplant’s top. Pour the remaining mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Garnish each eggplant with a few tomato slices.
- Bake: Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more.
- Serve: Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.
Note: When making this karniyarik recipe, there are many different ways to cook the eggplant. For more detailed instructions, visit my guide on Whole Roasted Eggplant in Oven. Or, you can visit my recipe for Fire Roasted Eggplants to add a gentle smoky flavor to your meal.
How to Serve This Turkish Eggplant Recipe
Eggplant dishes taste spectacular on their own, but they’re utterly irresistible when served alongside my other classic Turkish sides.
- Turkish Bulgur Pilaf: Every flavor in my hearty Turkish eggplants comes to life when served on a bed of herby, vegan bulgur.
- Tzatziki Sauce: There’s no better pair than creamy, tangy tzatziki sauce and meaty Turkish baked eggplant filled with ground beef.
- Piyaz Salad: Soft beans, juicy tomatoes, and zesty citrus make the ultimate side dish for this summer-ready meal.
How to Store & Freeze
Just because you meal prep doesn’t mean you can’t eat five-star cuisine on a weeknight. Enliven dinner any day of the week with this storage-friendly meal.
- Storage: When stored in an airtight container, leftovers can stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and bake in a casserole dish for 15-20 minutes.
- Freezing: Bring the stuffed eggplants to room temperature and place them in an airtight container. Because karniyarik freezes so well, you can store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Thawing: Remove the karniyarik from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the stuffed eggplant on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until fully warmed.
Other Ways to Prepare Eggplant
One of the best things about eggplant is how many ways there are to prepare them! Cook your garden goods to perfection using each different version listed below.
- Frying: Want to add richness to your Turkish stuffed eggplant? Try frying your eggplant the authentic Turkish way, and every plate will be licked clean. Instead of roasting the eggplants, cut a slit in the eggplants and soak them in salted water for 30 minutes. Then, squeeze the eggplants dry with a clean kitchen towel. Heat some vegetable oil in a deep frying pan and fry the eggplants evenly on each side, until they’re soft and browned. Finally, remove the fried eggplant from the pan and rest it on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Roasted Halved Eggplants: You can also roast eggplant halves in the oven and stuff each half one by one with the meat sauce.
- Fire roasting: A great way to add smokiness to this Turkish summer classic is to roast the eggplant before adding the filling. Just place the eggplants on a gas stove, turn them with a set of tongs, and roast them until fully softened. Once cooked, set the eggplants on a casserole dish. Slice open the belly section of the eggplant and fill it with the stuffing. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
For full instructions, advice, and tips on how to make this fiery substitute, follow my Fire Roasted Eggplant recipe.
Expert Tips
Even new chefs can make stuffed aubergines like a pro. With these simple substitutions, you can have a tasty dish that’s delicious and new every time you make it!
- Use ground lamb instead of ground beef for a lamb aubergine recipe bursting with a robust, tender flavor.
- Don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand? Try canned tomatoes instead. Only one cup is necessary to make this mouthwatering Turkish meal.
- Size of the eggplant: You may have to adjust the amount of the meat sauce depending on the size of your eggplant. If yours are larger, use more ground meat to ensure that you have enough filling.
- If you prefer a meat free version of stuffed eggplants, be sure to try my Mediterranean Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant recipe.
FAQs
“Karin” means belly and “yarik” means opening. So, karniyarik can roughly be translated as “With the belly open”
Turkish Imam fainted is the vegetarian version of karniyarik. While it is made in a very similar way, instead of stuffing the eggplants with a ground beef mixture you stuff it with an onion and tomato mixture.
In Turkish, eggplant is called patlican.
More Turkish Eggplant Recipes You Might Also Like:
- Eggplant with yogurt
- Baba Ghanouj
- Eggplant Beef Stew
- Imam Fainted
- Turkish Eggplant Kebab
- Roasted Eggplant Pomodoro
Karniyarik Turkish Stuffed Eggplant Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 medium sized eggplants, preferably similar in size
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 medium-size bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1/2 lb ground beef 80/20
- 4 cloves garlic thinly chopped
- 1 cup diced tomatoes, plus more as garnish on top
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning the belly of eggplants
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup Italian Parsley chopped, more as a garnish
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
Instructions
To Roast The Eggplants:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Using a fork, poke 7-10 holes in each eggplant.
- Place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour making sure to turn once or twice for even roasting.
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool on the counter.
- Turn the heat down to 350 degrees F.
To Make The Meat Sauce:
- Meanwhile, make the meat sauce. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add onion, ground cumin, pepper, and ground beef and cook, stirring frequently, for 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, turn down the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the meat is fully cooked. Taste for seasoning and add more if necessary.
- Off the heat, stir in a cup of chopped parsley.
To Assemble:
- Mix together the water and tomato paste in a measuring cup.
- Place roasted eggplant in a large casserole dish. It might be tight and that is okay.
- Using a knife, gently cut a small opening in the "belly" of each eggplant. Lightly season the belly of each eggplant with salt (use 1/2 teaspoon salt in total.)
- Fill the opening of each eggplant with the meat mixture letting it mound through the slit.
- Spoon the tomato sauce & water mixture over the stuffed eggplant. You should use 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture for each eggplant. Pour the remaining mixture at the bottom of the casserole dish.
- To garnish, slice a large tomato (or two small ones) into 6 thin slices and place a few slices on top of each eggplant, like you see in the photos.
- Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
Video
Notes
- Eggplant: You would have the adjust the amount of meat sauce based on the size of your eggplants. Mine were 1/2 to 2/3 pounds each. However, if yours are larger, I recommend using 2/3 pounds of ground beef.
