The summer always yields eggplant and zucchini overload from the garden. That's what makes this Italian Stuffed Eggplants recipe so popular. Stuffed eggplants taste great, are healthy and so easy to make.
Nothing goes to waste in this stuffed eggplants recipe. Use the eggplant to make eggplant shells, bread crumbs and eggplant pulp and ground beef or ground veal and freshly grated parmesan cheese. You can also top these with fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
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Do You Boil Eggplant to Make Stuffed Eggplants?
Well I do. Although many people don't. Theoretically, eggplant are a vegetable that absorb liquid. So it wouldn't make sense to par boil them prior to stuffing them. But, that's how my momma makes them and so you need to trust the process.
The reason for boiling them isn't to cook them. Par boil the eggplant shells for 1 to 2 minutes, just to soften it up. Also par boil the eggplant pulp for 2 minutes just to soften it up. Boil in salted water and after you remove the shells, lay them upside down on a baking sheet. For the eggplant pulp drain them in a colander and once cold enough squeeze the excess water out.
You can then mix the eggplant pulp with your regular meat mixture and stuff the eggplant shells.
What Can you Stuff Eggplants With?
Usually eggplants are stuffed with ground beef. Although I prefer to use ground veal. You don't need to use beef, you can use pork, chicken or any other type of ground meat.
You can also make them vegetarian or vegan and skip the meat altogether or use ground tofu.
Use your fresh zucchini and eggplant to make other dishes like:
- Eggplant Parmesan
- Air Fried Eggplant Slices
- Zucchini Fries
- Zucchini Patties
- Eggplant and Zucchini Sauté
- Other Eggplant and Zucchini Dishes
Anything eggplant and zucchini always tastes so delicious and you know it's going to be healthy!
Making eggplant and zucchini dishes doesn't need to be limited to the summer months though. Eggplant and zucchini are widely available at your local market which makes eggplant or zucchini dishes an option at any time of the year.
These stuffed eggplants recipe go great with a side salad like a Mediterranean Tomato Salad, a Pear, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Salad, or a Spinach Salad with a Strawberry Vinaigrette.
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Ingredients Needed to make Easy Stuffed Eggplant Recipe
Ingredients Needed to make Easy Stuffed Eggplant Recipe
- Olive Oil
- Eggplants
- Bread Crumbs
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Salt and Ground Black Pepper
- Tomato Sauce
- Ground Beef
- Milk
- Egg
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions on How to make Stuffed Eggplants Recipe
Have your sauce ready or see the recipe card on how to make homemade tomato sauce either with tomatoes from a can or fresh garden tomatoes.
In a large saucepan, boil 2 litres of water with 1 teaspoon of salt. Prepare eggplant by cutting in half and then cutting around the edge. Pry out the insides with your hand or a spoon being careful not to rip the skin.
Set the shells in one pile and chop the pulp up into small cubes and place in a bowl.Once the water has come to a boil, place the shells in the pot and boil for 1 minutes, remove and set aside. Boil the cubed eggplant pulp for 1 minute, drain and let cool in the colander. Once cool, squeeze to remove any excess water.
Soak breadcrumbs in milk for 5 minutes. Mix with ground beef, egg, grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and egg. If using seasoned breadcrumbs omit adding salt and pepper. Set aside as you will also be adding the cubed eggplant to this mixture. Add the pulp to the eggplant stuffing and mix.
Prepare a roasting pan large enough to hold the eggplant and by layering sauce and 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom. Stuff the shells with the mixture and place in the roasting pan. Make meatballs with any leftover stuffing. Top with the tomato sauce and some more grated parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and place in the oven for approximately 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let site for 10 minutes before serving as stuffing will be hot.
Hint: The boiled diced eggplant will retain a lot of water which will make it difficult for the stuffing to bind. Once you have par boiled the diced eggplant, drain it and let it cool down before you pick them up to squeeze excess water out of them. Be careful not to burn yourself.
