A simple and forgiving Spanish dinner, this stuffed eggplant recipe (berenjenas rellenas) is easy and delicious. It makes the perfect mid-week meal!
Serve this mouthwatering stuffed eggplant with my mother-in-law Antonia's other signature recipes, such as salmorejo and arroz con leche.
Jump to:
Introduction
Spanish stuffed eggplant (berenjenas rellenas) are a staple in my mother-in-law's kitchen. If we stay with her for more than a few days, it is almost guaranteed we will have stuffed eggplant at least once!
Antonia could make her signature recipes (including salmorejo, arroz con leche, and ham croquettes) in her sleep, and I’m grateful that she taught me most of her best dishes.
For some reason, though, I missed learning berenjenas rellenas, so when she visited us recently, I wanted to watch her make it!
Antonia didn't understand why I had to take so many pictures of the process, but I paid close attention, and hopefully this recipe will impress you as much as it has impressed me over the past few years!
Ingredients
Wondering what ingredients you need to make your own stuffed eggplant? Grab these things, and you'll be ready to start cooking!
- Ground Meat: My mother-in-law uses a combination of minced pork and beef, but you can use either, or substitute ground lamb. You can also use a vegetarian/vegan meat alternative if you'd like.
- Bell Pepper: We traditionally use green bell pepper, but try what you have on hand. Sometimes, I add a fresh minced jalapeño pepper also for a kick of heat.
- Tomato Sauce: In Spain, we use a good tomate frito, but you can also use cooked tomato sauce or passata.
- Cheese: This is optional, as the dish would be delicious without, but it's a must in our house! I like to use shredded mozzarella.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Dairy Free: Omit the cheese or use a dairy-free alternative.
- Vegetarian/Vegan: Replace the ground meat with a mixture of finely minced carrots and mushrooms, lentils, and ground walnuts. It's a really good base for chili recipes too!
How to Make
If you’d like to see the full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Wash the eggplants, then split them in half lengthwise.
- Make crisscross cuts through the flesh, being careful not to pierce through the skin.
- Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil.
- Sprinkle to taste with sea salt and pepper.
- Bake for about an hour, until the flesh is tender and easy to scoop out.
- Tent the eggplants with foil and let them rest for 15 minutes before scooping out their flesh.
- Prep the veggies for the relleno (filling). Finely chop an onion.
- Mince the garlic.
- Finely dice a bell pepper also, and add other veggies like carrots, zucchini, or mushrooms if desired.
- Sauté the veggies in olive oil until they start to brown, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the eggplant flesh.
- Dump in the ground meat and sauté until it's fully cooked.
- Season with salt and pepper and take the pan off of the heat. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes.
- In the meantime, spread tomato sauce in the empty eggplant skins.
- Stuff the shells with the filling.
- Top with shredded mozzarella.
- Bake under the broiler (top grill) until just browned.
- Let the eggplants rest for about 10 minutes before eating. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
So many people ask me if this recipe is healthy. It absolutely is! I like to think of it as a much healthier version of pizza. When I don't want the added saturated fat from the meat, I simply make the vegetarian version.
No, there's no need to soak the eggplant here. Using younger, smaller eggplants means that they will be less bitter, and salting them before roasting helps pull out the bitterness. After roasting, the eggplant flesh is cooked with aromatics and meat, and it will absorb the good flavors from the filling.
Salting the eggplant before cooking it will help draw out any bitterness, and will also give it a good texture when cooked. For this berenjenas rellenas, sprinkle the halved eggplants liberally with sea salt before roasting for a good flavor and texture.
Serve
I love to enjoy these stuffed eggplants as a healthy main meal, usually with a salad or cold soup on the side. Ensalada mixta, winter salad with orange and pomegranate, authentic gazpacho, or this pea and mint soup would taste delicious with these stuffed eggplants.
Store
Leftovers: Store in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: Freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Defrosting: It's best to defrost the eggplant in the fridge before reheating in a 300°F (150°C) oven until hot. You can reheat directly from frozen, but it will take longer.
Expert Tips
- Be careful not to cut through the skin when scoring the eggplant. Otherwise, you'll have a hole where the filling can leak through later.
- Let the baked eggplants rest tented with foil for 15 minutes, which will make it easier to scoop out the flesh before stuffing.
- Swap the ground meat with a vegetarian/vegan combo of cooked chickpeas, lentils, walnuts, mushrooms, and parsley.
More Spanish Vegetable Recipes
If you liked this recipe, please share it with others!
Follow Spanish Sabores on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for more recipes and travel tips.
If you've made and enjoyed this recipe, please leave a 5-star review!
Spanish Stuffed Eggplant Recipe (Berenjenas Rellenas)
Ingredients
- 4 small globe eggplants
- 2 medium onions finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- extra virgin olive oil for roasting and sautéing
- 1 green bell pepper finely diced
- ¾ pound ground beef and pork mixture or vegetarian meat alternative
- good quality tomato sauce or passata (tomate frito in Spain)
- mozzarella cheese grated
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
- Wash the eggplants, then cut them in half lengthwise. Place them on a baking sheet and score the flesh in a crosshatched pattern, being careful not to cut through the skin. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until flesh is tender. Tent the eggplants with foil and let them rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
- Heat a little olive oil in a skillet until hot, then sauté the onion, pepper, and garlic until softened. While the veggies are cooking, scoop out the flesh from each eggplant and add it to the pan.
