Simple Baba Ganoush

Wonderful, versatile and simple! I had a much larger eggplant on hand, so essentially I made a double recipe, added more garlic, because garlic, and a dash of white balsamic for a touch of zing. Next time, I think I’ll roast the garlic, too.

This is almost the exact same recipe I’ve been using for years, except that I add more garlic and lemon juice, per my Armenian husband’s request. He absolutely loves it!! What he doesn’t know, though, is that I also add 1 large spoonful of Lebni (kefir cheese yogurt) as well. Most markets have begun to carry Lebni. You can find it in the dairy section. It gives the BG a little big of a tangy taste and makes it creamier. Whether or not you add the Lebni, this is a great, super simple recipe that I make in 1 bowl, stirred by hand.

I’ve made this recipe twice in the last two days! Day 1 as a dip for a party (everyone loved it!) and Day 2 dolloped on a bowl of rice, beans, and veggies. Rather than broil the eggplant, I cooked it in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes with one cup of water. I may be missing some char flavor but it’s really so delicious this way and is oil free. Also easier cleanup!

This is what Ive found works well to enhance flavor, I’ve been making roasted eggplant spread for 15+ years.

When broiling eggplant, I find I get a smokier flavor by putting a whole eggplant under the broiler (make sure to poke some holes in the eggplants before broiling it). I turn it occasionally until it is cooked with some charring on the skin. Then, I take the whole eggplants and put them in a mixing bowl and cover the bowl (they are still hot when doing this). This allows some of the extra liquid to drain and the smoky flavor to permeate the eggplant flesh. Let the eggplants sit in the covered bowl until they cook.

I found the quickest way to clean them is to take a spoon and make a slit from the top to the bottom of one side of the eggplant. Then I simply scoop out the flesh with the spoon.

Delicious and simple babaganoush! I added a little olive oil and extra garlic which helped boost the flavor and texture

Just made this with some eggplant from the farmer’s market. Yay. I adjusted all the ingredients to our taste and added a few drops of liquid smoke. Tastes as good as my favorite restaurant-made dip! We cooked the eggplant whole on the grill since the grill was fired up. Maybe as a result the eggplant was super soft and I just scooped it out with a spoon. I didn’t use a blender or food processor. Just mashed everything up in a bowl. Delish. And easy clean-up. Thanks for another great recipe!

This was delicious!!!! The only bad part was peeling the skin off hot eggplant. But it was worth it, I’ll only make a double recipe from now on as we ate all of it in one sitting. Thanks

Delicious!
I skipped the water-leeching step and went right to broiling, kept the skins on for their nutrients, and used 2 tablespoons lemon juice because I didn’t have a fresh lemon. Totally awesome!

This is wonderful and EASY. I used Japanese eggplant, so used 2 large or 3 medium.
Then I got inspired to make it more of a “meal” and added garbanzos (1-15 oz can, rinsed and drained) for protein. Voila! Eggplant humus – amazing! Adjust lemon, garlic, and tahini to taste, maybe a little more salt, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sumac and it’s ready for dipping. Another suggestion a Tbsp or two of your cashew-based Caesar dressing (from “Chickpea Caesar Salad”) adds interesting depth of flavor to this recipe!

Very good. I added a little extra tahini and salt also and it was perfect.

There is just one mistake : it does not lasts up to one week, but maybe up to one ten minutes before i eat it myself :)

WOW!! This was delicious!! I made it twice now. The 1st time I followed the recipe exactly using parsley. Tasted ok, but better after it sits overnight in frig. The 2nd time, I definitely appreciated the comments a) Cut eggplant from stem to bottom, b) Definitely bake/roast in oven, because broiling it took forever, c) Cilantro instead of parsley made my taste buds pop, d) I used an electric chopper instead of food processor and it turned out great! No need for me to visit Mediterranean Cafes when I can make this at home. Thank you so much for this recipe.

