Eggplant Soup

Our eggplant soup is a light, healthy, and tasty dish that is easy to make with a few simple, fresh ingredients.

We roast eggplant, garlic, and cherry tomatoes in the oven for a slightly sweet, caramelized, and smoky flavor, but you can also make this recipe in one pot on the stovetop in 30 minutes.

Eggplant

Use globe eggplant for this recipe. They are the dark-purple, big eggplants you can find in most supermarkets. They are meaty and have plenty of flesh to turn into soup.

Tomatoes

Go for small tomatoes like cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, or date tomatoes. They roast quickly in the oven and are sweeter, adding a nice caramelized flavor to the soup.

Garlic & Onion

Use them to add flavor to the eggplant soup. We roast the garlic to make it mellow and sweet. We fry the onion in a bit of oil to build a flavor base for the soup.

Olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is best. It has a richer, fruitier flavor and a better nutritional profile than other vegetable oils.

Thyme

You can use fresh thyme or dry thyme. Good alternatives to thyme are oregano, parsley, basil, and mint.

Vegetable Broth

Vegetable broth adds flavor to the eggplant. We tried making the soup with water, but it turned out a little bland.

Salt and Pepper

Eggplant soup needs salt (sea salt or kosher salt) and black pepper to taste good.

Cannellini beans (Optional)

Cannellini beans are optional, and we only recommend adding them if you like a thicker, creamier soup you want to eat as a main meal. They are great in soups, especially in this one, because they have a thin peel and blend well. Their flavor is nutty, buttery, and not overpowering, allowing the roasted eggplant to shine.

Step 1: Roast the veggies.

Preheat the oven to 430°F or 220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash and dry the eggplant, cut it in half lengthwise, and score its flesh with the tip of a sharp knife. Season the flesh with salt, pepper, thyme, and olive oil, then place it on the baking tray cut side down.

Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes, arrange them on the baking tray, and season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Crush and peel the garlic, and add to the tray.

Roast the vegetables for 40 minutes until the eggplant is fully cooked inside and slightly charred on the outside. The garlic should be soft, and the tomatoes brown and caramelized. The roasted veggies will pack the soup with flavor.

Step 2: Make the soup.

In a large pot or dutch oven, fry the chopped onion and red pepper flakes with olive oil for 1 minute.

Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant from its peel and add it to the dutch oven. Add the roasted tomatoes with their juices and the garlic, and fry with the onion for 3 minutes.

Note: we prefer to make eggplant soup without eggplant peel because the peel makes the soup less smooth and of a less appealing color. However, the peel is edible, so feel free to add it if you don't want to waste it.

Add the vegetable broth (and optionally drained and rinsed cannellini beans), bring to a boil on medium-high heat, then turn the heat down to medium to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat off, then with an immersion blender, blend the soup until you reach your desired texture. You can go from a puree consistency to a silky smooth soup based on your preference.

Taste and adjust for salt, pepper, and thyme before serving it.

Tip: add more vegetable stock if you'd like a thinner soup. Simmer a few more minutes if you'd like a thicker soup.

As an appetizer

Portion eggplant soup into bowls and garnish with fresh basil or thyme and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Served like this is perfect as an appetizer or as a side dish.

You can combine it with our other easy vegan appetizers or vegetable side dishes.

As a main dish

To make it a complete meal, serve it with crunchy croutons; you can make oven-baked croutons or air fryer croutons.

As an alternative, serve it with our homemade crostini on the side. You can top your crostini with different vegetables, like sautéed zucchini, avocado spread, roasted bell peppers, braised artichokes with artichoke pesto, olive tapenade, and much more. Check out the "variations" chapter in our crostini blog post.

Served this way, eggplant soup has become one of our favorite dinners because it is healthy, varied, and super tasty.

Crispy roasted chickpeas are also great on top of this eggplant soup recipe. Like bread croutons, you can make oven-roasted chickpeas or crunchy air-fried chickpeas.

You can season the chickpeas with your favorite spices as we did here with smokey chipotle powder. Other seasonings that go well with eggplant soup are curry powder, paprika, and garlic powder. Finally, you can add a squeeze of lemon juice on top of the chickpeas if you like.

To add even more protein to the soup, add cubes of pan-fried tofu or air-fried tofu on top.

One-pot eggplant soup

Don't want to turn on the oven? No problem. Make this soup in one pot, with the same ingredients, in a fraction of the time. The only downside is you won't get the same caramelized smokey roasting flavors.

Step 1: peel the eggplant and cut it into 1-inch dice.

Step 2: fry chopped garlic and onion with oil, in a dutch oven, for one minute. Add halved cherry tomatoes and sear on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir often.

Step 3: add diced eggplants and cook with the tomatoes for 5 minutes, stirring often. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Add vegetable broth (and optionally cannellini beans) and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is cooked.

Step 4: Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste and adjust for salt and herbs before serving.

Air-fried eggplant cooks in half the time as oven-roasted eggplant, and it looks and tastes the same (if not better). By using an air fryer, you can save more than 20 minutes.

Step 1: preheat the air-fryer at 400°F or 200°C for 3 minutes. In the meantime, wash and dry the eggplant, cut it in half lengthwise, and score its flesh with the tip of a sharp knife. Season the eggplant with salt, pepper, and olive oil, also inside the cuts.

Step 2: air-fry the eggplant cut side up for 15 minutes. Then turn it around, and air-fry for 5 more minutes.

Step 3: in the meantime, fry chopped onion and chopped garlic with olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven for a couple of minutes. Add halved cherry tomatoes to the pot, add a pinch of salt, and scorch them on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until soft.

Step 4: when the eggplant is ready, scoop out the flesh from the peel and add it to the pot with the tomatoes.

Step 5: Add the vegetable broth and thyme, and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste and adjust for salt and herbs before serving.

If you like this eggplant soup, you'll love our other vibrant and veggie-packed soups:

• Zucchini soup with potato
• Lentil soup with leafy greens
• Butternut squash soup served with seeds and chili flakes
• Tofu soup with seasonal veggies and noodles
• Tuscan bean soup with kale and sourdough bread

Or check out our lentil curry and tofu curry for more heartwarming dinner ideas.

We're big fans of eggplant, it's a versatile and tender vegetable to cook with. If you're hungry for more eggplant ideas, here are some of our family favorites:

• Roasted eggplant
• Eggplant pizza
• Sicilian caponata
• Creamy eggplant dip
• Eggplant pasta
• Grilled eggplant

Or see our 35 best eggplant recipes for more ideas for your next meal.