Epic Baba Ganoush
This baba ganoush recipe is the best! It's easy to make, too (no food processor required). You'll need eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
“But why would I make baba ganoush if I could just eat hummus?” Mara asked when we set out to make the ultimate baba ganoush recipe. At that moment, I couldn’t help but shrug my shoulders.
Then we nailed the method and ingredients you see here, and neither of us could stop scooping up more. When you get it right, baba ganoush is irresistibly smooth and luxurious, smoky, and savory.
In its most basic form, baba ganoush is made with eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt. I found that adding a tiny bit of ground cumin, smoked paprika and fresh parsley takes it to the next level.
Baba ganoush is similar to hummus, but it calls for grilled or roasted eggplant instead of chickpeas. Both dips originated in the Eastern Mediterranean, and they’re often served together with pita bread and raw, crisp veggies. You can use baba ganoush like you would hummus—as a dip or spread. Ready to make some?!
How to Make the Best Baba Ganoush
There are a few considerations when it comes to baba ganoush. First up: do you grill the eggplant or roast it?
Roast your eggplant
I don’t have a grill, so I roasted my eggplant and it turned out great. So, you don’t need a grill for this baba ganoush!
To make up for the grilled flavor, I halved the eggplants and roasted them cut-side down for caramelized deliciousness. (Roasting them halved also means that your eggplant cooks faster, and you don’t risk an entire eggplant exploding inside your oven.) Using smoked paprika as a garnish adds some extra smokiness, too.
Roasting the eggplants until they’ve collapsed on themselves helps concentrate their flavor and ensure that your dip is silky-smooth. At that point, it’s easy to flip over the eggplant and scoop out the insides. Peeling the skin off eggplant is not my idea of a good time!
Extract moisture
The next consideration is how to extract as much moisture from the eggplant as possible. Fortunately, our roasting method has already helped eliminate a lot of it. Just let the eggplant rest in a strainer for a few minutes and stir it to release even more.
Stir it up
The next question—do you mix the dip by hand or whip it up in your food processor? I’m a big fan of my food processor, but it isn’t necessary for this recipe. Baba ganoush traditionally has some texture to it, and roasted eggplant readily falls apart when you stir it with a fork.
Add ample salt
My last tip is to salt the dip generously—eggplant is inherently bitter, and salt reduces that bitterness. This dip isn’t truly epic until it’s properly seasoned with salt. Can I call my own recipe epic? Oh hell, I’m doing it! This baba ganoush is epic.
Watch How to Make Baba Ganoush
What to Serve with Baba Ganoush
Basic baba ganoush is always vegan, gluten free and nut free. That makes baba ganoush a great party appetizer for guests who are following special diets—as long as your accompaniments fit the bill.
I like to serve my baba ganoush with sturdy raw veggies like carrot sticks, cucumber rounds and bell pepper sticks. Toasted pita wedges or pita chips are great, too.
For a full Mediterranean spread, serve this baba ganoush with herbed hummus or tahini sauce and fresh salads. I recommend Mediterranean bean salad, my favorite quinoa salad, or tabbouleh. Here are even more Mediterranean recipes!
Please let me know how this baba ganoush recipe turns out for you in the comments! I hope it’s your new favorite.
Epic Baba Ganoush
This baba ganoush recipe is the best! It’s easy to make, too (no food processor required). You’ll need eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and spices. Recipe yields about 1 ¾ cups (enough to serve 4 to 6 as an appetizer).
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Italian eggplants (about 2 small-to-medium eggplants*)
- 2 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, more if necessary
- ¼ cup tahini
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the eggplant and garnish
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish
- ¾ teaspoon salt, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- Pinch of smoked paprika, for garnish
- Serving suggestions: warmed or toasted pita wedges, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent the eggplant from sticking to the pan. Halve the eggplants lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil. Place them in the prepared pan with the halved sides down.
- Roast the eggplant until the interior is very tender throughout and the skin is collapsing, about 35 to 40 minutes (this might take longer if you are using 1 large eggplant). Set the eggplant aside to cool for a few minutes. Flip the eggplants over and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon, leaving the skin behind.
- Place a mesh strainer over a mixing bowl, then transfer the flesh to the strainer and discard the skins. Pick out any stray bits of eggplant skin and discard. You want to remove as much moisture from the eggplant here as possible, so let the eggplant rest for a few minutes and shake/stir the eggplant to release some more moisture.
