Meatballs and eggplants enriched by garlic and spices come together for a delicious dinner. What’s a better meal? Make this tasty, healthy and filling patlican kebab (Eggplant Kebab) for your next dinner. It’ll be a big hit for everyone!
We are huge fans of eggplants and enjoy it in as many ways as we can during summer. Another favorite eggplant dinner recipe of our family is karnıyarık Turkish stuffed eggplants. We also love roasted eggplant salad or baked imam bayildi as a lunch or side. And baba ganoush without tahini is a perfect smoky dip.
We have this easy eggplant kebab quite often because it is simple to make. Plus, it is soooo delicious when eggplant comes together with meatballs, tomatoes and garlic.
This patlican kebab recipe is a traditional Turkish food. It is a little bit different from other baked eggplant dishes which are mostly made with a type of cheese like mozzarella or parmesan. Unlike those cheesy recipes, in Turkey, we make it with meatballs and call it eggplant kebab, patlican kebabı.
What Is Patlican Kebap?
There are so many types of kebabs in Turkish cuisine. And we have shared several of them here. Doner kebab, Adana kebab, kofta kebab, chicken doner kebab are just to name some.
Eggplant kebab aka patlican kebap is yet another type of Turkish kebab. It has two versions: 1)On skewers. In an authentic kebab restaurant, eggplants and diced lamb are cooked together on skewers over wooden fire. 2)In a baking pan. Eggplant slices and meatballs are baked together in a pan with a tomato sauce. It is very much like Turkish Izmir kofte, which is made with potatoes and meatballs. We will share this second version with you today.
If you love the combination of meatballs with vegetables, you might want to see our meatball stew with potatoes and carrots too.
Why We Love This Recipe
- The flavors are amazing together. If you have never tried the combination of eggplants, meat, tomatoes, garlic and green peppers, you have to try it asap!
- It can be made ahead. This is really helpful when you have guests. Just reheat it in the oven.
- It is freezer friendly. You can freeze patlican kebab either cooked or raw. If you want to freeze it raw, prepare meatballs and eggplants, place them in a baking pan and freeze. Thaw before baking when you are ready to make the recipe. And prepare the rest of the ingredients when it is in the oven.
About The Ingredients
- Meatballs. We use 80% lean ground beef to make the meatballs in this patlican kebabı recipe. You can use ground lamb if you like or a combination of both. We make a simple meatball mixture by combining ground beef, very finely chopped onion, garlic and spices. This is our quicker way of making our ultimate homemade meatballs.
- Eggplants. When buying eggplants, we choose the ones you see in the pictures here. Their seeds are tiny and they match perfectly with the size of meatballs.
- Tomato puree. We puree tomatoes in a food processor, but you can use store-bought tomato puree if you want.
- The Mediterranean combination of eggplants, meatballs, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil is a great success. They simply make the tastiest eggplant recipe when they meet together.
Alternative Add-Ins:
You can definitely add zucchini for more fiber. Potatoes would also be a delicious add-in in this dish.
How To Make The Recipe
It is very easy to make this Turkish eggplant kebab. It is actually 10-minute work if you have meatballs in the freezer.
If you do not have frozen meatballs, you will need to make fresh ones but do not worry. It is quite simple.
First, make the meatballs. Combine ground beef, onion, garlic, cumin, black pepper, chili powder, salt and olive oil in a large bowl. Next, cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then shape the meatballs and put them aside. You can wet your fingers when shaping meatballs.
Second, prepare the eggplants. Slice the eggplants and soak them in water. Make sure you sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over them and wait for about 15 minutes.
Drain and dry them using a paper towel. Now, preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
Third, place meatballs and eggplant slices in turns in a baking pan. After that, drizzle olive oil over them and bake for 30 minutes or until the eggplants are tender. You can check it by piercing them with a fork or knife.
Finally, remove from the oven. Place garlic slices and green peppers randomly in the pan and pour tomato puree over them. Now sprinkle salt and black pepper. Bake for another 15 minutes.
What To Serve On The Side
In Turkish cuisine, you traditionally eat eggplant kebab with Turkish pilaf with rice and orzo or tomato bulgur pilaf and Turkish cucumber dip with yogurt called cacik. This is a very classic dinner or lunch menu.
FAQs
Yes, it is a freezer friendly meal. You can freeze it both raw or cooked. If you are planning to freeze it raw, keep everything raw except eggplants.
Bake the sliced and dried eggplants in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400F. Cool and then place them in the pan with meatballs and freeze.
Make sure you thaw them overnight before baking.
Yes. If you don’t feel like preparing meatballs, make your casserole with meat. One difference though: Unlike the meatball version, you should cook the meat and eggplant slices slightly before combining them together. To do this, heat a cast iron skillet and cook eggplant slices in little olive oil, turning them over so that both sides get slightly tender. Transfer them on a plate.
