I remember before the first time I ever made baba ganoush I was a little intimidated by it. If you feel the same way I can assure you there is no need. Baba ganoush is super easy to make. It is a tiny bit time consuming, but only because you have to roast the eggplants. Once they’ve roasted and cooled you’ll only need to wait a couple minutes before you can dig in.
If you’ve never had baba ganoush before, you are going to love it. It’s super creamy with a smokey, garlicky taste. It has a richness to it that will have you thinking it must not be good for you, but it is. The only fat in this is the optional oil you can drizzle on top. I would have left it off it it didn’t make the pictures look extra pretty.
How do you serve baba ganoush? I was eating it by the spoonful about 1 second after I finished the photo shoot. Here are a few other ideas:
- As a dip with homemade pita chips or cut up veggies
- On a sandwich or pita pocket
- On top of slow roasted lamb or beef
- As part of a big mezze or tapas platter
- Add a dollop to your veggies or rice
- 2 eggplants
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated with a microplane or finely minced
- Salt to taste
- Optional: top with olive oil, pomegranate seeds, sesame seeds or minced parsley
- Using a fork polk several holes over each eggplant.
- Place eggplants on your bbq at high heat. Alternatively you can broil them in your oven for a slightly less smokey flavour.
- Cook eggplants for 20-30 minutes, turning once, until they are soft but well charred on the outside.
- Remove eggplants from bbq and place in a bowl covered with tin foil.
- Once eggplants are cool enough to handle (you can place them in your fridge if you get impatient, like me) peel the skin off and place all the flesh in a bowl. Add any of the liquid left in the bowl the eggplants were cooling in to the eggplant flesh.
- Place all the eggplant flesh and liquid into a food processor. Add tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt and process till smooth. You can also use a fork for a chunkier texture.
- Place baba ganoush in a bowl and top with optional ingredients if desired.
Want another way to eat eggplant? Try these:
Crispy Eggplant Fries with Chipotle Aioli
Want some more yummy dips? Here area a few:
Pesto Hummus with Homemade Pita Chips
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
If you add some yogurt on this recipe, it would be more delicious !
I love baba ganoush but like you mentioned, I am little intimidated by making it. I have tried it once and didnt turn out too great. your baba ganoush has inspired me to make it again!
Uh, yum yum, I love eggplant big time, I often use it in my own recipes, and baba ganoush is sooo good. This looks very delicious and makes me wanna give it a go once again
I also have a major crush on eggplant. It’s just so delicious!
The recipe is really great! You´re right, it sounds tougher then it really is.
In my home country we also had a similar recipe, except instead of lemon juice and garlic we would mix the eggplants with lots of oil (my grandparents would use real sunflower oil that actually smelled and tasted slightly like roasted sunflower seeds). To that you would add an onion finely cut (smaller the better). And eat it with large slices of tomatoes.
By the way one thing my grandmother always cautioned me was that the juices from the eggplant when you have just finished roasting it actually contain some anti-nutrients of some sort (*cough*cough she used a different word for it, but basically the stuff is bad for you). She always let the eggplants leak first completely and just supplement with some extra water of oil.
Not sure how true that is but I suppose it´was worth mentioning?!
Hi Roxana,
I’ll have to try it with sunflower oil and a little onion next time. That sounds really delicious!
I always add in all the juice from the eggplants because I love the smokey flavour. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this though? I wonder if it is bad in the same way that other charred food is supposed to be bad for our health. It always tastes so good though!
just recently i tried some baba ganoush and I really loved it.I enjoy eating the eggplants and it is always in my kitchen, so Im going to try your recipe,
I made this, but mined turned out really bitter. I love baba ganoush and I don’t think your recipe is to blame. Not sure what I did wrong. It could have been my eggplant or maybe my garlic… Bummed!
Hi Kristen,
Great name btw!
I’m so sorry to hear yours was bitter. Perhaps it was the eggplant? I know that some people sprinkle the cut sides of their eggplants with a little sea salt and let them sit and sweat out some of the bitterness for a half hour or so. I’ve never found this made a difference when I’ve done it before but maybe I’ve just never came across a bitter eggplant. Maybe try that next time before you roast the eggplant to see if that helps.
Good luck!
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