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 3/4 cups (enough to serve 4 to 6 as an appetizer).
Recipe by Cookie and Kate on October 17, 2017
Prep time: PT20M
Cook time: PT35M
Total time: PT55M
Rating
4.9 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
Baba Ganoush
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.
Categories
Appetizer
Cuisine
Lebanese
Steps
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!
Nutitrion
Serving Size: Generous 1/4 cup
Calories: 248 calories
Carbohydrates: 11.9 g
Protein: 3.3 g
Fat: 22.8 g
Saturated Fat: 3.3 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 306.7 mg
Sugar: 5.6 g
Reviews
Kate Guild on 2026-02-01 (5 stars): My daughter in laws grandparents gave me 3 beautiful home grown eggplants, so I decided to make baba ganoush and I stumbled across this recipe while searching. OMG! It is so delicious! And so easy to make. I will be making it again for sure. Thank you for a great recipe!
Shilpa on 2026-02-21 (5 stars): Delicious, I used two large eggplants and increased each ingredient a little bit, left out the oil completely and loved this. After roasting the eggplant, the open faces had a slightly burned "skin" - I included that too and used a food processor to incorporate it all. Thanks for this recipe, will definitely be making it again.
Christine Andrijiszyn on 2026-02-26 (5 stars): Love it!
Chris Jacobson on 2026-03-11 (5 stars): Delicious!! I made pita bread to go with it as well!
Dorit Ben-Gal on 2026-04-08 (5 stars): I made the Epic Baba Ganoush and share with many people. Everyone loved it!!!
Jamie on 2026-04-12 (5 stars): Wow! So delicious and soooo easy! I will definitely be making this again!
Carrie on 2026-05-05 (5 stars): Love this. I roasted the eggplant in the airfryer so it was quicker. It tastes delicious. When I looked at my recipe file I discovered I already had the exact same recipe, I just need to make it more often.
Sally T on 2026-05-09 (5 stars): Your baba ganoush recipe is so simple and so delicious. I've made it many times and whoever eats it goes wild, it is so good.
I'm not a fan of tahini so I leave it out and it does not feel like anything is missing. Also, I roast a whole garlic at the same time the eggplant is roasting. I just cut off the top, add some olive oil and a little salt and pepper and wrap in foil and place it in an ovenproof little bowl. It is soft and yummy when it comes out of the oven and is easy to add to the eggplant.
I follow so many of your recipes, thank you Kate.
Karen on 2026-05-16 (5 stars): I made this for a small gathering. Rave reviews! I did salt the eggplant before roasting. I added smoked paprika with the cumin. To serve I put chili crisp in the middle. People were surprised I made it….and I will again! Better the next day and the day after.
William on 2026-06-06 (5 stars): Delicious! I took a shortcut and used a jarred aubergine (European/Middle Eastern name for eggplant) that I purchased from a Mediterranean market and this was still delicious! I can only imagine it would be even better using eggplant that you roast. However, the jarred eggplant was a real time/process saver. I also added a couple of drops of liquid smoke to enhance the smokiness.
