Grilled Marinated Eggplant Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: ourlastsupper

September6,2009

4.7

6 Ratings

  • Prep time 1 hour
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Serves 4

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Author Notes

I first had this at a New Year's party. I am embarrassed to say that I may have eaten most of it. I was given a quick brief from the hostess about how to prepare it. This is what I came up with. —ourlastsupper

Test Kitchen Notes

For life-changing grilled eggplant, you can't just slice up some fresh eggplant and toss it straight on the grill. You have to take a few important, yet very easy, steps beforehand.

Start by drawing out some of the eggplant's moisture—if you don't, you may end up with a rubbery result. To do this, you simply need to season the sliced eggplant with kosher salt and let it sit in a colander for about 30 minutes to an hour. Once the water has been drawn out, give the eggplant slices a quick rinse (you don't want all that salt hanging around) and dry them off with paper towels.

Now they're primed and ready to soak up a tangy, garlicky marinade. This won't take long, either. You only need to let the eggplant mix and mingle with the marinade for about 15 minutes. After that, it's grill time—fire up your grill (or if you don't have one, you can use a cast-iron grill pan on the stovetop; you'll still get those picture-perfect grill marks). A sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley ties the whole dish together with a bit of brightness. Yep, that's it. Easy, right? Serve it as a party snack, dinner-y side dish, or over fluffy white rice for a vegetarian-friendly main. —The Editors

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 1 eggplant (about 1 to 2 pounds)
  • 2/3 cupolive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 6 tablespoonsbalsamic vinegar, divided
  • 1 teaspoonThai chilies, minced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 bunchfresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Directions
  1. Cut eggplant in half and then into 1/4-inch half moons.
  2. Sprinkle eggplant slices with kosher salt and let stand in a colander for 30 minutes to 1 hour to draw moisture out of the eggplant. Give the slices a quick rinse to remove most of the salt without saturating the eggplant. Place the slices between two clean kitchen towels to dry off.
  3. Combine olive oil, garlic, 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, Thai chilies, and a dash of salt and pepper in a bowl.
  4. Lay the eggplant in a flat dish and cover with marinade. Let stand for 15 minutes.
  5. Grill eggplant slices over medium high heat (350°F to 400°F) for approximately 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until you get good grill marks.
  6. Remove from the grill and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and chopped parsley. The eggplant can can be served immediately or at room temperature.

Tags:

  • American
  • Vinegar
  • Vegetable
  • Eggplant
  • Serves a Crowd
  • 5 Ingredients or Fewer
  • Fall
  • Summer
  • Vegetarian
  • Appetizer
  • Side
  • Hors D'Oeuvre
Contest Entries
  • Your Best Eggplant Recipe
  • Your Best Picnic Dish

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • ourlastsupper

  • Maria Zampieri

  • Louise Gray

  • Sabrina Vogel Riemer

  • Anne Murphy

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14 Reviews

Janet August 27, 2021

Made this today-it is wonderful! Perfect accompaniment to the grilled salmon we served...and the extra marinade did wonders for the salmon as well! Thanks for the versatility-can see where other veggies and main dishes mixed in will be superb!

ourlastsupper January 19, 2021

Holy cow, you made a video of the eggplant! You all are so fun. That made my day. -Andra

hookmountaingrowers August 9, 2020

Was not a great recipe. Too heavy on the balsamic vinegar. Maybe would be better if lightened up on that aspect...

Maria Z. July 20, 2020

I loved this recipe. I made my slices thinner & also incorporated zucchini. The two together are a fave of mine. I could eat them all by myself. Recipe is easy to follow. Thank you 😊

brad7945 June 27, 2020

This turned out amazing. I used a very syrupy balsamic reduction, and sliced the eggplant on a 7mm mandolin. It was too thin to go on my grill, so into oven for 15-20 minutes at 500 degrees. Keeper recipe!

Louise G. May 20, 2019

This was easy and superb. There are several steps involved and do not wait until the last minute to prepare this since there are some waiting periods, I used this as the filling for a baguette sandwich. Since I am vegan, I used vegan mayo and almond cheese on top and melted cheese in oven. On Dear Hubby’s sandwich, I intended to use either goat cheese or cream cheese on the bread. There was more than enough filling for two sandwiches and had some of the eggplant leftover. The next day the flavors had married and after being in the refrigerator overnight were even more tasty,

Sabrina V. September 16, 2017

Made this tonight. Other than a little too much garlic for my husbands taste, it was very tasty. Thank you.

Anne M. July 4, 2014

cooked it just like it was specified in the recipe. DELICIOUS!

ibbeachnana June 21, 2011

Oh, and less ingredients than my recipe I can go for that.

ourlastsupper June 22, 2011

I love eggplant this way. But I've also thrown in other vegetables too and it makes a beautiful colorful platter.

Nancy April 21, 2020

Love your photo! I'm curious what other vegetables you used here?
Thanks!

ourlastsupper January 19, 2021

Hi Nancy, Thank you! In this photo I don’t think I used anything other than eggplant however, I usually add zucchini to the mix and it is just as delicious.

inpatskitchen June 21, 2011

I love this!! I make a similar one that uses lemon, garlic and parsley (and fried eggplant) Yours sounds fantastic!

ourlastsupper June 22, 2011

Thank you! Your fried eggplant sounds really delicious.

Grilled Marinated Eggplant Recipe on Food52 (2024)
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