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
Yes! You can leave the skin on before roasting if you don’t mind the texture; it adds color and nutrients too!
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.
We have personally never tried it so we can’t guarantee results. However, in theory it should work. 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
I am so excited to try this! Looks fantastic!
I have an eggplant in my fridge that needs to be used. I was just thinking this morning that I needed to find a way to cook it. Thanks.
i LOVE this! Love the taste of roasted veggies 🙂 and I love hummus like foods..so I know this would = heaven!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I really don’t like eggplant but this has so many other flavors in it that I like so when I do come home with an eggplant from my bountiful basket I am so doing this!
I am totally going to make this for FHE tonight!!!
I do this and add it to my pasta sauce!
So far the only way I’ve really liked eggplant is breaded & baked, but I could eat an entire tray worth of that!! Too bad it doesn’t re-heat very well or else I would have some very healthy lunches. I’ll have to give this one a try!
Could I swap out the eggplant for zucchini? I have tried and tried and just can’t do eggplant, but I love zucchini!
Loving your blog. I made an entire week’s worth of recipes from your blog and they were a huge hit with my family (especially the husband–he thanks you too!). Now onto a new week of recipes that I am fully confident will NOT disappoint! Oh, and by the way, one of them included WW points and that was the BOMB! Thanks 🙂
this looks so good!