I’ve made this at least 5 times this summer and I love it more each time. Here are my little tweaks including how I sneak in zucchini!:

I bake the slices at 400 for 30 min flipping halfway through. I then store in an airtight glass container overnight and use the next day. They are very moist that way.
I add a few tbs of olive oil in the food processor with all the other ingredients.
I also add in cumin and a little smoked paprika. I also added the zest of half the lemon on tonight’s batch… so good.
I add in about a cup of cubed fresh zucchini for extra veggies you can’t taste!
Pulse till blended then add water until desired consistency is reached. It’s literally the best baba I’ve ever had. and I personally think it tastes better the next day after all the flavors meld overnight! ?

Perfect recipe and perfectly delicious! I used the lemon zest in the recipe and I think I will roast a whole garlic clove on the tray with the eggplant next time to add another flavor dimension.

My mistake for not gradually adding the amounts of the ingredients until I was satisfied with the taste, but one whole lemon was ENTIRELY too lemony – I’m thinking half of a lemon might still be too much! This was my first attempt at Baba Ganoush, and I will make it again; but this seems like a ridiculous amount of lemon. All of the hummus recipes I follow call for a lot less lemon, and I should’ve trusted my resistance to add a whole lemon for Baba Ganoush.

Also I was confused (as a novice eggplant handler) why the recipe would have you add salt AGAIN after salting it the first time. I get that first time is to leach the water out but what doesn’t make sense to me is the water leaches out – only to add water back to it to rinse it! Then add salt back to it with the olive oil and then again after roasting! I left the two additional saltings out of the recipe, and the salt level was just fine. I also am glad I used TWO eggplants because had I used one it would’ve been inedible with a whole lemon.

I misread one recipe (not yours) and added cilantro by mistake! Still used your recipe as the basis though and the dip was still surprisingly good with cilantro. Can this dish do no wrong?

I’m not sure what kind of eggplant you use, but this broiling method was a complete fail for Asian eggplant. I always cook it on a cast iron pan in slices, but decided to try something different. It didn’t cook through at all, even after two flips, and was burning the outside. I eventually gave up and cooked it the usual way. Maybe specify the type of eggplant you used in the recipe to save others the trouble I experienced.
Sidenote: I always add cumin and coriander to the eggplant before cooking and it adds an excellent flavor for baba ganoush.

I loved what the broiling did to the eggplant; so sweet and addictive. I ate all the skins. The parsley got pureed along with everything else;
The broiled eggplant would be nice served as a side too. Your recipe is still delivering.

As promised, this was very easy and delicious! The only thing I added was a final sprinkle of cumin and smoked paprika on top of the oil drizzle. Next time I will try peeling the eggplant first, and maybe use the immersion blender instead of the Cuisenart. Thanks.

Easy, tasty, healthy. I peeled the eggplant first, broiled for 10 minutes, and skipped the tinfoil resting stage. Also added a bit of olive oil and parsley for the herbs. Will use this method from now on.

It was burnt! Maybe 1/4 inch is too thin?

Best I’ve ever had! Turkish boyfriend loved It! I didn’t change a thing

I tried this recipe using the abundant eggplant from this year’s garden. I had hopes for a quicker method to make this dip, but alas, the quality really suffered. I used my gas oven broiler. By the time the eggplant was cooked, it had dried out and blackened in several places. This made for a dark, chunky, rather unappetizing looking dip. In addition, it was quite bitter. I served it to some people who are not particularly food adventurous, with predictable negative results. I will go back to my old tried and true recipe which really doesn’t take any more effort, just more time.

I love how simple the recipe is. However, it would have much easier if you peel the skin off the eggplant first. It becomes quite labor intensive to peel the skin off each ‘ring’
Good recipe nonetheless.

This recipe failed to produce an acceptable dish. Recipe is missing olive oil and was stiff and not smooth. Lemon juice is too much, making it too tart and tangy. Also, too many eggplant steps. Not simple or quick.

Delicious! I made the recipe exactly as written and it turned out ridiculously good. Thank you for sharing the recipe!