Baba Ganoush Recipe

Baba ganoush is a gorgeous Middle Eastern eggplant dip that is easy to make at home with a food processor, roasted eggplant, and a few simple ingredients.

It has a lovely smooth, creamy, and velvety texture with a lush mouthfeel. Its captivating flavor has smokey, nutty, citrusy, and garlicky undertones.

Enjoy baba ganoush as a dip or spread with warm pita bread, falafel, hummus, or fresh veggies.

Did you know that Baba Ganoush means “spoiled old daddy“?

History narrates that it was first made by a man who mashed some charred eggplant pulp into a puree to feed its toothless dad.

I don’t know if this story is true, but what’s certain is that Baba Ganoush’s velvety texture and smoky, nutty flavor make it a mouthwatering dish.

Serve it as a starter on a meze platter with other Middle Eastern small plates, such as hummus, falafel, tahini sauce, sumac onions, tabouli salad, shirazi salad, and warm pita bread.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Eggplant

Use Italian eggplant or globe eggplant (aubergine in the UK), which has a dark purple peel.

Tahini

We recommend tahini made from 100% hulled sesame seeds with a light beige, pale sandy color and a smooth, pourable consistency.

Avoid dark sesame pastes, as they can be bitter.

Lemon

We recommend fresh lemon juice.

Garlic

A small clove is enough. Garlic should not be the dominant flavor in Baba Ganoush.

Salt and Pepper

Sea salt and kosher salt are both excellent options. Black pepper is optional.

Toppings (pick one or more)

• Fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley: substitute mint or coriander.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Pine nuts: substitute Dukkah, an Eastern Mediterranean nuts and spice mix.
• Pomegranate seeds
• Smoked paprika
• Ground cumin

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

1. Cook the eggplant

There are several ways to cook eggplants; here, we’ll show you the most common ones.

Remember that the smokey flavor is only achievable if you char the eggplant on an open flame or barbeque.

OPTION 1: Open flame or grill

Important: cooking on an open flame can be dangerous, so be cautious. If you don’t feel comfortable with this step, use the oven-roasted method below.

Your kitchen is going to get smokey, so open windows and ensure there’s enough ventilation. Also, your stovetop will get messy as the juices from the eggplant will come out. But flavorwise, this method is unbeatable!

Pierce the eggplant with a fork, then place it on an open flame or a hot grill – we use our gas stove – and cook it until very soft and completely charred on all sides.

Turn eggplant often with metal tongues. Use a kitchen glove to prevent burns.

Let the charred eggplant cool down for a few minutes, then remove all charred skin by scraping it off with a paring knife. Add flesh to a food processor.

Discard the stem and the skin.

Preheat the oven to 430°F or 220°C.

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, score their flesh with a knife, and season it with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a twist of black pepper.

Arrange the eggplants cut side down on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake them for 40 to 50 minutes, until very tender.

Let them cool down for 10 minutes, then scoop the flesh out with a spoon, and transfer it to a food processor.

Discard the stem and the skin.

Tip: roasting the eggplant cut in half, as opposed to roasting the whole eggplant, allows for the extra moisture to evaporate, and you won’t have to drain the excess liquid in a colander. Also, cut this way; the flesh is easier to scoop out.

Cut eggplants in half, score their flesh with a knife, season with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and arrange them cut side down in an air fryer basket.

Cook them at 400°F or 200°C for about 20 minutes or until fork-tender.

Scoop the flesh out with a spoon and add it to a food processor.

Note: This method is the easiest, but it won’t give you a smokey flavor. You can add some liquid smoke or smoked paprika or combine one air-fried eggplant with one gas stovetop eggplant.

2. Blend until smooth

To the food processor with the eggplant pulp, add tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and salt.

Pulse a few times until you reach your desired consistency.

The texture depends on your preference, ranging from slightly chunky to completely smooth.

Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice before serving.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl or plate and spread it with a spoon.

You can garnish with finely chopped parsley, mint, extra virgin olive oil, smoked paprika, pine nuts, dukkha, and pomegranate seeds.

Serve Baba Ganoush as a spread or dip. Try it with pita bread, chips, or crackers, in a wrap or sandwich, or with raw vegetable sticks such as red peppers, carrot sticks, or cherry tomatoes and cucumber discs.

You can also serve it as part of a mezze platter with other small Middle Eastern dishes.

Make a Middle Eastern feast

We have plenty of Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean recipes you can serve Baba Ganoush with:

• Homemade pita bread
• Hummus
• Falafel
• Tabouli salad
• Shirazi salad
• Muhammara
• Zaalouk
• Fattoush
• Fatteh
• Tahini sauce
• Sumac onions

You can pick one or more of these dishes, arrange them on a large platter with olives, feta cheese, grilled halloumi, and lemon wedges, and make an excellent mezze (appetizer) platter.

Upgrade your grain bowls

Add a dollop of baba ganoush to one of our grain bowls for a beautiful meal with a creamy and smokey twist. Try it with:

• Mediterranean Bowl
• Buddha Bowl
• Barley salad
• Mediterranean farro salad
• Italian rice salad
• Quinoa salad
• Crunchy couscous salad
• Chickpea salad
• Pasta salad

Make ahead: Baba Ganoush is an excellent recipe for meal prep. The flavors get better if the ingredients sit together for a while. We recommend making it a few hours and up to a day before serving it.

Refrigerator: Store the leftovers in an airtight container or covered with foil in the fridge for two to three days. Stir in fresh lemon juice and drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Freezer: We don’t recommend freezing this recipe.

Mutabal

Mutabal is a delicious Levantine eggplant and yogurt dip similar to baba ganoush, but the yogurt gives it a richer and creamier texture.

Here’s our mutabal recipe.

Chipotle Eggplant Dip

If you love stronger, smokey, and spicy flavors, you will love this variation of baba ganoush with hot chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

We had some chipotle peppers left over from our chipotle sauce, and we thought, why not try them in baba ganoush?

You’ll need one to three chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, depending on your spice tolerance.

Add them to the blender with the rest of the ingredients and pulse until creamy.

This variation is as simple as blending a 15-ounce can of chickpeas with the other ingredients.

Simple, nutritious, and, most importantly, really tasty!

Melitzanosalata (Greek eggplant dip)

Melitzanosalata is a Greek eggplant dip with many similarities to the original baba ganoush recipe.

We do this when we run out of tahini or don’t want to use our food processor.

To make it, roast the eggplants, scoop out the flesh with a spoon, and add it to a bowl.

Next, add:

• 1/4 finely chopped red onion
• 4 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
• 1 finely chopped garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper (or red pepper flakes)
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (or red wine vinegar)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Mash with a fork to reduce the eggplant flesh into smaller pieces, stir, then let it rest in the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving.

It should resemble a mix between a dip and a Mediterranean eggplant salad.

Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, mint, onion, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with olives, on pita, flatbread, or other warm bread.