Lebanese Stuffed Baby Eggplant

Stuffed Eggplant is a popular dish in Lebanon and many Middle Eastern countries. Stuffed dishes are called mahshi. This dish combines baby eggplant, spiced ground beef and a delicious tomato sauce using Delallo Foods Crushed Italian Tomatoes. Like many stuffed dishes (kousa mahshi or stuffed grapeleaves) they can take a bit of time to assemble but so full of unique flavors you'll keep making it over and over!

Stuffed dishes are popular in the Middle East because it's a wonderful way to incorporate vegetables, grains and a meat in a hearty and economical way. Even my kids who aren't huge fans of eggplant - LOVE this dish. The flavor of the spiced meat and tomato simmering with spices is very aromatic and creates a delicious balanced meal with a side of Lebanese rice. Not to mention this dish is healthy and even gluten free!

As we are heading out of tomato season, I rely on products that pack fresh tomatoes to use all year long. I'm thrilled to partner with my friends at DeLallo Foods to share this recipe that is a family staple using their fresh Crushed Italian Tomatoes. I hope you love it just as much as we do!

Please note that I only work with companies and products that I feel passionately about and that align with Cosette’s Kitchen views and that this post contains sponsored content for Delallo. While I am compensated for the work I do, my opinions are always 100% my own.

Jump to:

• Ingredients to Make Stuffed Baby Eggplant
• Instructions on Making Stuffed Baby Eggplant
• Tips for Making Stuffed Baby Eggplant
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Equipment
• Storage and Reheating
• Rate and Review
• Lebanese Stuffed Baby Eggplant

Ingredients to Make Stuffed Baby Eggplant

Ingredients for this dish are simple and straightforward that most home cooks will find in their pantry.

• Eggplant - For this dish, we are using baby eggplants. These dark eggplants are similarly shaped to traditional larger Italian eggplant but will fit in the palm of your hand. They are great to use to create smaller portion sizes as well as avoiding the step of salting to remove moisture as they are not as bitter as larger eggplants.
• Ground Beef - I'm using ground beef in this recipe which is common for this dish, however you can absolutely substitute ground lamb or ground turkey (dark meat) if you prefer with the same exquisite flavor. I use a lean ground beef for this dish.
• Tomatoes - I'm using DeLallo Crushed Italian Tomatoes to create our sauce. I love the simplicity of their tomatoes, as close to summer fresh picked tomatoes as you can get.
• Olive Oil - Olive oil is the base to many dishes I cook, it's no exception here. I'm using DeLallo's Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the best flavor in our dish.
• Onions - Onions are used in both our ground beef mixture and our sauce, a simple aromatic.
• Garlic - Garlic is used to flavor our tomato sauce, the more the better!
• Cinnamon - Cinnamon may seem a bit unusual in a savory dish but the addition of cinnamon to ground beef is something magical, it's the same meat mixture as my fatayer pies.
• Allspice - Allspice is a warm, earthy spice that is common in Middle Eastern dishes. Adding a bit of all spice to our sauce gives it a distinct flavor and creates a flavor that is more Middle Eastern vs Italian.
• Pine Nuts - We go nuts for pine nuts around here! I love adding some to our meat mixture and then extra to top our stuffed eggplant when serving. These are definitely delicious but also optional.
• Sugar - It may seem odd to have sugar in a savory dish but a bit of sugar to your tomato sauce helps to balance the acidity. If you don't have granulated sugar, add honey or balsamic vinegar.
• Salt & Pepper - Kosher salt is my preferred salt for cooking, specifically Diamond brand. Please ensure you check the notes about salt in the full recipe down below.
• Rice - I'm making the Lebanese tried and true rice with vermicelli noodles. You can find the full post linked here. But any rice you'd like to make will work just fine!

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions on Making Stuffed Baby Eggplant

This dish is divided into a few different parts: making the meat filling, the sauce, baking all together and finally a side of rice. Many of these steps can be done ahead of time and assembled the day you want to serve.