In the same skillet, sauté about ½ cup diced onion with olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Add in chopped meat, add in a little water (about ¼ cup). Let it release its juice and then absorb it back. You can season it with any spices you like. We love cumin, chili powder and black pepper. Remove it from the heat. Top with eggplants, tomato puree, green peppers and garlic. Bake for 30 minutes.
Although it won’t be a traditional kebab recipe, you can make this recipe vegan. It can be very delicious without meat, as well. Garlic contributes a lot of taste and flavor to dishes so more garlic and tomatoes will do it. It will be very similar to our delicious vegan casserole with zucchini.
Yes. You can sprinkle some grated cheddar or mozzarella 5 minutes before you remove the dish from the oven. On the other hand, this recipe is a traditional one and never uses cheese.
More Eggplant Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Patlican Kebab - Eggplant Kebab
Eggplant slices and meatballs baked together with tomato puree, garlic cloves and green peppers.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
For Meatballs:
- 1 pound/450g ground beef, 80% lean
- 1 onion, finely diced or pureed
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 and ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For Eggplant Kebab:
- 2 eggplants, sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 cup tomato puree
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- parsley for garnish
Instructions
Meatballs:
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for meatballs, cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then shape into balls and flatten them a bit. Put them aside.
Kebab:
- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
- Slice the eggplants. Soak them in water, sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over them and wait for about 15 minutes. Drain and dry them using a paper towel.
- In a baking pan, place meatballs and eggplant slices in turns.
- Drizzle olive oil over the meatballs and eggplants and bake for 30 minutes.
- Pour tomato puree over them.
- Remove from the oven. Place garlic slices and green peppers randomly in the pan. Drizzle a little more olive oil over them.
- Sprinkle salt and black pepper. Bake for another 15 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 530
- Sugar: 14.7 g
- Sodium: 992.9 mg
- Fat: 37.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.7 g
- Protein: 24.3 g
- Cholesterol: 80.2 mg
Juliana says
I have a couple of eggplants in my fridge and as I was coming to work I was trying to think of a recipe...and here I see what you feature...I'll definitely try this one...looks so delicious...nice pictures as well.
Dave says
Absolutely delicious - we had this for supper last night, and it was such a hit with my family that we'll definitely be doing it again. Thanks for sharing it.
Cajun Chef Ryan says
This really looks great, eggplant and ground meat is such a wonder combination, and now on a kebab! Wonderful!
Regards,
CCR =:~)
OysterCulture says
I love eggplant, I love kebabs and I love lamb what a perfect combination I was thinking of something to serve at a picnic and this looks perfect.
Leesie says
One of my favorite vegetables! This recipe sounds and looks awesome. I'd like to give it a try for kebabs. I usually egg wash thick slices, cover in breadcrumbs and fry for a few minutes - sometimes I add a little tomato sauce and a piece of fresh mozzarella on top and bake it long enough to melt the cheese which goes great with pasta.
Thanks Zerrin - I adore your recipes and learning about Turkish culture, etc.
Erica says
We eat eggplant all the time. It is my husband's favorite vegetable. Fantastic recipe and great info! Thank you.
lisaiscooking says
This is the eggplant time of year! And, your eggplant kebabs look great! The tomatoes and peppers sound delicious with them.
Faith says
This looks so beautiful and delicious! Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, so I'm excited to have another recipe to use it in...thanks!
Lauren says
this looks great! I love that you used meatballs too.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie says
These kabobs with alternating eggplant rounds and meatballs look and sound amazing! I'm definitely trying this dish very soon!
Gera @ SweetsFoods says
I wonder how can taste with spicy ground meat of chicken or turkey?
Citronetvanille says
Love those pictures! beautiful kebabs, I can smell Turkey and the Mediterranean cuisine. I love eggplants, they're among my favorite vegetables.
jenn says
Ooo...I learned a new word today. "pazar" They definitely sound like farmer's markets here in the US. I love them.
Those kababs look really tastey Today is just full of eggplants!!! LOL. This would be really great at an outdoor BBQ gathering.
Helen says
A lovely recipe - and one I will try later today. The word 'market' in English was used originally to describe what you mean by a bazaar. Markets would take place on 'market day' in the 'market square'. This tradition continues in English country villages and towns e.g. Thirsk in North Yorkshire and Ely in Cambridgeshire. These traditional country markets focus mainly on seasonal food and produce. Covered markets are a later innovation and it's easy to see how supermarkets developed from there!
Gera @ SweetsFoods says
Zerrin I didn’t know the pronunciation of bazaar is pazar...
The vegan-eggplant kebab looks spectacular and enticing 🙂
Generally speaking I've tasted it of lamb meat.
Sending to twitter later.
Cheers!
Gera
Jessie says
like Jenn, I learned a new word as well! I never knew bazaar was pronounced as pazar. I love these kabobs so creative and delicious!