Features of cooking eggplant dishes. TOP 15 best step-by-step recipes for every taste. Video recipes.
Eggplant dishes are all kinds of casseroles, side dishes, snacks, salads and other recipes that are becoming more and more popular in our country every year. You can cook little blue ones in dozens of ways, but first you should take care to eliminate their bitterness.
Features of cooking eggplant dishes
Salads, appetizers, stews, stews - this is just a small list of what you can cook with eggplant. Vegetables can be stewed, baked, stuffed, pickled and harvested for the winter. But the easiest way, one might say "Spartan", is to simply fry the circles in flour with spices for a couple of minutes, and a delicious snack is ready.
Many recipes for blue dishes are of Asian origin and came to us from the East: these are different options for snacks in sweet and sour sauce, with nuts. If we talk about the preparation of caviar, then this method of processing vegetables is already characteristic of our latitudes - Ukraine and Russia. And the most modern method of preparing delicious eggplants is on the grill.
A separate story is the preparation of vegetables for the winter. Blue ones can be pickled, prepared on their basis various salads with the addition of other vegetables and spices, caviar and even jam! Snacks are very satisfying and rich in numerous vitamins necessary for any person.
However, at the same time, blue ones are considered a rather capricious vegetable, because they can turn black and bitter. Therefore, it is important to consider several nuances:
- Before cooking eggplants, they should be chopped, salted and left for a while to remove the bitterness. Wait until drops of juice appear on the surface, and rinse them under running water.
- When cooking caviar, chop the blue ones with a ceramic knife or a wooden cutter, otherwise the appetizer will turn out with an unpleasant aftertaste.
- To prevent blackening of the flesh, it is recommended to cook the vegetables, keeping the fire as high as possible.
- To maintain the shape of the eggplant slices, do not peel the fruit.
- To prevent the blue little ones from absorbing excessive amounts of fat when frying them, it is recommended to pre-scald them with boiling water.
TOP 15 recipes for delicious eggplant dishes
You can cook many dishes from the blue ones, incredibly tasty and mouth-watering. In addition, they are very useful, and in the East, eggplant is even called a vegetable of longevity. Further, the best recipes with which you can perfectly diversify the diet of your family.
Fried eggplants "Like mushrooms"
One of the most popular eggplant-based snacks. You can't tell the taste of vegetables from mushrooms! At the same time, the cooking process is not difficult, and even a novice culinary specialist can cope with such a task.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 180 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 4 pcs.
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Bulb onions - 2 pcs.
- Mushroom seasoning - 1 tsp
- Vegetable oil - for frying
- Mayonnaise (for serving) - to taste
- Green onions (for serving) - to taste
Step by step preparation of fried eggplant "Like mushrooms":
- First of all, prepare the blue ones. They should be peeled and cut into cubes.
- Next, beat the eggs to make a homogeneous mass, and fill the eggplants with it.
- Stir the workpiece thoroughly and leave for 1 hour, covering with a lid. During this time, the vegetables need to be mixed several times.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan and fry the blue ones. Remember to stir to avoid burning.
- Finely chop the onion and add to the skillet.
- In the next step in cooking the eggplants, when they are well done, add the seasoning.
- Mix well and cook for a few more minutes.
- Put the eggplants "Like mushrooms" on a plate and can be served with a little mayonnaise and green onions.
Eggplant appetizer with tomatoes and cheese
Eggplant with tomatoes and cheese is a traditional Mediterranean snack that turns out to be very appetizing. That is why she often appears at gala dinners and corporate parties.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 1 pc.
- Creamy tomato - 1 pc.
- Cheese - 100 g
- Salt to taste
- Refined vegetable oil - for frying
- Garlic to taste
Step-by-step preparation of an eggplant appetizer with tomatoes and cheese:
- Cut the washed and peeled blue ones into rings, the preferred thickness is about 1 cm.
- Season the vegetables with salt and leave for a while to remove the bitterness, until droplets appear on them. Rinse them off under running water.
- Heat the vegetable oil and pan the eggplant on both sides until golden brown. Don't forget to salt to taste.
- Put them on the plate in which you will serve the dish to the table, and start shaping the snack. First of all, you should crush them with garlic passed through a press.
- Next, grind the cheese using a grater and grind the fried eggplant with it.
- Tomatoes are the next layer. Cut the washed and dried tomatoes into slices and place on top of the appetizer.
- Season the tomatoes and grind with cheese again.
- In the next step, the eggplant appetizer must be warmed up in the microwave or oven to melt the cheese. 1-2 minutes is enough.
