This easy eggplant dish will leave you feeling stuffed… pun intended!
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This stuffed eggplant is a beautiful and unique dish that will ‘wow’ your dinner guests, but it’s actually quite simple to make! With just a handful of common ingredients and a few easy steps, you can have a gourmet healthy meal ready in about an hour.
Stuffed eggplant was a common dish in my grandmother’s recipe books in the 90s and 2000s. As a kid, I didn’t love the idea of eating a giant vegetable for dinner, but now I enjoy making the dish for myself often, with my grandma’s influence. We sometimes make a more Italian-style version of the recipe with fresh mozzarella and Italian herbs and spices. Either way, the dish is absolutely divine, and this summer is the perfect time to try it as eggplant season is in full swing right now!
This stuffed eggplant recipe uses ground beef, fresh tomatoes and onion, Parmesan cheese, and a few simple seasonings. The taste is rich, sweet, and earthy, making for a satisfying dinner after a long day in the summer sun.
Is Stuffed Eggplant Healthy?
The focal point of this dish is the eggplant, which is stuffed with health benefits all on its own! Eggplant is nutrient-dense and rich in antioxidants, fiber, and potassium. It’s also great for weight loss and heart health. The ground beef in this particular recipe gives a boost of protein to the dish, while the fresh ingredients provide added health benefits and flavor.
While this particular recipe includes meat and cheese, a vegan version of stuffed eggplant is easily made possible by substituting those two ingredients with things like tofu, mushroom, rice, and quinoa. Honestly, you can stuff your eggplant with whatever you’d like – even another FFF recipe like Cauliflower Chickpea Curry!
Make The Perfect Eggplant Boat
The signature of stuffed eggplant is that the dish is served inside the hollowed-out fruit. (Yes, contrary to popular belief, eggplant is a fruit, not a vegetable!) There is a sort of art to preparing and cooking the eggplant to serve as your base.
First, cut your eggplant in half and salt it. Allowing it to sweat will enhance the sweetness, and a dry eggplant will hold better as a boat. Then, make sure to roast them evenly so that they’re golden and have a silky texture rather than spongy, and hollow them out carefully so as not to puncture the skin. You can also use the back of a spoon to smooth down the eggplant flesh, maximizing room for the stuffing.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 medium eggplants
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare
Cut and hollow eggplants; preheat oven.
Cook
Sauté onions, garlic, and beef; add tomatoes and seasonings.
Bake
Fill eggplants, bake, top with cheese and parsley.
Devour!
FAQs & Tips
Once assembled store your leftover stuffed eggplant in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container. Alternatively, you can freeze your entire stuffed eggplant to enjoy at a later time. It will last in the freezer for about 3 months.
This recipe works best with a standard globe eggplant – the purple one you probably think of when you hear “eggplant.” Some recipes suggest using smaller eggplants to allow them to cook evenly more easily, but I prefer using a larger eggplant if it’s going to serve as your main course.
Eggplants are full of tiny air pockets, so they tend to have a spongy texture when they absorb moisture. Salting your eggplant for about half an hour ahead of preparing the dish should help create a smoother, silky texture.
Serving Suggestions
Because stuffed eggplant is such a rich and flavorful dish, I like to serve it with a very simple, light side like a Green Goddess Salad. The dish can also be elevated by drizzling a Tahini Dressing over the eggplant, which I definitely recommend as it gives it a lighter taste!
Eggplant is also a great complement to chocolate, so make sure you follow this dish up with a delectable dessert! This Gluten-Free Chocolate Lava Cake is a guilt-free pleasure and serves two. Romantic summer date night, anyone?
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and scoop out the centers to create boats, leaving about a half-inch of flesh along the skins.
- In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, sautéing until translucent. Add ground beef, breaking it apart as it cooks. Stir in tomatoes, salt, pepper, and oregano, cooking until the beef is browned.
- Fill the eggplant boats with the beef mixture. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
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