- Storage: When stored in an airtight container, leftovers can stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and bake in a casserole dish for 15-20 minutes.
- Freezing: Bring the stuffed eggplants to room temperature and place them in an airtight container. Because karniyarik freezes so well, you can store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Thawing: Remove the stuffed eggplants from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the stuffed eggplant on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until fully warmed.
- Use ground lamb instead of ground beef for a lamb aubergine recipe bursting with a robust, tender flavor.
- Don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand? Try canned tomatoes instead. Only one cup is necessary to make this mouthwatering Turkish meal.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in July 2013 but updated with helpful notes in August 2021.
Can I use lamb meat instead of Beef?
🙂 thank you
You sure can 😉
Hi Aysegul
I love stuffed eggplant and was looking forward to give your recipe a try. I roasted three eggplants in the stove during one hour, as per recipe, but the meat was not tender enough. Should I increase the cooking time?
Hi Luis,
You certainly can. You do want your meat to be cooked, but remember it will continue to cook in the oven.
So, yes, feel free to cook it until it reaches to your desired tenderness level.
I am here if you need further assistance as you are cooking. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your kind response to my reply. I will try the recipe again.
You are welcome.
This is a delicious and beautiful dish. The recipe was easy to follow and the measurements were perfect for 5 aubergines. I also made the Tzatziki and that was perfect. Thanks again for a wonderful recipe to keep.
So happy to hear that you liked this karniyarik recipe Susan. It is one that I make often during the summer months during the aubergine season. And tzatziki makes the best side dish, no? 😉
Thanks for coming by and taking the time to leave a review.
Cheers!
So excited to make these + your tzatziki. Love the helpful step-by-step photos. <3
YAY! Happy to hear that. Thanks Alanna!
HI i be the flavours described but wondering if it could be made with beans or even chicken as I don’t eat red meat.
Thanks so much 🙏🏽
Hi Joyce,
I am getting a similar question from everyone so I am in the process of creating a vegetarian stuffed eggplant recipe. However, you can certainly make this with ground chicken or ground turkey. It wouldn’t be traditional but I am sure that the flavors would still be good and would work with the eggplant.
Beans, on the other hand, I am not so sure of. In the vegetarian version, I am planning to use garbanzo beans, but I probably wouldn’t use any other kind as I feel like the flavor profiles wouldn’t work as well.
I hope this helps. I plan on publishing the recipe next week. I hope you give it a go.
Meanwhile, if I can answer any other questions please let me know.
Cheers,
Aysegul
This looks fabulous! Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks Janet. I hope you like it as much as we do.
This recipe is gorgeous, Aysegul! I love the flavors in Turkish food and we’ve got a ton of eggplant to use so am looking forward to giving this a try!
Hi Carol,
Thanks for your sweet note. I hope you give it a try and like it as much as we do.
Cheers!
Merhaba dear Aysegul, as so many people around the world I am also the one who loves, enjoys and adores turkish cuisine. i am from Prague, Czech republic. I visited Turkey many times for longer period of times, I lived there for 6 months…. and I cannot get enough of its delicious, so flavorful dishes and food as well as all the beauty of this country with its seas, mountains, valleys, beaches, woods, rivers, all history and historical ancient sites, kind hearted lovely hardworking people who would share the last peace of bread with the unexpected and unknown by-walker or visitor, etc. etc. Its so much to admire and enjoy there, What a shame and pitty what is happening there lately, undermining and ruining all the benefits which Attaturk gave to the nation. Its so sad, that that great progress is getting backward direction. I hope and wish its just a dark shadow covering the sun and that the fresh healthy wind will clean it all away and Attaturk”s legacy and the sun will be shining againEvery time I can find some good turkish recipe I get so exited. I am very happy I found your blog. And I wish you will put as many recipes for turkish food as possible. My favorite is bulgur as a side dish but I love to eat it just as it is, enjoying the flavor and texture. Turkish cousine uses so many different vegetables, fruits, fantaswtic spices, variety of rice and bulgur, all what the nature can offer, etc. so the cousine is extremely rich, flavorful, has many varieties of each meal that you can never get enough. And on the top of all this comes that its extremely healthy ….. I always ate more food than usual, all the fresh and cooked vegetables and fruits, different types of delicious sweet deserts….. and I always lost quite some weight.Thank you so much, dear Aysegul, for all your effort and sharing your knowledge and art of cooking. Every time I am sincerely looking forward to what is coming next, for any delicacy from beautiful Turkey. You do absolutly great job which many people enjoy.Cok Teşekkür ederim and friendly regards Monika
OH WOW! Hi Monika.. It is so nice to meet you too. I am so glad that you found me. There is nothing that makes me happier to hear that a recipe I shared made someone happy or brought back good memories for them.
As you said, I think that the direction that Turkey is going is the opposite of where it should go. It worries me and my close circle a lot. However, the Turkey that Kemal Ataturk built is strong and my only wish is that it is strong enough to stand what is currently happening. Time will tell..
I do plan on sharing more Turkish recipes in the near future. Please let me know if there is a particular one that you might need a recipe for and I’ll see what I can do.
Thanks again! Your note made my day.
Rica ederim. Tanistigimiza cok memnun oldum. 🙂
Aysegul
You’re absolutely right in saying that char-grilled eggplants deliver more flavours than frying. I’ve eaten this version in a restaurant in Istanbul and that’s how I remember it. I just came across your blog and it’s fantastic. Your blog will be one of the main sources for my inspirations for Turkish cooking from now on…Thank you!
Hello there,
Karniyarik is by far my favorite dish in the world. I am so glad you liked it.
Thank you so much for your kind words.
Please let me know if I can answer any questions about any of my recipes.
Hugs from the sunny Caribbean…