Did you make those Saucy Moroccan-Spiced Lentils yet? I hope so, because I have the perfect application for them. Let’s do this!
This recipe requires 9 ingredients and comes together in about an hour.
The lentils are added to crushed tomatoes and seasoned a bit more. Then they’re simmered to perfection. In the meantime, slice eggplants (I include two methods in this recipe!) and prepare for stuffing.
Once your eggplants have browned , it’s time to top them with your lentils. I also seasoned mine with a bit of vegan parmesan cheese and gluten-free bread crumbs for extra crunch, which I highly recommend!
For those stuffing the eggplant, simply bake until bubbling and golden brown and you have one saucy, satisfying dinner on your hands.
And for those slicing and rolling, your final product will look more like this!
In my opinion, the roll-ups are a prettier presentation that requires less cooking time. But the stuffed eggplants look like a seriously hearty entrée when plated. You can’t lose either way!
I hope you all LOVE this dish! It’s:
Hearty
Saucy
Smoky
Satisfying
Healthy
Versatile
& Delicious!
This is the perfect hearty entrée or side dish that would be especially perfect for hosting. It’s delicious on its own, but it would also pair well with my Garlicky Kale Salad and Crispy Chickpeas, Oil-Free Roasted Vegetables, 1-Pot Vegan Minestrone, and Sweet Potato and Avocado Green Salad. Also, my 5-Minute Macadamia Nut Cheese or Whipped Almond Ricotta would make the perfect flavor addition!
If you give it a try, let us know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment, and be sure to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram so we can see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
Moroccan Lentil-Stuffed Eggplant
Ingredients
EGGPLANT
- 4 small eggplants
- 2 Tbsp avocado or coconut oil (if avoiding oil, sub water)
- 1 pinch sea salt
LENTILS
- 1 batch Moroccan-Spiced Lentils
- 1 3/4 cups crushed tomatoes (crushed are best for flavor and texture // can sub diced or puréed tomatoes)
- 1/4 tsp each sea salt and black pepper (plus more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (plus more to taste)
TOPPING
- 1 1/2 Tbsp vegan parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 Tbsp gluten-free panko bread crumbs (I like Ian’s brand panko bread crumbs)
FOR SERVING optional
- Fresh chopped parsley or cilantro
- White or brown rice or cauliflower rice
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C) and get out a 9x13-inch (or similar size) baking dish.
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To a large saucepan or rimmed skillet, add Moroccan-Spiced Lentils, crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, and paprika. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more salt and pepper for overall flavor or paprika for smokiness.
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See notes if thinly slicing and rolling the eggplant. Otherwise, use a knife to cut an angled divot out of the center of your eggplants. Then use a spoon to scrape out a hollow center. Leave enough eggplant flesh so it's sturdy enough to hold the lentils (see photo). (Save leftover eggplant to make things like Eggplant Curry, Persian Eggplant Dip, or Baba Ganoush.)
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Heat a large rimmed skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add oil and the eggplant cut-side down and cover - you may have to do this in two (or more if increasing batch size) batches depending on the size of your pan. Cook on one side for 4-5 minutes or until slightly charred. Then flip the eggplant over on the other side, cover, and cook for 4-5 minutes more. You're looking for the eggplant to be softened and browned on the outside.
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Once the eggplant is cooked, place cut-side up in your baking dish and top with lentils. There should be plenty to fill the eggplant and some overflow, which can be spooned down into the dish. Top with vegan parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs.
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Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the eggplant is soft and browned and the lentils are bubbling. The bread crumbs should be browned.
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Serve as is or over rice or cauliflower rice (optional). Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro (optional) for color and flavor.
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Best when fresh, though leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days or in the freezer up to 1 month.
Notes
*If slicing and rolling the eggplant into roll-ups, follow this method!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with oil and without rice.
*Stuffing method adapted from Cooking with Alia.
Nutrition Per Serving (1 of 4 stuffed eggplants)
- Calories: 429
- Fat: 9.6g
- Saturated fat: 1.2g
- Sodium: 403mg
- Carbohydrates: 72.8g
- Fiber: 33.2g
- Sugar: 25g
- Protein: 19.4g
Hi Dana,
Lentils don’t like me.. What is a good substitute? Could I use chick peas or white beans?
Anita
Yeah probably chickpeas!
We love lentils in any form. Every recipe of yours we have tried, has been delicious. I am a fairly new vegan and appreciate how easy your recipes are, not to mention tasty. And simple ingredients. Thank you again.