- Serve hot immediately after cooking.
Eggplant rolls
Ideal for a diet lunch, but eggplant rolls can also be served as a delicious side dish to a main course. This appetizer will appeal to everyone, even family members who, in principle, do not like vegetables.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 1 pc.
- Tomato - 0, 5 pcs.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Onion - 1 pc.
- Vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Dry ground garlic - to taste
Step by step preparation of eggplant rolls:
- Cut the washed blue ones lengthwise, salt and leave for 10 minutes to eliminate the bitterness. When small droplets appear on their surface, rinse under running water.
- Next, chop the onion and fry in hot vegetable oil until it becomes transparent.
- In the next step in preparing a delicious eggplant dish, grind the carrots using a grater and chop the tomato. Add them to the bow.
- Salt and pepper the workpiece, add garlic, passed through a press, and a little water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in another skillet, fry the eggplants until tender, using a little oil.
- When ready, remove excess fat by blotting the slices with a paper towel.
- Further, according to the recipe for delicious eggplant rolls, put the vegetable filling on each slice and fasten them so that they do not fall apart with a toothpick.
Eggplant Vegetable Stew
An incredibly healthy eggplant dish with vegetables, as the ingredients are minimally processed. It can be a great option for lunch or dinner if served as a side dish, or as an accompaniment to fish and meat, but you can also use blue stew as a vegetable sauce for pasta.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 3 pcs.
- Bulgarian pepper - 1 pc.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Vegetable oil - 30 g
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Step by step cooking eggplant vegetable stew:
- First of all, you should wash the blue ones and cut them into cubes. Next, salt the vegetables and leave for a while to eliminate the bitterness - about 20 minutes.
- When droplets appear on the pieces, rinse them under running water.
- Then we proceed to the preparation of the bell pepper: wash and cut into strips.
- Next, peel the onion, cut into cubes. Peel and chop the carrots using a grater.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and carrots, making the heat medium, for 5 minutes.
- Add eggplants with pepper to them, salt and simmer for half an hour over low heat, covering with a lid. Remember to stir from time to time to avoid burning.
- Garnish the vegetable stew with herbs when done. Serve warm or cold.
Eggplant boats with minced meat
One of the most delicious eggplant recipes. The simplest technology involves filling the boats only with minced meat, to which fried onions with spices and herbs are added. However, we propose to complicate the recipe a little and use bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic in the process of cooking stuffed blue ones, which makes the taste of the dish more interesting.
Ingredients:
- Small eggplants - 4 pcs. (600 g)
- Mixed minced meat - 300 g
- Bulb onions - 2 pcs. (150 g)
- Bulgarian pepper - 1 pc. (150 g)
- Tomatoes - 2-3 pcs. (300 g)
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Parsley and dill greens - 1 tablespoon
- Hard cheese - 75 g
- Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
- Provencal dry herbs - to taste
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
Step-by-step preparation of eggplant boats with minced meat:
- Cut the washed blue ones in half lengthwise and take out the pulp, as a result you get boats.
- Season the snacks with salt and let sit for 30 minutes to remove the bitterness. When droplets appear on the pieces of vegetables, rinse them under running water.
- The eggplant pulp should also be left for half an hour, but it should first be poured with cold water.
- Meanwhile, chop the onion, garlic, tomatoes and peppers, after removing the seeds from it.
- Further, according to the recipe for eggplant boats with peppers, tomatoes and minced meat, fry the onions and garlic in heated vegetable oil for a couple of minutes.
- After that, add the minced meat and fry the workpiece for another 10 minutes, until it becomes crumbly.
- Add the flesh of the blue ones there, which needs to be squeezed out of the water and finely chopped. We cook for another 5 minutes.
- At the next stage, add tomatoes and peppers to the eggplants with minced meat, salt, sprinkle with spices and cook for 12 minutes.
- When the filling is ready, we proceed to filling the boats with it, first draining the resulting juice.
- Sprinkle the eggplant with cheese on top of the filling, which should be chopped on a grater.
- We spread the boats on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for half an hour.
- When ready, sprinkle them with finely chopped herbs.
- Boat stuffed eggplant can be served warm or cold.
Eggplant Chops
Eggplant chops in batter are a great option for a quick and tasty dinner, because you can cook it in just 15 minutes. In addition, large fruits are excellent for this, which are not yet suitable for every recipe.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 4 pcs.
