A staple of vegetarian cooking, the humble aubergine (or eggplant if you’re from the other side of the pond!) is a versatile ingredient that we think is often underused. With a few easy aubergine recipes in your back pocket, you’ll always be ready to rustle up something healthy and delicious for dinner.
Technically a berry, rather than a vegetable, aubergines have a spongy, meaty texture that means they soak up flavours and stand up well to different cooking methods. If you’ve ever wondered what to make with aubergine, you’re in the right place!
Scroll through our list below, and get ready to add these slimming-friendly recipes to your meal plan this week…
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Easy Vegetarian Aubergine Recipes
You’ll sometimes find aubergine in meat-free recipes, where it bulks out the meal and acts almost like a meat alternative. Often paired with Mediterranean vegetables, it’s especially delicious when it’s roasted.
Taking inspiration from the Disney/Pixar film, we had to try our own take on Ratatouille’s Ratatouille. A low-calorie combination of aubergine, courgette, marrow and peppers, we’ve crammed even more veggies into our homemade Marinara-style sauce.
This one’s a feast for the eyes as much as your stomach, so it’s well worth investing in a mandolin to help you get neat, thinly sliced vegetables to layer up.
Once the slices are perfectly positioned on top of the rich, tomatoey sauce, it’s time to get your ratatouille into the oven to bake. Whether you enjoy this easy aubergine recipe as a side dish or a main meal with a side of Cheesy Garlic Bread, we hope yours turns out as glorious as this one made by Lorna in Bournemouth.
Take a look at those lovely layers…thanks for sharing your photo over on our Gallery Lorna!
Next time you ask yourself what to make with aubergine, grab a copy of Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food and make this Cheesy Aubergine Bake. It’s what we like to call a ‘one-pot-wonder’, made all in one dish for minimal faff, maximum flavour and far less to wash-up after dinner!
Despite being only 188 calories per serving, this hearty bake really hits the spot – which is exactly why it earned a place alongside all of our favourite comforting dishes. We’d recommend using the best quality tinned tomatoes you can afford (it really makes a difference for the richness of the sauce).
Most brands of feta cheese are vegetarian-friendly, but check the packaging to make sure.
If you love aubergine, make it the star of the show and serve our Turkish-inspired Imam Bayildi for dinner. If you’re not familiar with the dish, the name actually translates to ‘The Imam Fainted’, since the traditional version is considered so incredibly delicious!
Our take on the mouthwatering meal of stuffed aubergines is far lighter than versions made with lashings of olive oil, but it’s still super-tasty. We’ve used fresh, lemony-flavoured sumac for this one – it’s a less commonly-used spice, but it brings bags of flavour to the table.
Once the spices are cooked into the tomato sauce with plenty of garlic and all the other seasonings, it’s time to spoon everything into your roasted aubergines. Every bite of this will keep your taste buds on their toes – the flavours are rich, earthy, sweet and savoury.
Aubergine might have to share the spotlight in this next recipe, but it wouldn’t be the same without it! Our Roasted Vegetable Risotto is packed to the brim with chunky chopped veggies, including sweet tomatoes, red pepper, courgette, red onion and – of course – that all-important aubergine.
Roast your vegetables in the oven to release maximum flavour before adding them into the creamy, comforting risotto. Like any risotto, you’ll need to keep an eye on the pan while you add the stock in bit by bit. Just remember to keep stirring to prevent your rice from sticking.
Finish with a little dusting of Italian-style hard cheese (or Parmesan if you’re not vegetarian) and sit down to enjoy a hearty, warming dinner that’s just 274 calories.
Easy Non-Vegetarian Aubergine Recipes
Because it’s so good at soaking up other flavours, aubergine complements meat as well as other vegetables. When we’re planning what to make with aubergine, we always add this Lamb Moussaka to our menu.
Inspired by the classic Greek dish, our slimming-friendly take makes for a nice change from lasagne. We’re talking about tender, lean lamb chunks in a delicately-spiced tomato sauce, layered with grilled aubergine slices and our low-calorie white sauce.
Covered with grated cheese and baked in the oven until golden brown, this is an instant family-favourite – and it’s only 295 calories per portion! Perfect for batch-cooking, it’ll freeze and reheat like a dream. Just remember to cool it in individual servings and use freezer proof containers like these ones from Amazon (they can go straight from the freezer to the microwave!).
Imagine grabbing a ready-to-reheat portion of this comforting dish from the fridge after a long day; it doesn’t get better than that!
On first glance, you might be surprised to find out that there’s aubergine hidden inside this Butternut Squash Lasagne. A handy recipe if you’re trying to cut down on carbs, this flavourful version of the Italian-inspired favourite is layered with slices of butternut squash instead of sheets of pasta.
Once again we’ve roasted the aubergine to bring out the full depth of its flavour, but then we’ve switched things up a bit! When the flesh is soft and cooked through, scoop it out and add the puree into the pan with the mince and other veggies.
Ideal if you’re dealing with any fussy eaters, by the time your cheese-topped lasagne is dished up, no one will even be able to tell there’s any aubergine in it!
If your goal is to use up aubergine in new and unexpected ways, you might be surprised to learn it’s one of the main ingredients in our tasty Turkey Burgers. An easy aubergine recipe that the whole family will love, the unusual ingredient does an important job – it stops the turkey becoming dry, and adds flavour at the same time.
Don’t be put off when you see anchovies and Marmite in the ingredients list – this recipe is all about trusting the process and believing it all comes together in the end.
Once your low-calorie burgers are cooked, it’s up to you to decide what to serve them with!
Pop them in a burger bun with all your favourite toppings (they work especially well with pickled gherkins piled on top…).
Which Easy Aubergine Recipe Will You Try First?
Head on over to our Facebook group to join the conversation about everybody’s favourite dishes! You can post photos of what you’ve been cooking recently, or just scroll through other people’s posts for inspiration. With almost 1 million members, the group is the place to be for all things Pinch of Nom!
Don’t forget there’s SWAG up for grabs when you share photos, hints and tips in our gallery too!
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