Maggie K.
Thanks so much!
T
Have u tried Mung Dahl. That’s aparently the type of dahl thats the easiest on the tummy. And soaking it overnight and rinsing it will also helo with gaseous consequences. When you cook it, you wil see a bit of foam forming on top. You can scoop it off, that also causes gas.
This is a great recipe and I can’t wait to try it! I truly love all your recipes and appreciate all the work that you do. I just wanted to point out that it is a little misleading to write that the recipe only requires 9 ingredients, when in reality it has 22-26 ingredients. I know it’s a marketing tactic, but don’t think it’s fair to count the lentils as 1 ingredient when it is a homemade component that actually requires a long list of ingredients. This is not a criticism, just friendly feedback as an avid follower to perhaps be more transparent in the description-it is definitely a let-down when I think I’ll only have to purchase a few ingredients but in reality it is a much longer list. I truly do love your blog and hope you don’t take this the wrong way!
Thanks for sharing! I appreciate that. I separated the recipes to make it simpler for people, hoping / assuming they had the lentils (or lentils in some form) as leftovers. But I appreciate the feedback!
I was just coming here to write the same thing! I love your recipes Dana but saying this just requires 9 ingredients is misleading! :(
Totally agree!!!
Hi Dana, I just made this and it was absolutely delicious. My partner said it was the tastiest thing I ever made! I only found your website about 3 months ago but it is now my go to for new vegan recipes. I tell all my friends about the minimalist baker! Thank you so much I look forward to your 2018 recipes x
Ah, thanks M! xo
Dana this looks insanely good! I have eluda lentils at home and will be making it this week.
Thanks for sharing
Xo
This looks delicious! I can’t wait for eggplant to come back in season so we can try it! In the summer we always get loads of them from our farm share – this will be a great way to use them. Thanks!!
This was OUTSTANDING!!! I used black beans instead of lentils and sprinkled some nutritional yeast for the vegan parm. So so very good. Can’ wait to eat leftovers tomorrow! Thanks for another fabulous recipe!
Thanks Erin!!
Ok, this is seriously delicious! Definitely will go in my “keep” file!
Thanks, Melanie!
My husband and I made this for dinner. It was quite good, but not great… I think it was the first recipe of yours we’ve tried and didn’t 100% love. We doubled the sauce on the lentils as they just didn’t have enough flavor at first. I’m super glad we did because the eggplants diluted the flavor in the lentils a bit. I really liked the cooking method on the eggplant with putting them in the pan first. It was really successful and something I’ll probably use again for other dishes. It also took way longer than 1hr to prepare. All in all, we had a good meal and are glad we tried it, but probably won’t make it again.
This came out great! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Bret!
This was really tasty! My grocery store only had one huge eggplant so I boiled a few lasagna noodles and rolled them with the lentils and placed them along with the eggplant rolls. I think the lentils would be amazing stuffed inside giant pasta shells or wrapped in steamed cabbage leaves. I will definitely be trying my own variations!
Oh dear, I don’t seem to be able to follow a recipe correctly. I jumped in the deep end and tried the rolled up aubergine method… I must have set the mandolin too narrow as my slices stuck to the tray and I had to scrape them off. They were also extremely salty even though I rinsed and dried them. Oh well, I layed them in the sauce and theyre now baking again… Sauce tastes good! Will try again another day.
My daughter can’t tolerate onions- do you think the lentils would turn out okay without them?
Hi Rachel! That should be fine!
Hi Dana –
I found you blog and have been exploring the Minimalist Baker for days! I’m learning so much about your cooking and vegan etc.
I decided to make the Moroccan Eggplant recipe, but have had techical difficulties with the eggplants (they were all rotten inside!). So, I will only be presenting the Moroccan Lentils, which turned out fantastic! I’ve never cooked Moroccan, have never used so many spices, and totally trusted your suggestions about amouts. So thanks Dana!
My question (for tomorrow) is – does your Moroccan Lentil recipe appear in any of your cookbooks?
Thanks – and I’ll share more about my adventure later! Cynthia
It does not! Just a blog recipe. Sorry the eggplants weren’t fresh. That’s always a bummer!
This is really, really, really good. Thank you!
Thanks, Jayne! xo
Eggplant has been an ingredient I NEED to start cooking more often! It’s my favorite to use for dinner and to pair with tomatoes, beans, and heaps of spices! This stuffed eggplant looks absolutely perfect, especially with the vegan Parmesan on top!