- Discard all of the eggplant drippings, drain and wipe out the bowl, and dump the eggplant into the bowl. Add the garlic and lemon juice to the eggplant and stir vigorously with a fork until eggplant breaks down. Add the tahini to the bowl and stir until it’s incorporated. While stirring, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue stirring until the mixture is pale and creamy, and use your fork to break up any particularly long strings of eggplant.
- Stir in the parsley, salt and cumin. Season to taste with more salt (I usually add another ¼ teaspoon) and more lemon juice, if you’d like a more tart flavor.
- Transfer the baba ganoush to a serving bowl and lightly drizzle olive oil on top. Lastly, sprinkle parsley and smoked paprika on top. Serve with accompaniments of your choice. It’s also great on sandwiches!
Notes
Recipe roughly adapted from Serious Eats and Tori Avey.
*Eggplant selection: Large eggplants tend to contain more seeds, which can produce a bothersome texture. So, it’s better to use 2 small eggplants that weigh about 2 pounds total, rather than 1 large. Choose eggplants that are shiny and smooth (no mushy parts), and feel heavy for their size. Turn your eggplant into baba ganoush promptly, since overripe eggplant tastes more bitter.
Storage suggestions: Leftover baba ganoush can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 4 days (I think it’s best served fresh, but some say it tastes better after a day or two). I like to let my leftover baba ganoush warm to room temperature before serving, but others prefer it chilled, so I’ll leave this up to you.
For a lighter dip: You can reduce the olive oil to as little as 2 to 3 tablespoons. Your dip won’t be as rich and creamy, but it will still be very good!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I’ve made this recipe so many times now – another great recipe and well researched! My husband commented how authentic it tasted
I love this recipe! I made it for the second time today and it’s amazing!
I used just one glove of garlic because I had 1 medium/large eggplant and that was perfect.
Yum, yum, yum!
This is a great easy recipe. I had large eggplant but once roasted it was very easy to carefully scoop out the areas with a lot of seeds to discard them without taking out too much of the flesh you want to keep. I high recommend doing that if you don’t like a lot of seeds. I also added double if not more garlic because I love it.
Just made this recipe and it’s absolutely delightful! My wife and I have a particular love for Middle Eastern foods and this is so refreshing in the summer and makes use of the fresh eggplant in season at the local produce stands. We like it with fresh dill and sprinkles of sumac on top.
Intensely flavored and delicious! I like using the thin Japanese eggplant, which seem to have more of the interior that is usable, and fewer seeds.
THANK YOU! I made this – very very tasty – i had a ton of recipes to look at but this one was simple and made sense. I made it in a mixer instead of by hand – worked fine.
THANK YOU!
Rebecca
Amazing! So simple and delicious! Love love love it, thank you!
The absolute best baba ganoush I have ever tried! Definitely one of those things that are more than worth the effort of making from scratch. Thank you for the fantastic and easy to recreate recipe Kate!
I ran out of time and ended up storing the aubergine flesh in a sealed container in the fridge overnight before turning it into baba ganoush and it still worked beautifully. I doubled the garlic because I really enjoy that slightly stingy garlicky flavour and added a bit more parsley. Amazing! Please keep the fantastic recipes coming, I have yet to be disappointed by any of your recipes I have tried :).
I love hearing it’s the best! You’re very welcome. Thanks for sharing how you made it!
Grandma taught me to salt eggplant after cutting & let it sit to draw out moisture & bitterness. Then rinse & cook. I wonder if I could do the same with this recipe?
Hi Chandra! I find this recipe helps take care of that for you. Let me know what you think!
OMG this is so good!! So creamy with perfect flavor combos. I served it with carrot sticks and some naan I sliced into wedges and baked with zaatar. Delicious and filling.
That sounds perfect, Colleen! Thank you for sharing.
Great recipe! I used tahini with a hint of honey. With this recipe, it just goes. Had to stop myself eating the whole lot. Thanks, Kate!!
I just put the aubergine in the oven while I’m cooking something else, and often leave it in the oven as it cools down, I also roast the garlic cloves alongside the aubergine. I prefer this recipe – i’ve used a food processor before, but I prefer the texture of this.
Can you push through a food mill (similar to when canning tomato) to remove the seeds?
I personally haven’t tried it, but I assume you could try. Let me know how it works!
