This baba ganoush is restaurant-quality: smoky, creamy, and super flavorful. Easy to make, it’s naturally vegan, Whole30, and low carb, too. This Middle Eastern and Mediterranean appetizer is one of our all-time favorite dip recipes!
What Makes This Baba Ganoush So Good
- Baba ganoush (or baba ghanoush, or baba ghanouj) generally starts with grilled eggplant, but sometimes you don’t have that perfect grill-weather… or even a grill! Never fear. Oven-roasting the eggplant gives the recipe an incredible, deep, rich flavor. You could add a little liquid smoke to give it even more of that grilled smokiness, but I don’t find that you really need it in this recipe!
- The food processor (or blender) gives you amazingly silky, creamy baba ganoush with just a few simple ingredients. There’s no dairy or added sugar in this recipe, either!
- You can serve this with pita or fresh veggies; it’s perfect either way! Try it as a mezze platter for a last-minute get-together: add a variety of olives (try green stuffed with garlic, kalamata tossed in fresh herbs, and dry-cured black olives); a block of feta cubed and tossed in a bit of olive oil and some fresh herbs; a few stuffed grape leaves (dolma; dolmata) from the olive bar; and a bowl of baba ganoush with pita wedges and crudité. Easy, refreshing summer entertaining in a heartbeat!
- Baba ganoush is a great make-ahead option if you’re meal prepping or just like to snack on leftovers! Refrigerate it in an airtight container and it’ll keep up to 5 days.
Key Ingredients for Baba Ganoush
Eggplants – Use the freshest eggplant possible for the best taste and texture! When you’re picking out your perfect eggplant, give them a little squeeze – they shouldn’t feel soft or mushy, and you shouldn’t be able to pierce the skin with your finger. It should be heavy for its size, with a smooth and shiny skin. Small- and medium-sized eggplants won’t taste as bitter as large ones, and they’ll contain fewer seeds.
Tahini – Sesame seeds ground into paste. Who knew something so simple could be so amazing? It’s creamy and a little nutty and delectably savory and I’m not necessarily saying you should eat it by the spoonful but I’m also not saying you won’t be tempted to. You can make your own tahini or pick some up at the store, whichever works best for you! Just make sure to use a really good tahini – you’ll notice if you don’t. It can be toasted or raw, whichever you prefer.
Chef’s Tips
- This recipe is a loose one, which means you can really dial in each ingredient to make your personally perfect baba ganoush! Your eggplants may be a different size than mine, so you’ll want to adjust the tahini, salt, and lemon juice accordingly. My recommendation is to start low and add smaller increments until you’ve reached a flavor that you really love. Does your baba feel a bit heavy and sticky? Try a bit more lemon. Does it feel flat, one-dimensional? Try a bit more tahini. Does it taste properly smoky and not heavy, but just not quite “there“? Add a bit more salt.
- Piercing the skin of the eggplants is a simple but important step, so don’t skip it! The piercings let the liquid drain from the eggplant so your baba ganoush isn’t thin and watery. Oh, and it lessens the chances your eggplants will explode in your oven, so… Super important! To drain them even more, set a metal baking rack in your baking sheet and broil eggplants on top of the rack (instead of directly on the pan).
- Setting a bowl upside down over the broiled eggplant traps heat and moisture, creating a steam that’ll soften the skins of the eggplants and make them suuuuper easy to remove! Trust me, you’ll thank me for this tip.
Try These Other Dips & Appetizers, Too
- Guacamole Dip (Restaurant Style)
- Beer Cheese Dip
- Addictive Hot Crab Dip (Low Carb, Keto, Gluten Free)
- Best Vegan Queso (Ever)
- Tomatillo Red Chili Salsa
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Baba Ganoush
Equipment
- Broiler
- Baking sheet
- Large bowl
- Blender or food processor
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat broiler on high. Use fork to pierce eggplants all over.
- Place eggplants on baking sheet and set directly under broiler. Broil eggplants approximately 45 minutes, turning periodically, until blackened all over.
- Remove from oven. Set large bowl over eggplants to capture steam. Let cool, covered with bowl, until room or handling temperature.
- Once eggplants have cooled, remove bowl and set aside. Remove top of eggplant and peel away eggplant skin. Discard.
- Place peeled eggplants in blender or food processor. Add garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and paprika.
- Blend until smooth. Taste and add more garlic, tahini, or lemon juice as desired. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt. Taste again. Add additional salt, if desired.
- Transfer baba ganoush to serving bowl. Serve warm, or refrigerate until chilled. Garnish with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired. Serve with vegetables (celery, carrots, etc.) and/or pitas or pita chips.
