This Roasted Eggplant spread has a rich, smoky flavor from perfectly roasted eggplant, bell pepper, and onion. Creamy and vibrant, it’s silky smooth against a slice of crusty bread or fresh veggies, and seems to just wake up the entire table. It can definitely star on it’s own, but it’s also versatile enough to be paired with sandwiches, pasta, or grilled meats. This one brings serious flavor!
Eggplant can be tricky to work with, but luckily I am a sucker for roasted vegetables. Also, I am a sucker for dips and spreads. Good news for me? It’s pretty much impossible to mess up roasted eggplant (especially when you purée it after you roast it).
Ingredients Needed
- eggplant
- bell peppers
- red onion
- garlic
- extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- tomato paste or puréed oven-roasted tomatoes
How to Make Roasted Eggplant Spread
- Roast chopped eggplant, peppers, onion, and smashed garlic with olive oil, salt, and pepper until tender and golden.
- Let cool slightly, then pulse in a blender or food processor with tomato paste or roasted tomatoes to your preferred texture.
- Serve warm as a spread for bread or on a pita, or toss with pasta for a simple vegetarian meal.
Storage & Other Tips
- Roasting: be sure to roast your vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet for even caramelization.
- Pulsing: pulse just a few times in the blender or food processor. You want a spreadable texture with some body, not a completely smooth purée.
- Serving: Serve the dip warm with slices of baguette, sourdough bread, Rosemary Focaccia, Naan, pitas, pita chips, your finger, a spoon, whatever. This would also be an amazing, flavorful vegetarian sauce to toss hot pasta in for a light summer meal straight from your garden
- Refrigeration: Cool the spread to near room temperature, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. It keeps well for 3 – 4 days.
- Serving leftovers: Bring it back up to room temperature or warm it slightly, and give it a good stir before serving again; it will probably separate and thicken up in the fridge.
- Freezing: not sure on this one since we’ve never tried it, but in theory it should work. The texture will definitely shift a bit. If you try this, let us know how it goes! Thaw it in the fridge a day before you’d like to serve it.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a common technique when working with fresh eggplant. However, it’s not required in this recipe. Roasting caramelizes the eggplant and removes bitterness naturally.
Yes, it actually develops more flavor after resting in the fridge for a few hours. Just warm it slightly before serving.
I tested freezing this recipe and it worked great! The texture when serving again might change a bit, so stir it well before enjoying for the second time.
Roasted Eggplant Spread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant medium
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 red onion medium
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste or puréed oven-roasted tomatoes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside.
- Chop eggplant, peppers, and onion into 1″ cubes. Smash the garlic. Toss together the vegetables and then drizzle them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat the vegetables and then spread them over the prepared baking sheet.
- Place the pan in the oven and roast the vegetables for 20 minutes. Flip and stir the vegetables with a spatula and then roast for another 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and browning. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Place the roasted vegetables along with the tomato paste or roasted tomatoes into a blender or food processor and pulse until the desired consistency is reached.
- Serve warm with slices of sourdough bread, pita chips, flatbread, or Rosemary Focaccia. You can also toss this sauce with hot pasta for a light vegetarian meal.
Questions & Reviews
Do you suppose this would work with zucchini?
This was totally good — I have never tried roasting veggies before and the veggie chunks that I sneaked were also delicious! Thanks for this one!!
Why do I read this blog in the morning? I’m starving and now craving this delicious spread…
I found out about your blog through a friend and love it. Thanks for sharing so many great recipes! I made this Sunday night and it was awesome, it was great cold too the next day!
I printed off this recipe a week ago, and now just made it. It is so delicious. I can eat it just by the spoonfuls..I’m making pasta right now and my husband and I will enjoy it in a few minutes. I added triple the garlic…because there is never enough garlic.
So good I ate the whole thing at 3:00 this morning! Which brings up the only problem with this recipe. I thought it would make a nice big bowl full. So, how can it be that these ingredients… eggplant, onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, etc. puree to less than a cup?? Sob!
Opps! I peeled my eggplant and I see in your pictures that you left the peel on… it should still be ok!
🙂
I was glad for this recipe becuase I TOO had an eggplant in my Bountiful Basket that I had no idea what to do with. My husband and I enjoyed this on slices of asiago cheese bread. (Mine looked JUST like the picture. I was relieved it turned out, I don’t usually make this sort of thing.) Today I am going to toss the leftover with pasta! I hope it is just as good the day after!
Kate, I could just kiss you! What a great recipe.
OMG!!! I literally had some tomatoes and an eggplant sitting on my counter for a week. My in-laws always bring veggies from their garden, and I didn’t know how to cook eggplant! This was heavenly! It was actually our dinner tonight because we couldn’t stop eating it-my husband loved it! I didn’t have red onions, but I used 1 Anaheim chile to add some mild heat. The only thing I did different was set the oven to Broil. I broiled for 5 minutes and turned the veggies once and broiled for another 3 minutes. You really have to watch it. The veggies are done in no time, and you get that nice charred skin which adds so much flavor! Will make again and again!