The recipe does not state what temperature to bake the eggplant stuffed lentils at .
Please clarify – thank you
Except this recipe requires you spend an additional half hour making another recipe with over a dozem ingredients; not as advertised.
This is one of my favorite recipes ever! I love eggplant and the lentils are such a good combo, never thought to try them together. I just wanted to let you know that I looove all your recipes! This is my favorite website for recipes and I can’t believe I didn’t realize until today that you have cookbooks! I cook your recipes for my family all the time and everyone always love them. You have made being a vegan easy for my family and I. You are an inspiration to me!
Amazingly good. Great flavor, and different from normal spaghetti/red sauce type stuffing. We loved this! I didn’t realize the lentils were a separate recipe, so I was stressed that I wouldn’t have the right stuff on hand but I did. Used jarred roasted red peppers and cooked the lentils while I prepped the eggplant. I cut the eggplant in half, scooped out some flesh, the stuffed those. There was enough for 6 halves, or maybe even 8 halves if you didn’t want them over stuffed. Really, really delicious.
Do you think it would be weird to use Rao’s roasted eggplant sauce in place of the crushed tomatoes? It’s what I have in the fridge but not sure if the italian seasonings would clash with the moroccan… still working on that chef’s intuition :) Thanks!
We haven’t tried it and can’t say for sure! If you do, report back on how it goes!
I made the stuffed eggplant version a few weeks ago for meal prep for the week. I just sliced the eggplants in half and took out some of the inside. Another delicious recipe!
Eggplants cooking in the oven now… smells soo tasty! Thanks for the recipe xxx
Was every bit as good as it smelled :)
I have just finished making and eating this – sooooo delicious. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers with a green salad for lunch tomorrow. You’ve just made Monday a day to look forward to :)
I thought this was a nice change – very comforting and good for a rainy day. We had it with a few slices of fresh baguette. The store only had large-ish eggplants, so I bought three and this filled about two of them. I think next time I might try squeezing some lemon over it; it felt like it was missing a little something. Also, when you have to make the lentils, this recipe definitely takes more than an hour.
Yummy!!! Eating this now and it’s so warm and filling. Thanks for the recipe Dana
Made this last night. It’s a lovely recipe and makes for an impressive presentation. My husband and I really enjoyed the Morrocan lentils. What a fun spice mix. The sweetness from the maple syrup was a welcome surprise. However, we weren’t crazy about the eggplant. I prepared it exactly as written. It browned and became tender while in the oil and it cooked nicely in the oven, but once plated it dumped its water content onto our plates. Also, the eggplant itself was bland. I figured the lentils spices would sink into it during cooking, but it didn’t. We ate the lentils, but left most of the sad, spongy eggplant uneaten. Perhaps we should add salt to the eggplant before filling it? Or perhaps I’m just not a fan of eggplants. Not sure. I’ve always been underwhelmed when I try them. My MIL gave me a couple, so I had to try something besides eggplant parm. Also, I was hoping for the beautiful, bright red color seen in your photos, but my lentils were much more pale. Alas, my tummy doesn’t care what color things are! Overall, I like the lentils and will definitely make them again. I will be trying more of your recipes. Thanks!
Just finished my plate. This was delicious and one of my favorite recipes of yours! I made it in the style of the main picture instead of doing the rollups. It was easier. The flavors were awesome and all blended soooooooo good. I ate it with jasmine rice.
10/10 will repeat….and repeat…..and repeat.
I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow.
Thanks!
I have a question. the Saucy Moroccan Spiced Lentils recipe includes Tomato Paste and paprika. Is it necessary to add additional canned tomatoes and a touch more spice for the stuffed eggplant? The consistency of the lentils was already perfect for stuffing the eggplant…..i was concerned about it being too saucy with added liquid.
Moroccan flavors were great and it was delicious w/o added tomatoes and extra paprika and I do prepare Moroccan cuisine often!
Full of flavors and so satisfying, love it❤️❤️
Wow! This was so good. I sautéed the pepper, onion and garlic for the lentils. I also used canned lentils, because they are super convenient. I think I’ll chop the extra eggplant and add it to the lentils next time. Yum! Thanks for the great recipe.
