How To Make Creamy Baba Ganoush At Home

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.

What is Baba Ganoush?

Baba Ganoush video recipe

Ingredients for eggplant dip

How to make Baba Ganoush + Nico’s Tips

OPTION 2: Oven Baked

OPTION 3: Cook in the air fryer

Serving suggestions

Storage

Variations

Chickpea Eggplant Dip

Questions

More eggplant recipes

More dips and spreads

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.

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

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. 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. 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. 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

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. 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. 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.