Notes
- I recommend starting with the smaller quantities of each spice, then tasting the mixture and adding more if desired. You can always add more, but you can’t take it back out if you use too much!
Nutrition
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Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She’s been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.
Becca Sloane says
Wow cannot wait to make this recipe. Perfect for hosting!
Sandra says
I’m about to make this for the third time in three weeks because it is just THAT AMAZING. I love it love it love it. It’s such a perfect blend of smoky, lemony, garlicky, goodness, just like you said! It’s now a staple in my house- I make a batch early in the week and store it in the fridge, and it gets eaten on toast for breakfast and rice crackers for snacks all week. It’s particularly amazing spread on toast with a thick slice of tomato, some thin slices of red onion, a few squeezes of lemon juice, and some salt and pepper on top. Oh my. Thanks heaps for sharing!
Cheryl Malik says
I’m so glad you like it as much as we do!! Thank you for making and for taking the time to come back and let me know you loved it!
Sunny says
Okay, it cam
Sunny says
Howdy! Our local farmers market had eggplants and I bought 4! With 2 I made baba ganoush from another recipe I found on Pinterest. It was great but all that slicing and salting before roasting was a drag. I cut one big one and two smaller ones in half and placed cut sides down on a big cookie sheet, then pricked all over with a strong fork. Broiled for 15 minutes as you suggest and switched from broiler to oven at 350. Five minutes to go, and I’ll stop by and let you know how this worked out. Recipe looks great!
Cheryl Malik says
Hope you liked it! 🙂
Sunny says
It was wonderful! I brought it to the end-of-summer tennis social today knowing our Lebanese friends would be there. It got all thumbs up! Definitely will make this again!
Here are my thoughts: (1) Mine was a little thin in texture, perhaps from the moisture weeping off the eggplant on the cookie sheet. Next time I’ll place the pulp in a sieve to drain before mixing everything in the food processor; (2) It was more orange than the one in your photos, from the paprika, which I added with reckless abandon, because it was smoked and I love that flavor. So a couple of people thought it was hummus before trying it because they hadn’t heard me explain it was baba. Nevertheless, it was great, and cutting the eggplants in half before roasting cut side down saved time because I didn’t have to turn them and could focus on making dinner.
Cheryl Malik says
Ah! Yes. Perhaps since I leave mine whole, the moisture that seeps out from the fork pricks is easier to leave behind, when I go to blend it all. But halving them is a great way to make the whole process easier! Your paprika story is too funny 🙂 Reckless abandon.. ha! Glad you liked it! If it got a thumbs up from a bunch of Lebanese friends then that’s a great compliment! Thank you so much for reading and commenting 🙂
Mary says
Am I missing something? I have a plant full of eggplants that I need to use soon and I really would love to make this. I just don’t see the recipe on the page! Please help!
Cheryl Malik says
So sorry about that! When we merged blogs, about half of our recipes stayed behind.. grr. All fixed now!
Mary Redaelli says
Awesome, thanks so much!!
Katie says
What is the herb you used for garnish?
Cheryl Malik says
Just plain old parsley!
Bethany says
Trying this tonight because we got a bunch of eggplant in our CSA! Any tips on storage?
Cheryl Malik says
Woot! We just keep ours in the fridge in a super airtight container. Other than that I don’t really have any tips. It should keep for a while, though!
Bethany says
That was sort of where I was headed … we’ll see how it goes! Thanks! I found you through Pinterest, but took a spin through your other recipes — lots of yummy stuff to try now! 🙂
Cheryl Malik says
So glad you’re here!! 🙂
Alyssa says
Oh my! I’m not a huge eggplant fan but you make this sound so, so delicious! I think I may have to try some…
Cheryl Hurley says
I’m not either, at all! I always think it’s so weird and spongy. But it totally transforms here. You’ll love it 🙂
Melissa Belanger says
Delicious! How did you make the beautiful olive oil drizzle look so perfect? I can never get mine to look like that! I’ve never actually had baba ganoush before – I’m a strict eggplant avoider – but this looks like something I could get on board with. Plus, I’m always trying to make myself like new things. Maybe this is a good place to start. It’s a much better option than mushrooms. I mean, it’s a dip, and you make it look and sound so appetizing! I love it.
Cheryl Hurley says
Ha! There’s probably a 1/4 cup of oil in that poor little bowl of baba ganoush, trying to get the drizzle to look right! The key is lots of peaks from the dip.. ha. Anyway, I’m the same way! I never order eggplant uh, on purpose? So I was so shocked when I loved this. It really doesn’t taste like eggplant at all–promise. You should try it! It’s so great for summer