- When the vegetables are starting to brown, add the ground meat (or the vegetarian meat alternative) and sauté until cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.
- To fill the skins, spread a layer of tomato sauce in the empty skins, then fill each one to the top with the meat mixture. Cover with grated mozzarella cheese.
- Pop the tray of stuffed eggplants under the broiler until the cheese is browned on the top, then let them rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy while hot and fresh!
Notes
- Be careful not to cut through the skin when scoring the eggplant, or you'll have a hole where the filling can leak through.
- Let the baked eggplants rest tented with foil for 15 minutes, which will make it easier to scoop out the flesh before stuffing.
- Swap the ground meat with a vegetarian/vegan combo of cooked chickpeas, lentils, walnuts, mushrooms, and parsley to taste.
Nutrition
Photography by Giulia Verdinelli
Rodney Galea
BERENJENAS RELLENAS
Tried this recipe yesterday evening and managed to use up some of my home grown veggies (aubergine, red onions-little bit sweeter, padron peppers - I like to live dangerously!, and small roma tomatoes - sieved) all served up on a bed of Bulgar wheat and washed down with a nice glass of Rioja. I am very pleased to say that this dish was given the thumbs up by everyone and now goes into my cook again book. Thank you so much.
Cynthia
Made these for dinner tonight and they were a BIG hit! The instructions were well-written and easy to follow. Thank you for a great recipe to add to my eggplant collection. We love eggplant and are always looking for new ways to fix them.
Sylvia
Lauren, This recipe is delicious! Loved the flavor and texture that the eggplant gave to the stuffing.
Emma
One of my favorite vegetables is eggplant (aubergine), so I was excited to try this recipe. Everyone--even the one eggplant hater in our family--loved it!! The flavorful filling paired with the soft, roasted eggplant was a fantastic combination, and the browned cheese on top made it even better. I'll definitely have to make it again!
Giulia Verdinelli
I love how juicy and tender these are!
I never know how to cook aubergines and this is a super recipe, I will definitely make it again 🙂
Ann
Hi. Looks amazing! I want to make this when my daughter comes over to visit from the UK but don't want to spend all my time with her in the kitchen cooking. So I was pleased to see these can be frozen . But at what point? Do you cook it completely, allow to cool and then freeze?
Loving your website!
Ann
Lauren Aloise
Exactly! Fully cooked and assembled for the last broil. Then just freeze instead. You could also freeze leftovers (that are already broiled).
Dave
My wife makes this, with a little hot paprika added. Delicious.
Anne
Hi. Your stuffed eggplant dish is super delicious, wich I will definitely make it. Though I have a question about the nutritional section... It states 39.74g of Carbs. As per your ingredients... none of these have high carbs. How did you come up with 39.74grams of Carb.? Just wondering, cause am doing a low-carb diet.
INGREDIENTS
4 small globe eggplants
2 medium onions
3 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
1 green bell pepper
3/4 pound ground beef and pork mixture
Lauren Aloise
Hi there, sorry about this - the plugin is calculating this automatically, I am going to look for a way to turn it off! It should not be high carb!
Lauren Aloise
Just following up here in case anyone elsse is reading - the carb count IS correct. Whole eggplants with skin on do have carbs. If you do not eat the skin that would lower it.
Nicola
I don't know why, but I was looking up stuffed eggplant recipes on Google and yours came up, but with the picture resolution on the websearch, I thought there was a fried egg over top. Still sounds really delicious though even with Mozza. Thanks for sharing! :-9
Lauren Aloise
Yum! A fried egg on top is a great idea too!
John Darr
What a great breakfast idea!
Nataly
Hola se mira muy rica tu receta! No tendrÃas las instrucciones en español!? Gracias!! Ciao!!
Lauren Aloise
TodavÃa no, pero muchas gracias! A ver si pronto puedo traducir las recetas! Hasta entonces, os toca practicar el inglés! 😉
Neil
Hmm! these look really good. Aubergines are so often under-rated but they are so versatile. I always do aubergines with honey when I am doing a tapas spread and they always win over the aubergone sceptics. Will give these a try soon . Great site by the way!
Lauren Aloise
Mmm berenjenas con miel are one of my favorites too!
Lauren
They were delicious. I made a veggie version and added mushrooms.
Yum!
Lauren Aloise
Yum! Mushrooms must have been great!
Botswana safari
That looks really enticing! I love the fact that it is fused with Italian with the Mozzarella cheese addition. Now I'm getting hungry. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Sally
I can't wait to make these; thanks for posting!
Cat
Just made these for Kike, and they were a success! Thanks for always stocking my inbox with plenty of recipes to impress him!!
Richard in Spain
That looks great and I'm sure it tastes as good as it looks.
You can't beat traditional Spanish recipes but I like to do a vegetarian version of this dish, substituting the minced meat with lentils and adding parmesan to pep up the cheese taste.
John Darr
se bueno! los vegetales!
Paddy Waller
Bueno ,bueno ,bueno....lovely looking aubergines!!
Mo
You´re a mind reader Lauren. Just bought some berenjenas today and this popped up in my inbox. I´ll get hubby to make them (he cooks all weekend anyway). As for the photos, they´re great, very professional particularly considering Antonia´s slight opposition!
giovanna
Qué pinta tan buena tienen las berenjenas de tu suegra. Voy a intentar hacerlas este finde. Un saludo, Giovanna