Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant

Why You Should Try This Recipe

Low-fat, healthy (because eggplants are packed with antioxidants), and bursting with garden-fresh flavor, there are countless reasons to love this easy stuffed eggplant recipe.

• Visually stunning and the perfect recipe for summer, these baked stuffed eggplant halves work as both a flavorful side for meat-based main dishes and a filling vegetarian meal.
• Authentic Mediterranean cuisine is a cinch to make with the herby bulgur wheat and the zesty tahini sauce used in these filled eggplant halves.
• It can be easily made vegan! You can transform this recipe into a scrumptious vegan stuffed eggplant dish simply by omitting the tahini yogurt.

Ingredients

Only the most wholesome and appetizing ingredients go into this vegetable stuffed aubergine (what they call eggplant in the U.K. or brinjal in Asia), making your ingredient checklist nutritious and delicious.

Eggplants

When considering the size of the eggplants, I recommend using 3-4 globe eggplants—the large, round type of eggplant most common in U.S. grocery stores. If you can’t find those, smaller eggplants or medium eggplant will work, too. Just be sure to select ones that are heavy, firm, and unbruised. New to buying eggplants? Be sure to check out my article on the different types of eggplants.

Bulgur Pilaf

For the bulgar pilaf filling, gather together butter, onion, green pepper (or red bell pepper), tomato paste, cumin, coarse bulgur, fresh tomato (or cherry tomatoes), chickpeas, water, salt, and black pepper.

Garnish /Sauce

It is optional, but you can drizzle Tahini Yogurt Sauce—a vegetarian eggplant dressing made with fresh lemon juice, tahini, and yogurt—for a kick of tangy flavor. And if you prefer a dairy-free alternative, you can drizzle it with my creamy tahini sauce instead.

And of course, garnish it with a few tablespoons of roughly chopped Italian parsley.

How To Make Stuffed Eggplant – Vegetarian Version

There’s no secret to making authentic Mediterranean stuffed eggplant recipes like this. Other than the fact that the steps look like they are a lot, but if you multitask, you’ll see that making this simple dish is a breeze.

We can divide the whole process into 3 parts:

Roast Eggplant Halves

I shared a detailed post on how to roast eggplant halves should you want to see it in more detail and get all your questions answered. However, here is what you need to do in a nutshell:

1. Score the eggplant: Cut eggplant in half lengthwise. Score each half with a knife in a cross-hatch pattern. 
2. Salt & Rest: Transfer the eggplant on a sheet pan and sprinkle with an even layer of salt. Wait a half hour and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. After 30 minutes, gently squeeze excess water from the eggplant halves and pat them dry with a paper towel. 
3. Oil eggplant halves: Brush the halves with an even coating of olive oil and place them cut face-down on the baking tray. 
4. Roast: Bake them for 45-60 minutes, or until they collapse and turn golden brown. Remove the cooked eggplant from the oven and let them cool before assembling.

Make Bulgur Pilaf

We are using my Bulgur Pilaf recipe here. I find that it pairs well with the roasted smokey eggplant. Below is how to make it in a nutshell. Be sure to make it while the eggplants to save on time.

1. Saute vegetables & spices: Heat oil in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Sauteé the onion and pepper until they’re translucent, then add in the tomato paste. After a minute of constant stirring, add in the cumin, bulgur, tomatoes, chickpeas, water, salt, and pepper. 
2. Cook: Increase heat until the mixture boils, then cover it with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the bulgur for 10-12 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
3. Rest & Fluff: Let the bulgur rest for 10 minutes, and then fluff it with a fork. 

If you are after a more simple version, you can check my How To Cook Bulgur post to make a basic bulgur recipe to stuff your eggplants.

Assemble:

To assemble the dish:

1. Prep for assembly: Place baked eggplant boats on a baking sheet. They would be quite snuggly, which is fine. Get as many as you can in there.
2. Stuff: Spoon each eggplant half with a heaping portion of the bulgur pilaf. 
3. Garnish & Drizzle: Sprinkle each with fresh parsley and, if desired, drizzle them with tahini yogurt sauce.

How to Serve

Easy vegetarian stuffed eggplant recipes are some of the most versatile dishes out there. Flavorful yet balanced, these recipes can be served in any way that satisfies your taste buds.

• Serve filled eggplant halves by themselves for a satisfying, nutritious, and robust vegetarian or vegan main dish.
• Use this multipurpose recipe as a peppery side dish for meat-based mains. You can’t go wrong when you serve this delicious recipe alongside hearty Roasted Cornish Hens, Greek Yogurt Chicken, vibrant Meatball and Potato Bake, and—my favorite meatball recipe, Kofte.

Other Mediterranean Eggplant Recipes You Might Like:

• Eggplant Involtini
• Turkish Baked Eggplant Filled with Ground Beef
• Yogurt Eggplant Dip
• Eggplant Pomodoro Pasta
• Roasted Whole Eggplants
• Fire Roasted Eggplants