I Used a Food Mill and it was terrific. Nice consistent texture, I couldn’t stop eating it.
Intensely flavored and delicious! I like using the thin Japanese eggplant, which seem to have more of the interior that is usable, and fewer seeds.
This is fantastic, first time I’ve made it and it was delicious. I grew eggplant this year and could not wait to try the recipe. Thanks
So delicious. Thanks Kate, love all your recipes xx
Made this tonight and it was incredibly delicious. Thank you!
Hi–I find myself in a situation where I must severely limit sodium. I see that there is a relatively high sodium content in this….can you tell me what ingredients are affecting the sodium content. I’m hoping that it’s just the added salt. I can add salt substitutes that I fround from a company called flvor God, and it’s really a good substitute. Thanks.
We wanted a Middle Eastern spread for a family get-together and this recipe looked simple so I gave it a try. I followed the recipe almost exactly; the only thing I did differently was to add some sauteed minced onion, more garlic and a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper for a kick. I served it with cucumber,
orange and purple carrot, colored bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower and homemade buttery naan. It was absolutely delicious, everyone devoured it all and I had to hide some away for myself lol.
Super easy recipe and turns out delicious every time! A definite crowd pleaser.
This was delicious! Even my father who is an extremely picky eater thought so. Thank you for this recipe! I will definitely be making this again.
This is my favorite baba ganoush recipe so far. Even though the ingredients are similar to other recipes, the individual steps make it better. Draining the eggplant is something I haven’t run across yet, and in combo with using a fork in the separate steps made it more creamy.
Printed and saved, marked as excellent! Thank you.
That’s great! Thanks for sharing.
If this is as good as the hummus I made from your recipe, it won’t need stored.
Hi I made your recipe with eggplants from my garden and it turned out AMAZING!!! My hubby could now get enough . The recipe was perfect and so easy to follow.
This is a wonderful recipe. I am going the extra mile in the month of August to get as many veggies as possible into our meals. I have been reading about Baba Ganoush and different methods and felt this looked like one of the best. I only made a small recipe to try it and when I served it to my non-hummus eater husband he loved it. The smoked paprika is the secret but also it is easy to make. Next time I will make a large recipe.
I love your mission! This is a great month to get extra veggies with all the fresh produce. I’m happy you enjoyed this one, Marilyn. Thanks for sharing!
I made it this morning with fresh eggplant from my garden. Nobody has tried it but me. I’m anxious to see what everyone else thinks but I LOVE it!
That’s great! Thank you for sharing, Wanda.
I have just made your Epic Baba Ganoush and it is indeed epic. I really love it.
Thank you for commenting! I’m happy you loved it, Vibeke.
Great recipe! A tip I learned from a Lebanese friend: before adding the tahini with the mixture, make it into a sauce by adding the lemon juice and stir. It will thicken, not unlike peanut butter. Now add tiny bits of water (and, if you want, the garlic, chili, salt, herbs, etc), until you have a runny sauce with the consistency you like. Now add this mixture to your eggplant and mix.
She uses this method also when she makes hummus.
Love this recipe! I used half the garlic and more lemon (including some of the pulp) out of personal preference. I was out of paprika so I sprinkled a dash of chipotle chili pepper on top. Yum!
Excellent! Eggplants are in season now at our farmer’s market here in CA, and baba ganoush hit the spot! Didn’t have parsley, so omitted it, and still very delicious. Paprika garnish is a must!
Absolutely epic. Made this for the first time last night – my friends and I absolutely loved it! Will double up the recipe next time! Thank you for sharing
Get more eggplant than you think you’ll need as the end product was a lot less than I was expecting. But other than that, it was delicious. Added a little cilantro, which worked well.
This is absolutely amazing and I am addicted. I make it without any oil and it is pretty spectacular. Thank you for creating such deliciousness!
I just made this as I had “extra” eggplants around and was looking for a fun new way to use them. Amazing!!!!
The only problem I have with this recipe is that I tried to batch cook it for the week (I used 3 eggplants) and ended up having almost none left! :) Super yum.
Truly Epic baba ganouj. I had a gazillion ichyban eggplants that have grown to huge sizes and have always wanted to make baba ganouj. I had pita and hummus left over in the freezer from our last in-restaurant meal at our favorite Middle Eastern place. Thought finding the tahini would be a show stopper, but amazingly Walmart in our little town had some Israeli tahini. This recipe is delicious and so easy to make. I used my immersion blender and it came out even Better than at the restaurant! Thanks!
