Moroccan Lentil-Stuffed Eggplant

Saw this recipe in an email with a list of recipes suggested for Valentine’s Day. It was delicious. The moroccan lentils are amazing. Will definitely make the lentils again.

This is divine. Have made it on several occasions and replaced cheese with what I had at the time and made my own breadcrumbs, just delicious. I also don’t leave comments … have now

Okay…so here is the thing. I usually NEVER leave a comment under a recipe. For the most part because the measurements never seem to fit my taste ooor something didn’t work how it was described. In addition to that I have to translate everything into gramm or ml (I live in Germany) and I often feel that makes it even more difficult to get the right flavour.
But HOLY GUACAMOLE this dish was to die for. I swear. It was absolutely flavourful. I mean really actually flavourful. And so satiating! Often enough I crave something sweet after a big hot meal but not after this one.
Even if you mess it up a little (I overcooked my lentis a bit and put maybe to much tomatoes in…oops..) it’s so forgiving because the blend of spices is where the magic happens.
I really have a hard time finding vegetarian meals that I like AND can digest (I have a lot of food intolerance) and re-heats well so I can take them to work the next day.
So..THANKS for this wonderful recipe!

Tried this last night. Happened to be out of tomato paste so I added sun dried tomatoes I had asking to be used up and I really think it added something to it. I also roasted my veggies which feels like fall to me. I’m partial to French lentils which is what I had on hand and were perfection with this, but I could also see doing red lentils and blending it up for a creamy dip as an alternative to hummus. A dollop of Greek yogurt finished it off for us. This is going to be on rotation for sure. It’s so versatile. Salad topper, dip, in a wrap, as a vegan chili, or stuffing… it’s endless thanks for a great one.

This recipe is amazing! You have GOT to try it! Texture, flavour, aroma! Food of the gods!!!!

Re the aubergine, I scored the halves, salted and brushed each with 1 tsp olive oil. Baked face down at 400° for an hour. After half hour cooling, I turned them over and picked out diamonds of flesh instead of scooping with a spoon. Alright…I stood and ate those browned, heavenly diamonds! You will too!!!! Hahaha!

Re lentils, I cooked them with the finely diced onion, crushed garlic, turmeric and cayenne just because that’s the way I’ve done it for the last 45 years. Using what I had in the house, substituted brown for green lentils, red-wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar, honey for maple syrup, and Kashmiri Red Chilli for paprika. Combined sauce with lentils. It tasted a tad flat to me, so I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

For a side, I made Greek yoghurt with grated cucumber, raisins and walnuts, topped with freshly ground, toasted cumin seeds.

I will be eating this a lot!!!! And – OMG – it’s low carb, low fat, high fiber, incredible flavour, and good for you! Heart and soul, good for you!!!! ENJOY!

This is a culinary masterpiece! Comfort food without the sleepy hurtlocker at the end of the meal. :) Made the 30 minute Moroccan spiced lentil filling (to die for!). Chock full of nutrients for ultra-endurance type athletes and professionals. Will add this one into regular meal rotation – especially during racing season. Bravo!

WOW! The Minimalist Baker just keeps making me look good with my family! This dish is not to be missed, it is delicious. I of course doubled the batch :) I also sautéed the onions and garlic as suggested at the end of the recipe for a more subtle flavor. Also I l o v e smoked paprika, another reason to love this recipe! thank you Dana!

Loved this recipe! lots of great flavour . I baked the eggplant before stuffing them and also used regular parmesan. My husband love it . Had the leftovers the next night and tasted just as good. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks so much for another great recipe Dana.

Loved this recipe. I made it a little different though since I also don’t cook with oil. Cut the eggplant in half, put diagonal slits in them, then only cook for 15 min. I used a casserole tray to slightly cook them with a little bit of water in the bottom then I covered them with the morrocan lentils and baked for another 15 min. Didn’t come out dry at all.

*Note this was filling enough for me just by itself, but the man in my life needed more so I also served it with rosemary garlic mashed potatoes.

So delicious! Newbie-vegan and not a very confident cook but it was loved by all. Used the stuffed rather than rolled eggplant option – planning on trying the rolled option for a dinner this week. Definitely making a batch of the lentils for freezer-easy cooking during the week. Thanks!

Very flavorful dish! I did the roll up method so was a bit more work but totally worth it. Thanks for the recipe!

The lentils were so tasty but I’d suggest salting the eggplant for a while to draw some of the bitterness out of it! A great dish everyone enjoyed! Had it with a side of cauliflower rice and lemon garlic green beans :) will def make it again but I’ll try the salting and rolling :)

I have just started really trying your recipes and wow they have so much flavour!
I made this today, I was a bit lazy and laid it out like a lasagne to make it easier for myself :) it’s delicious, I look forward to trying more!

This turned out so full of flavour. Did cook for close to 45 minutes. Husband loved it!

What a great recipe, every step is easy to follow! Loved it and so happy I have leftovers for tomorrow. 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!

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!

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.

Great use of eggplant! A little bit *too* delicious, if anything!

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.)

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.

Full of flavors and so satisfying, love it❤️❤️

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!

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!

Yummy!!! Eating this now and it’s so warm and filling. Thanks for the recipe Dana

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.

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 :)

Eggplants cooking in the oven now… smells soo tasty! Thanks for the recipe xxx

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!

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.

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!

Except this recipe requires you spend an additional half hour making another recipe with over a dozem ingredients; not as advertised.

This is really, really, really good. Thank you!

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.

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!

This came out great! Thanks for sharing.

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.

Ok, this is seriously delicious! Definitely will go in my “keep” file!

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!

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

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