We made this recipe this past weekend and it was delicious! We paired it with the almond ricotta (which we made for the first time also) and it was such a good, creamy, cooling addition with the flavor of the Moroccan spices. We will definitely be making both again. We may try stuffing some bell peppers instead of eggplant, just to mix up the flavors and sometimes bells are easier to find than eggplant. We found this to be a recipe that actually gets even better over the next couple of days in the fridge as leftovers. The eggplant soaks up more of the Moroccan flavor and gets even more tender, so leftovers will be fought over, haha! (Note – I am saying “we” because my youngest is 16 and new vegan for going on 6 months now and your site has made a huge impact on guiding her to be able to find recipes that sound really good to her, vetting out the ingredients, making meals from scratch, and help her to be successful at maintaining this lifestyle. Looks like we’ve inspired our 21 year old college student too, as he has now been vegan for 2 months and this was his birthday dinner! Thank you so much for doing all the leg work and creating such amazing recipes. You are changing the world.)
You clever little devils. We’ve just found the new number of portions feature which will stop the two of us from eating four portions in one sitting, haha!
Hah! Glad you’re enjoying this dish, Edward :D
Hi! I’ve made this recipe before and absolutely loved it but recently I’ve been tummy troubles and thus lentils/all beans, to be honest, are crossed out of my diet. Does anybody have any alternatives? I don’t eat meat either :/
Maybe quinoa? Or a nice dirty-rice mixture? I’m sure there’s a grain out there somewhere that’ll do it. Should be easy to find something still très delicious, as the French would say.
Great use of eggplant! A little bit *too* delicious, if anything!
Hah! I’d say that’s a good problem to have ;)
I really want to make this but the page with the recipe for the spicy lentils won’t load! Is that recipe available elsewhere? Thanks very much.
Hi Erin! It should load properly now :)
This looks delicious and I am planning to make it tonight :) Do you think I can use Fire Roasted tomatoes for this? Thank you!
Yes, that should work!
We haven’t tried and can’t say for sure, but other subs that would work are diced or puréed tomatoes
Hi Jordy! We haven’t tried and can’t say for sure, but other subs that would work are diced or puréed tomatoes
So glad I used the Moroccan Lentils for this dish. I thought I’d done the lentils wrong, but as soon as I added the tomato … AMAZING! I didn’t add any paprika or oil and didn’t use any “cheese” or panko, just topped with loads of Fresh Coriander once the roasting was done. Just so, so yummy. Mmmm …. only problem is, I can’t stop eating it. It’s actually got a very Mediterranean feel to it. Absolute comfort food. A new favourite for sure. Thanks so much for the share. This will be perfect for dinner party starters.
Thanks for sharing your process, Alli! We are glad you enjoyed it :D
Hi Dana-A friend of mine served this and it was beyond delicious! I’m making it for tomorrow night. The recipe says best fresh. I’ve made the lentils and cooked the eggplants (not for rolls). Should I wait to assemble and final cook before dinner tomorrow night or go ahead and make it now and reward? Thanks!
You could go ahead and make them in advance and that will work, but both options would really work!
So I get the lentils for this 4 pers stiffed eggplant recipe by doing the morrocan lentils recipe for 6 pers?
Hi Caterina! I’m not sure I understand the question. Do you mind clarifying? Thanks!
Oh I’m sorry. I want to follow your stuffed eggplants recipe for 4 persons. The recipe for 4 persons says you need 1 batch of Morrocan spiced lentils. If I follow the link to the recipe for the lentils it says it’s for 6 persons. So I get 1 batch of lentils if I follow the recipe for 6 persons? Even though I want to do the stuffed eggplants for four persons? I hope it’s clear now…
Ah I understand now! Make a batch of the Moroccan spiced lentils at that amount (6 servings) as this recipe requires that amount. Hope this helps!
I just made this and while the flavors were delicious, albeit a tad too sweet for us, the dish as a whole didn’t really come out great. I think the problem was the size of the eggplants we used. They weren’t big, but they were clearly too big for this recipe. I think it would help to add to the recipe that you should use smaller eggplants, or cut them in half and then scoop out the insides and also note how much to take out. I probably didn’t take out enough but I was afraid the eggplants would collapse in the oven.
I also agree with others who noted the timing and effort of making this dish as presented was a little misleading, when you add in the lentils. All in all, this recipe took me hours (mostly because the eggplants just weren’t cooking through). I finally had to cover the baking dish with foil and raise the temperature to 400 F to get them to cook through, and by then, we were too tired to eat much of it.
I do like your recipes, though, and will try others. Thank you!
Delicious recipe! I did find a way to shorten the process. I sliced the eggplants in half vertically, turned the cut-side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and baked at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Then I scooped out the cooked eggplant, filled the shells with the lentil mixture and proceeded with the rest of the recipe. Much faster and worked great!