Substitutions and Variations
You can make these stuffed eggplants a few different ways. Instead of boiling the eggplant shells, half your eggplant and then drizzle a mixture of olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Score the top and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Then scoop or make a shell around the inside adjacent to the peel. Then fill with your preferred stuffing.
- Gluten Free - make it gluten free by substituting the breadcrumbs with either gluten free breadcrumbs or potato flakes.
- Paleo - make it paleo by using potato flakes and eliminating the cheese.
- Chili - bring the heat on by adding some hot red paper flakes or tobasco sauce.
- Vegetarian - make it vegetarian by eliminating the meat
- Vegan - eliminate the egg and use an egg substitute, add beans or ground tofu.
If you know how to make this recipe unique or suit your diet - go for it! Let me know what you did and how it turned out by leaving me a comment. I'd love to hear from you.
Equipment
I used a Large Baking Pan that was approximately 18 inches by 12 inches. A colander will come in handy to drain the diced eggplant. You'll need a large pot to prepare the eggplant shells and a frypan will come in handy to make tomato sauce. Tongs and a spatula will come in handy as well.
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Get this Free Meal Planner Journal template that you can print or import in to Goodnotes or Noteability.
Storage
If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container with some leftover sauce. Store in the refrigerator for not longer than 5 to 6 days. Reheat in the microwave for 3 minutes at 70%.
You can also freeze these stuffed eggplants for not longer than a month. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat up as you would normally.
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
For Canadian Guidelines check Government of Canada's Food and Safety Guidelines for further information and resources.
Top tip
Technically there are three parts to this recipe. You can cut down on the prep time by buying pre-made sauce.
If making your own sauce, do that first. Then make your meat mixture (stuffing), and then prepare your eggplant shells adding the eggplant pulp to your stuffing at the end before you stuff the eggplant.
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Recipe Details
Italian Stuffed Eggplant
Ingredients
Homemade Sauce:
- 500 ml Tomato Pulp
- 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 3 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
- 1 clove of garlic
- Salt and Ground Pepper to taste
- Fresh Basil
- Dried Oregano
Eggplant and Stuffing
- 40 ounces of Eggplant 4 medium sized eggplants
- ¾ cup of Bread Crumbs
- ½ cup of milk
- ½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- ½ teaspoon of Salt omit if you are using seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 lb of Ground Beef
- 1 egg
Instructions
Sauce (omit if you using store bought)
- Puree 3 to 4 medium sized tomatoes or use canned tomato puree. Fry garlic in a saucepan with olive oil until fragrant and add the tomato, salt and pepper to taste. Add tomato paste and herbs, stir. Bring to boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Set aside.
Eggplant Stuffing
- Soak breadcrumbs in milk for 5 minutes. Mix with ground beef, egg, grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and egg. If using seasoned breadcrumbs omit adding salt and pepper.
- Set aside as you will also be adding the cubed eggplant to this mixture.
Preparing Eggplant Shells and Pulp
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large saucepan, boil 2 litres of water with 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Prepare eggplant by cutting in half and then cutting around the edge. Pry out the insides with your hand or a spoon being careful not to rip the skin.
- Set the shells in one pile and chop the pulp up into small cubes and place in a bowl.
- Once the water has come to a boil, place the shells in the pot and boil for 1 minute, remove and set aside.
- Boil the cubed eggplant pulp for 1 minute, drain and let cool in the colander. Once cool, squeeze to remove any excess water.
- Add the pulp to the eggplant stuffing and mix.
- Prepare a roasting pan large enough to hold the eggplant and by layering sauce and 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom.
- Stuff the shells with the mixture and place in the roasting pan.
- Make meatballs with any leftover stuffing.
- Top with the tomato sauce and some more grated parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil and place in the oven for approximately 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let site for 10 minutes before serving as stuffing will be hot.
AmyG says
This is a great recipe to try!