This eggplant with egg recipe is a meat-free, yet high protein dish that works wonderfully for meat-free days or vegetarians who eat eggs. Super easy to make, you can prep ahead by baking the eggplant and then put it all together in minutes.

A while back, my husband’s lovely colleague from work invited us over for an amazingly delicious lunch gathering at her home with her family. Originally from Iran, she made a delightful spread with rich, varied dishes and mixtures of flavours. I became obsessed with one dish in particular later on; I wanted so badly to replicate it. It was an eggplant with egg dish.
Before this, I had never tried anything that mixed eggplants and eggs; I just never thought of this combination. This experience was an eye-opener; one of those epiphanies you sometimes have when you try a new combination of flavours and the results are magnificent!

Later on, I decided to try it out at home. I also experimented with a few extra additions. One time I sprinkled a generous amount of parmesan cheese on top, another time I added pomegranate molasses to add a bit of zingy-sweetness to the dish. Really, you can totally customise it according to taste; just make sure to add any new flavours in small increments at first to see how it goes.
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 medium onion (you can use brown or red)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 large tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses or balsamic vinegar
- 2 to 4 eggs, according to the number of people, one egg per person.
- Salt to taste, ground black pepper, cumin powder, pinch of smoked paprika, garlic powder and chilli flakes
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese or any other cheese you like (optional).
Method
- Preheat oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit (for conversion to Celsius check the conversions page)
- Wash the eggplant, then stab it with a sharp knife in several places (you can turn this into a therapeutic activity by imagining your worst enemy). This step is important because otherwise the eggplant might explode in the oven and you’ll have eggplant entrails all over your oven.
- Bake the eggplant with the skin on for one hour or until the skin becomes shrivelled and the eggplant is soft.
- Allow to cool until you can handle it with your hands. You can also refrigerate it overnight and make it the next day.
- Heat the canola oil in a pot, add the onion and garlic, sauté until soft. Add the tomato paste and stir for a minute.
- In the meantime, mash the eggplant with a fork or masher into coarse pieces. Add the eggplant to the mixture in the pot. Season with salt and spices, sugar and vinegar or pomegranate molasses.
- Preheat oven broil to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Ladle the eggplant mixture into an oven-proof pan and make small wells in it with a spoon. Crack the eggs into these wells. Sprinkle the cheese on top, if using.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the egg white has set but the egg yolks are still a bit soft. When serving, make sure to use a wide spatula to prevent the egg from breaking. Enjoy!

Have you ever tried eggplant and egg together in a recipe? How did you make it? For another great meat-free eggplant recipe, check out my Meat-Free Eggplant Pasta recipe!
© 2019, L.E.. All rights reserved.
This is a really interesting recipe that reminds me of shakshouka. I’ll be giving this a try for sure!
Thank you for the comment! Yes, it’s very similar, I totally recommend you trying it because it was a great, satisfying vegetarian dish.