Stuffed Eggplant

5 from 70 votes

This authentic Stuffed Eggplant recipe is a my family's popular Lebanese dish made with a spiced beef & rice stuffing and cooked in a garlicky tomato broth!

Course Entree, Main Course

Cuisine Arabic, Lebanese, Middle Eastern

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1

Resting Time 15

Total Time 2

Servings servings

Calories 617kcal

Author Yumna Jawad

Equipment

Ingredients

12 small eggplants
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon 7 Spice
2 teaspoons salt divided
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ cups Lundberg Short Grain Brown Rice
1 large tomato cut into 12 chunks

Tomato Broth

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces tomato paste
1 tomato chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
6 garlic cloves pressed
4 cups water

Instructions

Cut off the stalks of the eggplant. Using a knife, apple corer or veggie drill, carefully hallow out the eggplant and remove the flesh without puncturing the outside of the eggplant. You can reserve the flesh for another recipe.
Heat the olive oil in a large deep pot on medium heat large. Add the onions and ground beef and season with 7 Spice, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook until the beef is browned, about 7-10 minutes. Add the uncooked rice, the remaining salt and stir to combine the ingredients. Transfer the rice mixture to a bowl.
To make the tomato broth, heat the olive oil in the pot used to cook the beef over medium. Add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and pressed garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mixture becomes fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the water and bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, while stuffing the eggplant.
Using a small spoon or your hands, fill the hallowed out inside of each eggplant with the rice stuffing. Be sure to leave about ¼ inch of empty space at the top since the rice will expand when cooked. Then stuff a tomato chunk on top to seal the eggplant and prevent the stuffing from coming out when cooked. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. If you have any leftover stuffing, you can cook it with water.
Transfer the stuffed eggplant to the deep pot and bring mixture to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce and the rice to fully cook.
Serve the stuffed eggplant warm with the sauce on top.

Video

Notes

Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However here are some common substitutes that would work well in this recipe.

Instead of ground beef, you can use lamb or a combination of the two.
Instead of brown rice, you can use short grain white rice, which is more common.
Instead of 7 Spice, you can use All Spice or cinnamon.

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 3-4 days in the fridge.

Freezing Instructions: Freeze the hallowed out eggplant and store in freezer safe containers. Freeze the hashweh without cooking the rice. Or alternatively, you can freeze the cooked stuffed eggplant after it's been cooked and cooled. Enjoy it within 3 months of freezing for best results. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Make Ahead Tips: You can make the stuffing up to 2 days in advance. You can also core the eggplant a few days in advance and store it in the fridge until ready to stuff.

Equipment: I use an apple corer (Amazon Affiliate link) to core the eggplant. It works really well with one motion. But you may need to core a couple times depending on the thickness of the squash. To get it extra hallowed, you can also use an electric veggie corer drill (Amazon Affiliate link).

Nutrition