The Best Eggplant Doesn’t Require a Recipe (But I Still Wrote It Down for You)

The creamy, dreamy insides ... I will honestly never recover from that first bite.

By
Dan Pelosi
Dan Pelosi
Dan Pelosi
Dan Pelosi is a cookbook author and the mastermind behind GrossyPelosi, the popular Instagram favorite for all things comfort and food. His first cookbook, Let's Eat, is a New York Times Best Seller. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Bustle, Vice, The Washington Post, Simply Recipes, and more.
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Published November 02, 2024
Dan Pelosi
Two whole roasted eggplant on a baking sheet, topped with yogurt and chili crisp, a bowl of chili crisp alongside

Simply Recipes / Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

I have to give credit to my dear friend Andy Baraghani for teaching me how to roast a whole eggplant. A lot of my life was spent slicing, dicing, roasting, and frying eggplant—and until Andy mentioned it, I’d never thought to just throw the whole thing in the oven and let it do its thing.

The creamy, dreamy insides ... I will honestly never recover from that first bite. To improve on the real-life fantasy, which doesn’t even need improvement, a little Greek yogurt and chili crisp enhance all the already-beautiful texture and flavor of the veg. A great payoff for very little work! 

Dan's Favorite Store-Bought Chili Crisp

Simply Recipes editors highly recommend making the Calabrian Chili Crisp from Dan's cookbook, Let’s Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart & Home, to top the eggplants. As an alternative, use store-bought chili crisp. Dan recommends Fly By Jing.

Whole-Roasted Eggplant with Chili Crisp

Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 60 mins
Rest Time 15 mins
Total Time 80 mins
Servings 2 servings

Reprinted with permission from Let’s Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart & Home by Dan Pelosi © 2023. Published by Union Square & Co. Photography © Andrew Bui.

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Ingredients

  • 1 medium globe eggplant (about 1 pound)

  • 1/4 cup Greek yogurt

  • 1/4 cup store-bought chili crisp, plus more for serving

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F:

    Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. 

  2. Roast the eggplant:

    Wash the eggplant, then pat the skin dry completely. Place the eggplant on the prepared sheet pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the skin is wrinkly and the eggplant is extremely soft. Remove from the oven, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let steam for 15 minutes. (This facial makes the insides extra soft and delicious.)

  3. Make the topping:

    Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and chili crisp.

  4. Top and serve:

    Transfer the whole eggplant to a serving platter (or don’t). Slice it lengthwise, leaving the stem intact and taking care not cut all the way through. Use tongs to pry it open, then spoon the chili-yogurt mixture all over its flesh. Spoon a little more of the crisp over everything and serve.

    Love the recipe? Leave us stars and a comment below!

    Two whole roasted eggplant on a baking sheet, topped with yogurt and chili crisp

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
151 Calories
3g Fat
28g Carbs
7g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 151
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 4%
Saturated Fat 1g 4%
Cholesterol 8mg 3%
Sodium 136mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 7g 26%
Total Sugars 10g
Protein 7g
Vitamin C 4mg 21%
Calcium 57mg 4%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 444mg 9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.