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Flour - 2 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
- Sunflower oil - for frying
Steps to prepare eggplant chops:
- First of all, we are preparing batter. To do this, beat eggs with flour, salt and add garlic, passed through a press. It is recommended to make the batter saltier.
- Next, cut the blue ones, washed and peeled from the skin, into slices.
- At the next stage, we beat them off and proceed to frying.
- We dip each slime in batter and put it in a frying pan with vegetable oil, which should be preheated.
- To cook the eggplants quickly and tasty, fry them over medium heat until they are golden brown.
Ratatouille with eggplant
Ratatouille is a French dish made with eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. The recipe resembles a stew, sauté or lecho. However, the raisin of ratatouille is Mediterranean herbs, which are responsible for creating a wonderful aroma.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 500 g
- Zucchini - 500 g
- Tomatoes - 500 g
- Bulgarian pepper - 350 g (for the sauce)
- Vegetable oil (for sauce)
- Tomatoes - 350 g (for the sauce)
- Onions - 200 g (for the sauce)
- Vegetable oil - 5 tablespoons (for refueling)
- Garlic - 4 cloves (for dressing)
- Greens (for dressing)
- Salt (for dressing)
- Pepper (for dressing)
Step by step preparation of ratatouille with eggplant:
- First, wash, remove the seeds and bake the bell pepper in the oven preheated to 180 degrees. Cook until the skin is dark, about 30 minutes. When the pepper has cooled down, cut into cubes.
- Next, we get down to onions. Peel, finely chop and fry in hot vegetable oil until golden brown.
- Add pepper to it and fry for a few more minutes.
- Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds to make them easier to peel, remove the peel and cut into cubes. Add them to fried vegetables, salt and cook for another 7 minutes, until the mass becomes thick.
- Beat it using a blender until smooth.
- Pour the resulting sauce into a baking dish, and on top of the first layer place the eggplants, cut into circles.
- Next, lay out the zucchini.
- The next layer of eggplant ratatouille is tomatoes. We fill in the form to the very top.
- Sprinkle with herbs and garlic, passed through a press.
- Now prepare the filling by mixing the oil with herbs and garlic, salt and pepper and pour it over the vegetables.
- Send the eggplant and tomato ratatouille to the oven and bake for about 1 hour, covering the baking dish.
Note! To eliminate the bitterness, salt the eggplant and let it sit for about 30 minutes until droplets appear. And then rinse under running water.
Eggplant vegetable salad with egg
Eggplant salad with tomatoes, eggs and herbs is incredibly tasty, despite the simple recipe and fairly quick preparation. The dish can not only be included in the daily menu, but also served at the table during the reception of guests.
Ingredients:
- Large eggplant - 1 pc.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Chicken egg - 2 pcs.
- Cherry tomatoes - 3-4 pcs.
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Fresh dill - a couple of twigs
- Light mayonnaise - 1 tablespoon
- Vegetable oil for frying - 2 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
Step-by-step preparation of eggplant vegetable salad with egg:
- First of all, boil and cool the eggs.
- Peel the onion, chop it in half rings and fry in heated vegetable oil for a couple of minutes, until it becomes transparent.
- Cut the washed blue ones into pieces and send them to the pan. Cook over low heat until tender and lightly browned.
- Next, add garlic, previously crushed, to the onions and eggplants, and simmer the vegetables for 1 minute.
- Then add finely chopped dill to them.
- After cooking the vegetable mass, remove the garlic from it and wait until it cools.
- Coarsely chop the eggs and add to the stewed eggplant.
- Add cherry tomatoes to the salad, which should be chopped up for extra juiciness.
- Next, the dish should be seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, after which it is seasoned with mayonnaise.
- The salad is served immediately after preparation.
Eggplant saute
Saute is a very fragrant and healthy dish, which is listed in almost all ratings of the best eggplant recipes. Serve it as a side dish for fish or meat, and can also be used as a sauce for pasta. It is recommended to cut the blue ones larger than the rest of the vegetables.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 2 pcs. (500 g)
- Zucchini - 1 pc. (250 g)
- Bulgarian pepper - 2 pcs. (300 g)
- Tomatoes - 2 pcs. (400 g)
- Bulb onions - 1 pc. (100 g)
- Carrots - 1 pc. (100 g)
- Garlic - 4-5 cloves (25 g)
- Greens to taste
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Sugar - optional
- Vegetable oil - 2-3 tablespoons
Cooking eggplant sauté step by step:
- We cut the washed blue pieces and soak in water, which must first be salted. It is enough to hold them for half an hour.
