Roasted Eggplant Dip (No Tahini!)

Roasted eggplant dip, otherwise known as baba ganoush, has been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. This roasted eggplant requires no tahini, but it's a blend of creamy, smokey, deliciousness. What's not to love?

Jump to:

• Baking Time
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Tips and Tricks
• What to Serve With Roasted Eggplant Dip
• If You Like This, Try...
• Roasted Eggplant Dip (No Tahini!)
• 💬 Comments

Baking Time

• You will need to roast the eggplant for approximately 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
• Your eggplant will be done once it has shrivelled up, and is almost mushy to touch.
• To speed up the baking process, be sure to poke holes in the eggplant, allowing more heat to get in.
• Oiling the eggplant is optional. To keep it lower in fat, feel free to skip this step.

Ingredients

• Eggplant: I used a regular eggplant for this baba ganoush. I would shy away from other varieties, such as Japanese eggplants, or smaller Indian eggplants, for example, as the flavour and texture are different, and will yield a different result.
• Mayonnaise: As there are few ingredients in this baba ganoush, you will want to use your favourite mayonnaise (I use Hellmanns). If you are looking to lighten this up, you can use reduced-fat mayonnaise as well, which will still yield a creamy dip with a few less calories. I would stay away from substitutions like Miracle Whip, as the flavour (in my opinion) is different from mayonnaise.
• Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt is not traditional in Israeli or even traditional mediterranean or middle-eastern baba ganoush. It adds a great tang, and lightens up, otherwise heavy mayonnaise. You can use full fat, or no fat greek yogurt, again, depending on if you are looking for something on the healthier side. I used Oikos Triple Zero - which is a fat free yogurt, and found the results were perfect.
• Lemon Juice and Zest: You will need the zest of a whole lemon, and the juice of half. I hiiighly suggest using fresh lemons, just for the fact that the zest has a really nice subtle citrus flavour that is is not overwhelmingly tangy. Pro-Tip: Zest before you juice the lemon! It is insanely hard to zest a lemon that has been cut in half, and squeezed - 0/10 do not recommend.
• Garlic: One clove of raw garlic, in an uncooked dish, is all you need. After much experimentation, this is the golden amount of garlic that gives a good garlicky flavour without punching you in the face. If you are not a fan of garlic, you can reduce this to half a clove, but I encourage you to try it with one.

Instructions

1. Roast the Eggplant: The only cooking that you need to do, is roasting the eggplant. The way I roast my eggplant is to rub it with olive oil, and pierce holes in the eggplant with a fork, all around. In an oven preheated to 375 degrees, you will want to roast the eggplant on a sheet pan for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until it is essentially, shrivelled up and mushy (no better way to describe it, truthfully!)
2. Scoop Out Eggplant: I cannot stress this enough - let the eggplant cool before you venture into scooping out the meat! Now the number one question a lot of people have about eggplant is: can you eat eggplant skin? The answer is yes, you can. I will say, however, that this dip comes out much better if you toss the skin, and use the meat (and seeds) from inside. Using a spoon, scoop out the meat from the eggplant skin. Put this meat either in food processor, or in a blending container from an immersion blender.
3. Blend the Ingredients Together: The hard part is over! All that's left is adding the remaining ingredients to your food processor or immersion blender container, and blending everything together. You can make this as smooth or "chunky" as you prefer. I like a good balance between the two - enough to know there is still eggplant in there.

Substitutions

• For an extra creamy eggplant baba ganoush dip, you can substitute sour cream for the greek yogurt.
• If you have an aversion to raw garlic and find it too powerful, use garlic powder for a more mellow taste.
• If you do not have fresh lemon, bottled lemon juice will work. I would use approximately a tablespoon.
• Although this roasted eggplant dip has no tahini, you can add some if you would like a little bit of nuttiness

Tips and Tricks

• Season the eggplant dip heavily, with salt. Eggplant is quite bland, and using the right amount of salt will wake up all of the flavours in the dip
• Top with olive oil to give to make this extra mediterranean
• If you have a gas burner or a barbecue, you can also char and cook the eggplant over the flame for an even smokier flavour

What to Serve With Roasted Eggplant Dip

• Grilled naan or pita bread
• Assorted vegetables (I like cucumber, grape tomatoes, and carrots)
• Literally anything, really!

If You Like This, Try...

• Grilled Halloumi and Zucchini Salad
• Baked Shrimp with Feta
• Greek-Inspired Barley Salad

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