Simple to make and delicious!
So it was my first time making baba ganosh and i think i started it off by using 2 big eggplants. My eggplants burned and i just used the unburned part. It takes good and a little tangy. My husband and I ate it with chips. I dont know if the tangy/bitter taste is normal or if its becasue my eggplant cooked for too long… I will try agian with smaller eggplants.
Yes, I made it, and yes – it is epic. Even my youngest (at 21) who does not like baba ganoush raved about it. So, just make it. You will not be sorry. I actually cut my eggplants in half, cross hatched the flesh, brushed them with olive oil all over, sprinkled them with salt and threw them on the grill until they were soft. It was divine.
Great recipe, I made numerous times. I like adding a bit of roasted red pepper flesh (10 minutes less than for the eggplants).
Definitely better a night later.
I am now smoking my halved eggplants, peppers and garlic. Boom
This was sooo good! My wife said it was one of the best things I’ve ever made, I’ll definitely make this again!
This is the first time I have made babaganoush. And also the first time I’ve tried a Cookie and Kate recipe. 1. Super easy. 2. Yes, definitely epic. 3. Absolutely delicious. Thank-you, Kate for this lovely recipe.
Holy baba ganoush! Made with 2 largish eggplants and pureed the eggplant after draining which took care of those ‘bothersome’ seeds. Delish!
You can also put some cuts in the eggplant and add salt to allow the moisture to leave the eggplant before you roast it.
I had never tried Baba Ganoush before, but we had to do something with our surplus of eggplant. Found this recipe and made a batch, and it was wonderful! Making another batch tonight. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you loved it.
Just made this and it is the best ever. One tidbit, I had just made roasted garlic so that is what I used. Kicked it up another notch for my taste.
Made Baba Ganoush yesterday, for the first time. Shared with my friends and it was a hit, even with the ones skeptical about eggplant. I’ve already been asked to share the recipe. I added just a touch of cayenne pepper. Thanks for the “Epic” recipe!
That’s fantastic! Thank you for sharing, Lisa. I appreciate you taking the time to review.
My husband made this for me and I ate it all by the spoonfuls. He didn’t get any. Now we just automatically just double the recipe. My observations: I don’t put all the oil- maybe half and I don’t miss it. I don’t add the parsley. It brightens the flavor but when I don’t have it I don’t miss it. This is sooooo good and worth making.
So simple yet so delicious, took this to a get together and it was a huge hit! I made it the day before to allow the flavours to come together and used cumin as suggested. This is without a doubt a 5 out of 5 recipe.
This is indeed epic. I grilled the eggplant over a really hot flame until it was crispy outside. I omitted the olive oil (tahini is enough oil for silkiness in my opinion) and subbed a dollop of greek yogurt. Also, I microwaved the garlic cloves in their skin to remove its sharpness. I served it last night at a dinner party. FABULOUS. As good as the Persian grocery I usually get it at. I’m SO GLAD I made extra.
Looked out of my office window yesterday at the new Lebanese restaurant that’s opened. Now, having many Lebanese friends and a daughter who speaks fluent Arabic and who lived in Morocco for a year, I’m familiar with the delightful delicacies of these cultures and love them. But I also had 3 aubergines (we call them brinjals) at home, so I went home, found this recipe on pinterest and made my own… AWESOMENESS! Thank you! Can’t attach the photo, sadly!
I just finished making your recipe for Baba ganoush… it is EPIC! My husband said it was “delicious” when he sampled it. Put a smile on my face for sure. I did use the food processor for 2/3 of the mixture Including all other ingredients. I chopped the remaining 1/3 and added it by hand. I also took your advice and added the cumin and paprika. Soooo yum!
Yay. This really is epic. Excellent recipe I have made many times. Everyone loves its creamy texture. Adding the sluced ske
This is a fabulous recipe! And so easy! Can it be frozen?
Hi Maxine, I haven’t tried it. I believe some others have and didn’t mind the results. Let me know if you try it!
Thank you for an easy to follow recipe! I’m missing my mother-in-law’s baba ganoush. I grilled my eggplant and garlic cloves which really intensified the smokey flavor, YUM. Next time I’m going to take Terri F.’s suggestion and try using Japanese eggplants. EASY and DELICIOUS recipe.