- Meanwhile, peel the onion and cut into half rings.
- Remove the skin from the carrots and chop using a grater.
- Next, it is taken for the rest of the vegetables. Cut the pepper into strips, zucchini and tomatoes into cubes.
- After 30 minutes, the soaked eggplants should be thrown into a colander, wait until the excess liquid has drained, and cut into cubes.
- We heat vegetable oil in a pan and send the prepared vegetables there. We simmer them for about half an hour.
- Then you should salt and pepper the workpiece and add, according to the eggplant sauté recipe, garlic passed through a press.
- At the final stage, the dish is crushed with finely chopped herbs and stewed for about 10 minutes.
Important! One secret ingredient to enhance the taste of eggplant sauté is a sour apple. Thanks to him, the appetizer acquires a special piquant taste.
Casserole with eggplant and minced meat
Eggplant casserole in the oven with cheese and minced meat is one of the most delicious dishes you can cook with this vegetable. But it is also very satisfying, so it may well serve as an independent dish and is great for an everyday dinner.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 2-3 pcs.
- Minced meat - 500 g
- Tomatoes (medium-sized) - about 11 pcs.
- Hard cheese - 300 g
- Ground black pepper - 2 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Parsley to taste
Step-by-step cooking of the eggplant and minced meat casserole:
- Cut the peeled blue ones into slices, salt and leave for a while to eliminate bitterness. When they let the juice go, rinse it under running water.
- Place the eggplants on the bottom of the baking dish.
- The next layer is minced meat, which needs to be pepper and salt.
- Next, cut the tomatoes into slices and place the minced meat on top.
- Repeat the layers in the same sequence until we fill the entire shape.
- We send it to the oven, which should be preheated to 200 degrees, and bake for about 40 minutes.
- When ready, take out the eggplant casserole from the oven and sprinkle with cheese, which should be pre-chopped.
- Then we send the form back and cook the dish for another 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the casserole with finely chopped herbs, and can be served hot.
Baked eggplant "Accordion" with potatoes
Probably one of the most original dishes that can be prepared from blue ones. Baked eggplants in the form of an accordion with potatoes are very aromatic, with an appetizing crust, so they are perfect not only for dinner with guests, but also as a cold snack for a celebration.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 3 pcs.
- Potatoes - 2-3 pcs.
- Hard cheese - 120 g
- Garlic - 3 cloves
- Parsley - 25 g
- Dill - 25 g
- Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
- Sour cream - 3 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
Step by step cooking of baked eggplant "Accordion" with potatoes:
- At the first stage, you should wash and cut the blue accordion. When making cuts, keep in mind that the slices should be 7-8 mm thick, and do not reach the end of 0.5-1 cm.
- Boil the vegetables in salted water. After boiling, it is enough to cook for literally 5 minutes. When ready, fold in a colander to drain excess liquid.
- Next, peel the potatoes, and then cut them into thin slices and boil in salted water for a couple of minutes, after it boils. After the specified time, let it cool down.
- Now peel and chop the garlic.
- Wash the greens and grind in a blender, add garlic and olive oil to it.
- At the next stage, according to the recipe for eggplants in the oven, you can start stuffing them: for this we put one slice of potatoes inside each cut.
- We spread the blanks in a mold, spread each of them with an oil mass with garlic and herbs, and then leave for 20 minutes so that the blue ones are well saturated with it.
- We send the baking sheet to the oven, which should be preheated to 200 degrees.
- We cook for about 25 minutes, at this time we grind the cheese and mix it with sour cream.
- Apply the sauce to the oven baked eggplants and cook for another 15 minutes until a cheese crust forms.
Adjapsandali with eggplant in Georgian
Ajapsandali is a very tasty and hearty dish of Georgian cuisine, despite the fact that there are only vegetables among the ingredients. The cooking process is quite unusual, since all components are stewed separately, and then seasoned with spices, garlic and herbs, after which they are already cooked together.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 500 g
- Tomatoes - 350 g
- Bulgarian pepper - 250 g
- Carrots - 250 g
- Onions - 120 g
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Hot green pepper - 0, 5 pcs.
- Fresh purple basil - a few twigs
- Cilantro - a few twigs
- Fresh parsley - a few sprigs
- Ground coriander - 0.5 tsp
- Utskho-suneli - 0.5 tsp
- Pepper mixture - 0.5 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Vegetable oil - for frying
Step by step cooking ajapsandali with eggplant in Georgian:
- To eliminate the bitterness of the blue ones, cut them into pieces, salt and leave so for a long time, until drops of juice come out. Then rinse them under running water and fry in preheated vegetable oil.
