Turkish Stuffed Eggplant Karnıyarık is a fantastic healthy dinner. These are ground beef stuffed eggplants packed with flavors. The recipe is very easy to make and can even be made in advance to save you time. It is freezer friendly too!
Karniyarik is one of the most popular eggplant recipes in Turkish cuisine. Just like Turkish eggplant kebab with meatballs, it is one of our go-to summer dishes. If you like a vegan/vegetarian version, check out our imam bayildi recipe! And if you love the flavor of roasted eggplants, check out our eggplant salad and no tahini baba ganoush too!
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What is Karniyarik?
To put it simply, Karniyarik is a type of Turkish stuffed eggplant. This recipe is best in the summer when eggplants or aubergines (patlican in Turkish) are at their most flavorful.
Traditionally, the stuffing is a mixture of sauteed onions, ground meat and tomatoes. What makes these stuffed eggplants unique from other similar Turkish eggplant recipes is the way they are prepared. The eggplants are roasted, then slit open in the middle, filled with stuffing, and further baked. That’s why the name “karniyarik” can be translated as “split belly”.
Why We Love This Recipe
Karni yarik aka split belly eggplant dish is one of our go-to summer dishes. Here is why:
- It is easy to make. The recipe has three main steps: Roasting eggplants, cooking the filling, stuffing the eggplants and baking them.
- You can serve it in individual portions. We love that you can serve one or two stuffed eggplants for each person. Their boat shape looks fancy on a plate.
- This recipe is healthier. In a traditional Turkish karniyarik recipe, eggplants are fried before they are stuffed but we prefer roasting them. So the result is healthier yet equally tasty.
- It is freezer friendly. You can make it at the weekend and freeze. It is a life saver when you reheat it for a weeknight dinner.
- It can be made vegan and vegetarian friendly. You can substitute green lentils for ground meat in this recipe and it is still so tasty. Check out Turkish imam bayildi recipe for an already vegan/vegetarian option.
Ingredients
This karniyarik recipe consists of three elements; eggplants, ground beef filling and tomato sauce.
- For the eggplants, choose fresh and ripe, medium-sized eggplants. American eggplants aka globe eggplants or Italian eggplants work the best. Too big and you won’t be able to finish it, too small and your filling won’t fit. Medium eggplants help create a perfect stuffing to eggplant ratio and the perfect balance of flavors.
- The main ingredients for the filling are ground meat (we prefer ground beef) onions, green peppers, and fresh tomatoes. These are combined with salt and pepper and freshly chopped parsley.
- Then finally, we have a very simple sauce that will add a ton of complex flavors to your eggplants. This sauce only needs water and tomato paste.
How To Make
This is a recipe that does take some time, but is definitely worth the wait!
First, prepare and roast the eggplants. Peel the eggplants lengthwise, leaving some stripes on the skin. Using a knife, make a slit on each eggplant but don’t cut it completely. Don’t remove the stems.
Soak the eggplants in salted water for about 15 minutes. Gently squeeze them and pat dry with a paper towel.
Place the eggplants on an oven grill or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the eggplants with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon olive oil for each.
Bake them until tender, for 30 minutes.
Second, make the filling. Heat olive oil in a pan. Cook onions until translucent. Add in garlic and then ground beef. Stir well and press on the ground beef so that there won’t be any blocks left. Then cover the pan and let it release its juice first and then absorb most of it.
Now add in chopped peppers and tomatoes. Let them cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
Remove from heat and add in chopped parsley.
Next, stuff the eggplants. To do this, remove the eggplants from the oven. Using a teaspoon, push the edges of the slit and create a boat-like shape for the filling to sit in. Divide the filling between all the eggplants.
Finally, make the sauce and bake the stuffed eggplants with the sauce. Mix water and tomato paste well. Pour it all over the stuffed eggplants and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/400F.
Remove from the oven and garnish with chopped parsley before serving. Serve the karni yarik while they’re still hot.
How To Serve
Just like all meat dishes and kebabs in Turkey, this Turkish style stuffed eggplant is always served with orzo rice or bulgur pilaf and delicious Turkish cacik or yogurt. You can make these while the stuffed eggplants are baking in the oven. It wouldn’t be traditional but you can even serve this with some simple buckwheat too. They pair well together. And a bowl of shepherd salad aka coban salatasi would be the best salad to serve with it.
How To Store
You can prepare the entire karnıyarık dish and place it inside an airtight container. Store the stuffed eggplants in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. You can store it in the freezer for 2-3 months. Just thaw it and reheat in the oven when you want to serve.
You can also prepare the filling in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 6 days before using it. Then once you are ready to use it, simply stuff your eggplants and bake.
Vegetarian Option
This karniyarik recipe is easy to customize for a vegan or vegetarian diet. You can just leave the ground beef out and increase the amount of other ingredients for the filling. Another great addition would be green lentils as a substitute for ground meat. It is still tasty either way. Plus, you can serve it at room temperature.
FAQs
You can definitely fry the eggplants and traditionally they are actually prepared in this way. However, we prefer roasting them as it is a much healthier cooking option and is also much less work.
You can also make these on the stove, however, again, baking them in the oven is much easier and allows you to prepare accompaniments in that time. Roasting them also creates a nice caramelized flavor and gives an overall better-tasting dish.