Preparing Meat Mixture

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Begin by preparing your ground beef mixture, this step can be done the day before or several days before and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. This is also a great meat mixture for just about anything - enjoy with pita, stuff to make fatayer, use with eggs or in anything you would add beef.

Dice 2 medium sized onions and heat 2 tablespoons of DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a large skillet on medium heat - I like a high sided, wide 12-14" sauté pan.

Allow onions to cook for 10-12 minutes until they begin to soften and become a translucent color. Add your lean ground beef or lamb and begin to cook and break apart meat. Add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt (1 teaspoon if using table salt) to your mixture. Continue to cook on medium-high heat and break apart chunks of meat for 30-40 minutes until liquid is fully absorbed and meat is broken into fine crumbles.

Add your cinnamon, black pepper and any additional salt (possibly another teaspoon, adjust to taste) and your pine nuts (if using). Allow to cook on medium-high for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare Sauce

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To prepare your sauce, dice a medium/large onion. Add 1 tablespoon DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a sauce pot and heat on medium heat. Add your diced onion and allow to cook for 5 minutes until just beginning to soften. Next, add your minced garlic and cook for just 1 minutes until it becomes fragrant.

Pro tip: You want your chopped garlic to BARELY cook, it can burn very quickly so be sure to keep an eye on it. You'll know when it's ready when you begin to smell the garlic aroma.

Quickly add your DeLallo Crushed Italian Tomatoes and water. Allow to come to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add your allspice, salt, pepper and sugar. Allow to cook for 30 minutes until just thickened.

Prepare Eggplant

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Remove the green stem from your eggplants but keep stem in tact, it's easiest to use a small paring knife. The stem will ensure your eggplants will remain in tact and give you that "boat" to stuff them. Once the stem is removed, using a vegetable peeler, make 3 stripes along each eggplant. This is not only visually interesting but also allows the eggplant to cook evenly and not burst.

Place the prepared eggplant in a large tray - mine is a about 14" round. If you can't fit into one tray - use 2 baking dishes (be sure they are broiler safe, metal/aluminum is best here). Add 2 tablespoons of DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil and coat all the eggplant evenly.

With your oven rack in the upper third of your oven, place eggplants under broiler on high. Allow to broil for 5 minutes, then rotate. Continue for 15-20 minutes until eggplants are evenly charred and softened. Be sure to keep checking on them so they don't burn. Remove from oven and set temperature to 400 degrees.

Stuffing Eggplant

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Once your eggplants are roasted, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes so you can handle, begin assembling. Make a slit in each eggplant from stem to bottom allowing a center cavity to open and a place to stuff.

Add a generous amount of ground beef filling, depending on the size of your eggplants, about 2-3 heaping teaspoons. Continue to fill all eggplants. Add your sauce to the tray between eggplants but also on top. This ensures the meat doesn't get dried out or burn.

Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve with rice and enjoy!

Tips for Making Stuffed Baby Eggplant

• Using small eggplant - Try to use the smallest and longest eggplants you can find. I would however stay away from some smaller eggplant that are too skinny or short such as Japanese or Indian eggplant varieties.
• Do I need to cover the beef? - While I know it's much more visually interesting to keep the stuffed eggplants exposed, covering them with the tomato sauce is crucial to ensure your beef stay moist and full of flavor. You can also cover each one with a fresh tomato if you'd like and add sauce all around. After baking, I do mix the mix the sauce with the mix just slightly when serving before garnishing with Italian parsley.
• How to thicken sauce - Lid or not to lid? If you want to thicken your sauce, it's best to keep your sauce uncovered. That allows the moisture to evaporate leaving you with a thicker sauce.
• Can I cook the rice with the meat? - While many stuffed dishes such as kousa actually combine raw meat and rice to cook together - this dish is assembled differently. I imagine you could possibly do this for these eggplants but it would also require much more liquid to ensure rice is fully cooked. For this dish, a side of rice is best.

