• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • Press
  • Browse Categories
  • Work With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Give Recipe logo

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Browse Categories
  • Turkish
  • Desserts
  • About
  • Start Here
×

Home » Turkish » Turkish Stuffed Eggplant Karniyarik

Published: Jul 10, 2021 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Turkish Stuffed Eggplant Karniyarik

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

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!

Two pieces of Turkish karniyarik with tomato sauce on a white plate.
Jump to:
  • What is Karniyarik?
  • Why We Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • How To Make
  • How To Serve
  • How To Store
  • Vegetarian Option
  • FAQs
  • More Turkish Recipes Like This
  • More Stuffed Vegetables
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

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.

Eggplants, ground beef, tomato paste, olive oil, Turkish green peppers, a tomato, garlic cloves, onion, parsley on a grey background.
  • 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!

Hands cutting a slit on an eggplant lengthwise.

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.

Hands drying peeled eggplants with a paper towel.

Soak the eggplants in salted water for about 15 minutes. Gently squeeze them and pat dry with a paper towel.

Hands brushing eggplants with olive oil.

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.

Partly peeled whole eggplants roasted on an oven grill rack.

Bake them until tender, for 30 minutes. 

Ground beef cooking in a white pan and a wooden spoon insdie.

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. 

Ground beef, chopped peppers and tomatoes cooking in a white pan and a wooden spoon inside it.

Now add in chopped peppers and tomatoes. Let them cook for 5 minutes over low heat.

Ground beef filling with tomatoes and parsley in a white pan and a wooden spoon inside it.

Remove from heat and add in chopped parsley. 

A hand stuffing the roasted whole eggplants with ground beef filling with a spoon.

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.

Stuffed roasted eggplants covered with tomato sauce in a baking pan.

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.

Ground beef stuffed eggplants baked in tomato sauce garnished with parsley in a baking pan.

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.

Baked stuffed eggplants served on a white plate and the baking pan on the side.

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

Can I fry the eggplants?

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.

Can I cook it on the stove?

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.

Is this a freezer-friendly meal?

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.

Are karniyarik and moussaka the same?

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

  • Turkish Stuffed Green Peppers
  • Bean Stew With Meat
  • Beef Cabbage Stew
Turkish ground beef stuffed eggplants with tomato sauce garnished with parsley on a white plate.

More Stuffed Vegetables

  • Turkish Yaprak Sarma (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
  • Baked Stuffed Onions With Rice
  • Turkish Stuffed Peppers (Biber Dolmasi)
  • Imam Bayildi Recipe (Turkish Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant)

As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!

Sign up for the FREE GiveRecipe Newsletter to get the new recipes into your inbox! And stay in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram for all the latest updates.

Print

📖 Recipe

Turkish Stuffed Eggplant Recipe Karniyarik

Turkish stuffed eggplants karniyarik garnished with parsley on a white plate.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

Roasted whole eggplants stuffed with a spicy ground beef mixture.

  • Author: Zerrin & Yusuf
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 5 1x
  • Category: dinner
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

Scale

For eggplants:

  • 5 eggplants
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil

Filling:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped

  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

  • 200g/ 7oz ground beef 

  • ¼ cup finely chopped green pepper

  • ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes 

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

  • ½ cup parsley, finely chopped

Sauce:

  • 1 and ½ cups hot water

  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste

Instructions

Eggplants:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. 

  2. 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. 

  3. Soak the eggplants in salted water for about 15 minutes. Gently squeeze them and pat dry with a paper towel.

  4. 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:

  1. 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. 

  2. Then cover the pan and let it release its juice first and then absorb most of it. 

  3. Now add in chopped peppers and tomatoes. Let them cook for 5 minutes over low heat.

  4. Remove from heat and add in chopped parsley. 

Assemble:

  1. 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.

  2. Stuff the eggplants with the filling and place them in a baking pan. 

  3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

  4. Mix water and tomato paste well.

  5. Pour it all over the stuffed eggplants. 

  6. Bake for 20 minutes.

  7. 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

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @give_recipe on Instagram and hashtag it #giverecipe

« Mulberry Jam Recipe Without Pectin
Cold Black Eyed Pea Salad »

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Jamee says

    November 30, 2021 at 8:18 am

    You have such great recipes on this site. I was wondering if the Eggplant Karniyarik could be made with cilantro instead of parsley?

    Reply
    • Zerrin & Yusuf says

      November 30, 2021 at 1:23 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Jamee says

        December 01, 2021 at 12:18 am

        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

        December 01, 2021 at 2:05 am

        Then we would highly recommend fresh parsley. Cheers!

  2. Judith says

    August 08, 2021 at 6:22 am

    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!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Charlene says

    May 01, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      May 02, 2018 at 12:38 am

      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.

      Reply
  4. Alessandra says

    May 12, 2012 at 1:04 am

    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!

    Reply
  5. The Duo Dishes says

    October 24, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    We're making this!

    Reply
  6. Tracey@Tangled Noodle says

    July 20, 2010 at 6:45 am

    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. 😎

    Reply
  7. Cannellette says

    July 19, 2010 at 11:01 am

    I love eggplant and these look so delicious!

    Reply
  8. OysterCulture says

    July 03, 2010 at 10:51 am

    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.

    Reply
  9. Magic of Spice says

    July 02, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    Wow, what an amazing dish...a must save:)

    Reply
  10. Judy says

    July 01, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    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! 🙂

    Reply
  11. The Kitchen Masochist says

    July 01, 2010 at 6:24 am

    I have tried this before. This is one of my favorite Turkish dishes.

    Beautiful presentation!

    Reply
  12. Sophie says

    July 01, 2010 at 6:10 am

    MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
    MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
    MMMMMMMMMMMMMM
    MMMMMMMMMM
    MMMMMM
    MMMM
    MMM
    MM
    M!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  13. sweetlife says

    June 30, 2010 at 2:18 pm

    great eggplant recipe, thanks for sharing

    sweetlife

    Reply
  14. Erica says

    June 30, 2010 at 7:41 am

    Love the new look of your blog! Beautiful dish....Love the colors.

    Reply
  15. Faith says

    June 30, 2010 at 3:59 am

    I can see why this is a five star dish -- it's so beautiful and elegant! Looks like a delicious meal!

    Reply
« Older Comments
Newer Comments »

Primary Sidebar

Zerrin & Yusuf

Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

More about us→

POPULAR

  • Traditional Turkish Breakfast Foods
  • Air Fryer Chicken Wings Baking Powder
  • Baking Powder Chicken Wings Baked In The Oven
  • Adana Kebab (Turkish Ground Lamb Kebab)
  • Healthy Greek Yogurt Coleslaw with Low Fat Dressing
  • Turkish Chicken Kebab Recipe (Tavuk Şiş)

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

All content, recipes and photographs are copyrighted and the property of Give Recipe. They may not be republished in part or whole without proper credit and permission.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 GIVE RECIPE

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Privacy PolicyACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT