This sweet and spicy Moroccan-inspired roasted eggplant salad recipe is a delicious mezze. It’s similar to Moroccan taktouka or matbucha, with the addition of roasted eggplant cubes. Perfect for mezze meals or snacking, it’s a wonderful make-ahead salad that improves with time in the refrigerator.
In the Middle East and Mediterranean, meals are often served “mezze” style– small bites, lots of salads and appetizers to go along with one (or more) main courses. I’ve encountered endless varieties of mezze during my travels, including several cooked or roasted eggplant salads. These salads are very often sweet and served more like a condiment, usually at room temperature, with lots of olive oil added for a richer flavor. They’re usually served with freshly baked bread or pita, perfect for dipping into the saucy goodness. There is nothing better than sitting on the patio of a seaside Middle Eastern restaurant using a warm grilled pita as a spoon for roasted eggplant salad.
Recently I found myself craving some of this eggplant-tomato mezze goodness. None of my cookbooks had exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to develop my own roasted eggplant salad, based on my popular Moroccan matbucha recipe. Roasting the eggplant before adding it to the tomato-pepper mixture rids it of excess moisture. Subsequently, this makes for a nicer, thicker, less mushy end texture. I also roast the peppers, bringing out their natural sweetness. Likewise, the roasted peppers add a little smoky flavor to the mix (enhanced by smoked paprika). The result is nothing short of delectable.
This roasted eggplant salad is seriously scrumptious. It’s a bit of a process to make… not too difficult, but it takes time. You might want to double a batch and freeze the leftovers… if there are any leftovers.
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Roasted Eggplant Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds eggplant (2 medium sized eggplants)
- 1/3 cup olive oil, divided, plus more for brushing baking sheet
- 2 whole red bell peppers
- 1 whole jalapeño or fresno chili pepper
- 2 1/2 pounds tomatoes (8-10 large), peeled, seeded and diced (learn how here) or 2 large cans (1 lb 12 oz each) diced tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes or more to taste
- Sugar, or your favorite sweetener, to taste (optional)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
NOTES
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees F. While oven is heating, slice stem ends off the eggplants, then peel them halfway in stripes down the side so strips of skin remain intact around the eggplant, with half of the skin peeled away. This helps the eggplant cubes to hold their shape without being too tough (too much skin can negatively affect the texture).
- Slice the eggplant into 1 – 1 1/2 inch chunks and toss them in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Brush a full-sized baking sheet liberally with olive oil, then spread the eggplant out in a single layer on the sheet.
- Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper and place the bell peppers and jalapeño or fresno chili pepper on the sheet.Place both baking sheets in the oven and let the vegetables roast for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, turn all of the peppers over with tongs and continue roasting for another 3-5 minutes, until the small pepper is soft and collapsing. Remove the small roasted pepper and set it on a cutting board. Place a small bowl over the top of the pepper to let it steam.
- Turn the larger bell peppers again and return them to the oven. Stir the eggplant on its baking sheet. Continue roasting the eggplant and bell peppers for another 10 minutes or so until eggplant is tender and lightly browned and the bell peppers are soft and collapsing.
- While the rest of the vegetables finish roasting, stem the small pepper, peel off any loose skin, and take out the seeds (unless you want a really spicy salad– I leave 10-15 seeds in for a little kick). Dice into small pieces. You may want to wear gloves during this process to protect sensitive skin from the capsaicin of the pepper.When the eggplant and peppers finish roasting, remove them from the oven. Place the peppers in a bowl, cover the bowl with a plate, and allow them to steam for a few minutes. Set the eggplant aside. Once the peppers have steamed, seed them and peel the skin off. Dice into small pieces.
- Combine peppers, tomatoes, garlic, salt, tomato paste, and chili flakes in a 6 quart pot. Bring ingredients to a boil, then simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 8-10 minutes, until the mixture has cooked down and most of the excess liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in the roasted eggplant chunks. Continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes longer until thick and saucy. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar or your favorite sweetener to taste. I usually end up adding about 2 tbsp of sugar; it’s supposed to be a sweet salad with a bit of a spicy kick. You can add more hot pepper flakes or salt to taste too, if you like.
- Stir together remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, paprika and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Pour oil into the salad and stir until well mixed.
- Serve salad at room temperature or chilled.
Nutrition
I love this stuff! It is the best eggplant recipe ever that doesn’t involve cheese?
i recently made this recipe and the Matbucha recipe and they were absolutely wonderful!! I think next time I will leave much narrower ribbons of eggplant skin before roasting. I found that there were some large pieces of skin that did not roast up soft enough to chew so I had to remove them before serving. Otherwise, both of these recipes were a hit. My husband, who is an Israeli, could not stop eating either one of these dishes, so looks like they will become a regular part of our meals. Thank you Tori.
Fantastic! Happy to hear it.
Very similar to what my Italian family has been making for as long as my 83 years can remember. One of my favorites. It’s great the next day in a crisp sub roll for lunch. Thanks for sharing, always a pleasure when you stop by Tori!
Aww thanks Anna!
This was great. Easy (I used roasted peppers from a jar). I think I under estimated my eggplant in the recipe since it was quite tomatoey. Great flavor and a wonderful addition to our table. It is definitely going to be on the regular recipe list! Thanks for a fantastic recipe.
I’ve made this several times already; I just love it. I used jarred roasted red peppers, and “squashed” canned whole tomatoes. It comes out perfectly. This is good cold also. Sometimes I just don’t want to wait for it to come to room temp.
I know the feeling! 😀 I’ve been known to snack on warm matbucha.
How many days ahead of my party can I make this & store in refrigerator?
Hi Alessandra, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This can be made a day or two in advance.
My father is Greek and my mom is Moroccan, so I definitely have a taste for the foods you have here! I’m also a private chef so it’s a good thing to get inspiration from another!
Thank you and stay hungry!
I based the dish I made on this recipe and it was absolutely gorgeous! Used 2 of standard UK size cans (400g each) of best quality Italian Plum tomatoes, one jar of (undrained weight) 450g high quality red roasted peppers, 4 quite small aubergines (eggplants), NO fresh chilli but probably more like a teaspoon or more (sprinkled free hand) of Turkish red pepper flakes and mixed all other ingredients as recommended into the mix … except the garlic: I used more like 5 or 6 large cloves!
I prefer this sort of dish warm, so that’s how we had it and everybody raved over it – so a link to this page has been emailed to all guests. Thank you Tori – it was a great inspiration!!
So happy you liked it Ingrid!
This is seriously addicting. I made a half batch of it yesterday and had a taste before putting it in the fridge. As delish as it was, it was even better tonight on top of cheese quesadillas. Even my picky hubs liked it! It is the perfect time of year to start serving lots of mezzes. If you are reading reviews to decide if you should make this, you definitely should try it.
Do I simmer the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, salt, tomato paste, and chili flakes
mixture covered or uncovered? I assumed uncovered in order to cook down.
Thank you for all the yummy recipes!
Hi, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Yes, you would simmer uncovered so that everything can reduce. Glad you’re enjoying the recipes!