This dish is naturally gluten free

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you freeze the baby eggplants?

You can certainly freeze the meat and/or sauce separately. I would avoid freezing the empty roasted eggplants as they may not hold. My preference would be to make the entire dish, allow to cool and freeze whole stuffed eggplants as a complete meal. Best to use within 3 months.

Cooking tomato sauce in aluminum.

One safety tip/rule to be aware of is when cooking acidic tomato/tomato sauce in aluminum baking trays, it's important to transfer to a plate after cooking. Allowing acidic food to be stored in aluminum (including foil) can actually eat away at it and leach into your food. The reason we use aluminum over glass in this case is due to broiling. It's absolutely safe to cook in, just transfer leftovers in another container, don't allow to sit overnight in or touching aluminum.

Can you make this dish vegetarian?

While many Lebanese dishes are vegetarian friendly, this particular stuffed dish really focuses on the meat. I would consider trying stuffed grape leaves for a vegetarian option.

Can I use large eggplants?

If you would like to use traditional large eggplants - there are a few variations. It becomes more of a deconstructed dish. Begin by trimming the ends off your eggplant, make several peeled stripes like we did with our baby eggplant. Next, cut your eggplant into thick 2" discs. Salt these discs in a colander and allow to sit for 10 minutes to draw out excess moisture. Once that is complete, continue with the same process from broiling eggplant. Instead of stuffing your eggplant, you'll simply top each disc with your meat mixture and sauce. You'll need about 2 large eggplants (3 pounds).

Can I substitute the ground beef?

Yes, you can substitute with ground lamb or even ground turkey - if using turkey, be sure you are using dark meat. You can also combine and do part beef/lamb or beef/turkey.

Equipment

There is really no special equipment for this recipes, most home cooks will have pots and skillets to make this dish a success. Here are some of my favorite tools to use:

Caraway Sauté Pan and Sauce Pot - I use the larger saute pan for the meat mixture and the sauce pot for both the tomato sauce and rice. It's really helpful to have a non-stick pot for rice. Here is another option for rice if you're looking.

14" Aluminum Baking Pan - This large pan is perfect for this dish or my extremely popular macaroni b'halib dish! You can also use a roasting pan to get the same effect, those are typically stainless steel so you wouldn't have the same worry about acidic sauce + aluminum. They are just hard to find round for some reason.

DeLallo Food Products - You can find DeLallo products all throughout the United States. Head to their page to find out where you can purchase or purchase directly on their site. Their products are all so incredible and help to create the perfect meals.

Storage and Reheating

Store cooled eggplants in the fridge, keep rice separate. To reheat, place rice and eggplant in microwaveable dish and heat for 1-2 minutes until warmed through. You may also reheat in oven or stovetop. Best stored in fridge for up to 5 days.

You can certainly freeze the meat and/or sauce separately. I would avoid freezing the empty roasted eggplants as they may not hold. My preference would be to make the entire dish, allow to cool and freeze whole stuffed eggplants as a complete meal. Best to use within 3 months.

Rate and Review

I adore dishes that simmer and make the house feel warm and cozy! This dish is no exception, perfect as we enter fall. While this dish is a little more complex, any home cook can easily execute! Of course using quality ingredients like those from DeLallo is essential to make the most flavorful dish.

I hope you enjoy this Lebanese Stuffed Baby Eggplant as much my family does – and feel free to adjust and make your own! If you make Lebanese Stuffed Baby Eggplant, please let me know by leaving a rating and review below!

As always, I love seeing your creations. Please leave a review or share your dish with me on social media #cosetteskitchen which lets me know what is working for you! You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter , Tiktok and Pinterest. For more delicious recipes to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!

xoxo,
Cosette

*This post was sponsored by DeLallo. All opinions are my own. I only support and promote brands that I believe in and use in my own kitchen.

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