- Next, we are engaged in bell pepper: peel, cut into strips and fry for 20-25 minutes until tender.
- Peel and chop the onions and carrots, fry until tender. At the same time, it is important that all the ingredients used to prepare ajapsandali are the same in terms of hardness.
- At the next stage, we prepare tomato juice by grinding tomatoes on a grater. Discard the skin.
- We spread the ingredients in a saucepan, starting with the eggplant.
- The next layer is pepper, then onions and carrots, then greens (parsley and basil), which must first be chopped.
- Fill vegetables with tomato paste, season with coarse salt, spices, add garlic, crushed in a mortar, and cilantro.
- We send the saucepan to the stove and cook for 15 minutes, keeping the heat low.
- When ready, set aside the dish for a while to infuse, and then you can serve it to the table, sprinkling with fresh herbs.
Eggplant Julienne
Julien is a hot appetizer traditionally prepared with mushrooms and chicken. However, you can deviate a little from the classic recipe and make an eggplant dish with sour cream and cheese. It also turns out very tasty, since the stewed blue ones taste like real mushrooms.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 500 g
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Sour cream - 150 ml
- Hard cheese - 50 g
- Fresh parsley - to taste
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Vegetable oil - for frying
Step by step cooking eggplant julienne:
- Cut the washed blue ones into cubes, salt and leave for some time to eliminate the bitterness. When they let the juice go, rinse and squeeze.
- Fry the eggplants in preheated vegetable oil.
- Cut the onion peeled from the husk into cubes and send it to the blue ones.
- Fry vegetables for a couple of minutes, until golden brown.
- Salt, pepper the workpiece, add sour cream and sprinkle with parsley, which needs to be finely chopped.
- We continue to simmer the eggplants, covering the pan with a lid, over low heat. Cook them for 15 minutes.
- After the specified time, put the blue ones in cocotte makers for julienne or small pots, and grind them with grated cheese on top.
- Send the molds to the oven or microwave for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts.
- Serve hot eggplant julienne.
Eggplant hatsilim
A Middle Eastern appetizer made from baked eggplant with spices and mayonnaise. The dish turns out to be incredibly appetizing and deserves to take its rightful place in the cookbook of every hostess.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 1 kg
- Mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
- Sugar - 2 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Step-by-step preparation of eggplant khatsilim:
- Before making khatsilim, you should bake blue ones in an oven preheated to a temperature of 200 ° C. Do not forget to pierce them with a fork.
- Cook the eggplant for about 40 minutes, then wait until it has cooled slightly and remove the pulp using a spoon.
- Grind it, salt, pepper, add sugar, add garlic, passed through a press.
- Pour freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil into the pulp, squeeze out mayonnaise.
- It remains only to stir to get a homogeneous consistency, and you can serve it to the table.
Korean style eggplant
Korean Eggplant Salad is a versatile snack for all occasions. It can be included in the daily menu in order to diversify the diet, serve at the table during the reception of guests and take it with you to nature.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 4 pcs.
- Tomatoes - 2-3 pcs.
- Bulgarian pepper - 2 pcs.
- Carrots - 1-2 pcs.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 3-4 cloves
- Ground red pepper - to taste
- Black pepper - to taste
- Parsley to taste
- Ground coriander - 1-2 tsp
- Apple cider vinegar 9% (lemon juice) - 1-2 tablespoons
- Vegetable oil - 3-4 tablespoons
- Sesame seeds - 1-2 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Honey (sugar) - 1 tsp
- Soy sauce - 1-2 tablespoons (taste)
Step-by-step cooking of eggplant in Korean:
- To eliminate the bitterness, cut the washed blue ones into thin strips that are 1, 5-2 cm thick, salt and leave for half an hour. When juice appears, rinse under running water.
- Then we peel the onion from the husk, cut into half rings, and chop the carrots on a grater for Korean salads. If not, the usual large will do.
- Peeled peppers and tomatoes, cut into thin strips.
- Peel the garlic and pass it through a press, and finely chop the greens.
- Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplants for 10 minutes. Remember to stir to prevent them from burning.
- Wait until the blue ones have cooled, put in a bowl and mix with other ingredients.
- Season with spices on top, add honey, sprinkle with garlic and herbs.
- Next, pour in the vinegar and soy sauce.
- If you wish, you can add oil to the snack, and then send it to the refrigerator.
- After a day, the salad will be ready.