These stuffed eggplants can be frozen and they freeze very well. Wrap each stuffed eggplant in plastic wrap, then foil, and place them inside a freezer-safe container. Store them in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
These are not the same dishes. They have almost exactly the same ingredients, but they are prepared in different ways. Moussaka uses chopped cooked eggplants that are then combined with a ground beef mixture – it isn’t a stuffed recipe. It can also be cooked on the stovetop or baked in the oven.
More Turkish Recipes Like This
More Stuffed Vegetables
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Print📖 Recipe
Turkish Stuffed Eggplant Recipe Karniyarik
Roasted whole eggplants stuffed with a spicy ground beef mixture.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
For eggplants:
- 5 eggplants
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
Filling:
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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1 small onion, finely chopped
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3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
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200g/ 7oz ground beef
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¼ cup finely chopped green pepper
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½ cup finely chopped tomatoes
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1 teaspoon salt
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½ teaspoon black pepper
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½ cup parsley, finely chopped
Sauce:
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1 and ½ cups hot water
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2 tablespoon tomato paste
Instructions
Eggplants:
-
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
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Peel the eggplants lengthwise, leaving some stripes of the skin. Using a knife, make a slit on each eggplant but don’t cut it all. Don’t remove the stems.
-
Soak the eggplants in salted water for about 15 minutes. Gently squeeze them and pat dry with a paper towel.
-
Place the eggplants on an oven grill or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the eggplants with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon olive oil for each. Bake them until tender, for 30 minutes.
Filling:
-
Prepare the filling when you put the eggplants in the oven. Heat olive oil in a pan. Cook onions until translucent. Add in garlic and then ground beef. Stir well and press on the ground beef so that there won’t be any blocks left.
-
Then cover the pan and let it release its juice first and then absorb most of it.
-
Now add in chopped peppers and tomatoes. Let them cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
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Remove from heat and add in chopped parsley.
Assemble:
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Now remove the eggplants from the oven. Make some space for the filling in each eggplant by pushing the edges of the slit using a spoon. Make a boat shape.
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Stuff the eggplants with the filling and place them in a baking pan.
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Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
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Mix water and tomato paste well.
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Pour it all over the stuffed eggplants.
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Bake for 20 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 352
- Sugar: 18.2 g
- Sodium: 512.6 mg
- Fat: 21.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.5 g
- Protein: 14.2 g
- Cholesterol: 24 mg
Keywords: turkish eggplant recipe, stuffed eggplant, turkish stuffed eggplant, karnıyarık, karniyarik recipe
Jamee says
You have such great recipes on this site. I was wondering if the Eggplant Karniyarik could be made with cilantro instead of parsley?
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Jamee, glad you like our recipes! Well, cilantro is not a herb we use in Turkish recipes. If you love it in other dishes, you can definitely use it. The result will taste slightly different from the Turkish style though.
Jamee says
Thank you for your response. It is a convenience only as I have a bunch of frozen cilantro I am trying to use up but I can also use fresh parsley as I would like to stay in keeping with the traditional method.
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Then we would highly recommend fresh parsley. Cheers!
Judith says
Karniyarik was my favorite dish in Turkey. I used to order the same menu whenever I eat at a local restaurant. Karniyarik, cacik and pilaf. YUM! Made all these three for dinner tonight and everyone LOVED them all. Thank you!
★★★★★
Charlene says
This recipe sounds amazing, as I love eggplant. One question though... what kind of pepper paste is suggested if I were to try using that instead of the tomato paste?
Zerrin says
Hi Charlene! We don't have many types of pepper paste in Turkey. We either have hot or sweet, both of which are made from red bell pepper. Just use tomato paste if you can't find pepper paste. Hope this helps.
Alessandra says
Hi!
I was looking for a karniyarik recipe in the web and found out yours: your recipe looked fantastic, and, when I tried it, it definitely proved it was! Thank you for your philosophy of recipe sharing and your joyfullness!
The Duo Dishes says
We're making this!
Tracey@Tangled Noodle says
I have mostly enjoyed roasted eggplant in baba ghannouj but not as often have I seen it prepared as wonderfully as this karniyarik! I will have to look out for these more slender eggplants and give this a try. 😎
Cannellette says
I love eggplant and these look so delicious!
OysterCulture says
What an absolutely yummy sounding recipe! I love the sounds of this and I was thinking that a meal of all the dishes with these wonderful names: The Iman has Fainted, and the Split Belly. Can't wait to get other inspired ideas, Look forward to other wonderful dishes from you! Hope you are enjoying your summer.
Magic of Spice says
Wow, what an amazing dish...a must save:)
Judy says
Oh I love eggplant but I've never tried Turkish food. This looks delicious and perhaps will be my first taste of Turkish food, ever! 🙂
The Kitchen Masochist says
I have tried this before. This is one of my favorite Turkish dishes.
Beautiful presentation!
Sophie says
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sweetlife says
great eggplant recipe, thanks for sharing
sweetlife
Erica says
Love the new look of your blog! Beautiful dish....Love the colors.
Faith says
I can see why this is a five star dish -- it's so beautiful and elegant! Looks like a delicious meal!