Spicy Grilled Eggplant (Video)
This Spicy Grilled Eggplant with red pepper sauce, parsley, and mint is a perfect summer side dish for anything that’s cooked on the grill!
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I first made this Spicy Grilled Eggplant when I had a garden that was overflowing with eggplant, and I made it every summer for a while when I was growing eggplant. My brother Rand must have been visiting Utah regularly in those days, because this got to be his favorite way to cook eggplant, and he’d tell me he was making it it over and over!
Now fast forward a few years, and since then I’ve had an eggplant recipe that became one of the most popular recipes on my blog. But sadly I had to buy eggplant at the store to make this favorite grilled eggplant again so I could take new photos. Next year I really want to try growing eggplant in the garden again!
Of course this spicy grilled eggplant is perfect for a meatless dinner, but this spicy eggplant is also a fabulous side dish for anything cooked on the grill! I know eggplant is a tough sell for some people, but for years I’ve been saying give grilled eggplant a chance, and I promise that this spicy eggplant is really delicious.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- globe eggplant
- salt, to remove water from eggplant
- olive oil
- chopped parsley
- chopped fresh mint
- red wine vinegar
- fresh lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link) from a jar or minced fresh fresh garlic
- Aleppo Pepper (affiliate link) (or less, to taste; see notes)
- Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) or other all-purpose seasoning blend
What is Aleppo Pepper?
Aleppo Pepper is a type of mild red dried chile pepper that comes from Aleppo, Syria. It’s used all over the middle east as a flavor-enhancing addition to many dishes.
How spicy is this spicy eggplant?
You’ll want to adjust the amount of spicy red pepper to your personal preference, and the one teaspoon of Aleppo pepper I used in the original recipe is pretty spicy for me now. Maybe it’s because I had fresh Aleppo Pepper that I bought in Istanbul! You can also use regular red pepper flakes, or use a smaller amount of Cayenne Pepper (affiliate link).
Want more ideas for vegetables on the grill?
Check out Low-Carb and Keto Grilled Vegetables for more tasty options for vegetables on the grill. You can use Eggplant Recipes to see all the ideas with eggplant on my site.
How to make Spicy Grilled Eggplant:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- Cut the eggplant into slices about 3/4 inches thick; lay the slices out on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and let water drain out for about 20 minutes.
- Then turn the eggplant over, salt the other side, and let more water drain out.
- Then press down on the eggplant pieces with paper towel to absorb the liquid.
- While the eggplant drains, chop the mint and parsley, and mix the spicy sauce.
- Preheat the grill to medium high, and brush both sides of the eggplant slices with a little olive oil.
- Grill eggplant pieces about 4-5 minutes per side, rotating them after a few minutes if you want to get those criss-cross grill marks.
- When the eggplant is done, put in a glass baking dish and spoon a little sauce over each piece. Let the eggplant sit for 10-15 minutes to absorb the sauce.
- Serve warm or room temperature, sprinkled with the chopped mint and parsley.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
Grilled eggplant would be great with Effie’s Cottage Cheese Salad with Za’atar for a low-carb meatless meal. Or you could serve the eggplant as a side dish with Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Marinated Beef Kabobs, Very Greek Grilled Chicken, Grilled Sausage and Peppers, or Sanpete County Grilled Turkey Kabobs.
More Delicious Recipes for Eggplant:
Spicy Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Salad
Grilled Eggplant with Feta and Herbs
World’s Easiest Grilled Vegetables
Spicy Grilled Eggplant
This Spicy Grilled Eggplant is a perfect when you have eggplant in the garden, but this is so delicious it's worth buying eggplant to make it.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 large globe eggplant (see notes)
- 2 tsp. salt, to remove water from eggplant
- 2 T olive oil, to brush eggplant for grilling
- 2 T chopped parsley (see notes)
- 2 T chopped fresh mint (see notes)
Spicy Sauce Ingredients
- 2 T olive oil
- 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. garlic puree (from a jar) or finely minced fresh garlic
- 1 tsp. Aleppo Pepper (or less, to taste; see notes)
- 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional, but highly recommended)
Instructions
- Remove stem end and wash eggplant, but do not peel.
- Cut eggplant into slices about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick, being careful to make all slices the same thickness.
- Arrange eggplant in single layer on double-thick paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
- Let liquid ooze out for 20 minutes, then turn over and sprinkle other side with salt and let drain 20 minutes more.
- While eggplant drains, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic puree, Aleppo Pepper (affiliate link), and Spike Seasoning (affiliate link). Chop mint and parsley.
- Preheat gas or charcoal barbecue grill to medium high. (You can only hold your hand there for 3-4 seconds at that heat.)
- After the second 20 minutes has finished, cover the eggplant pieces with another layer of paper towels and press down with your hands to squeeze out water.
- Wipe eggplant dry. Lay them out on a baking sheet (or paper towels) and brush both sides with olive oil.
- Place eggplant on grill and cook 4-5 minutes per side, rotating after a few minutes on each side if you want to get nice grill marks. Watch them carefully because they go from nicely browned to overly dark quite quickly.
- When eggplant is done, remove from grill and place in a single layer in a baking dish (or use the same baking sheet you used to oil them.)
- Spoon some of the spicy sauce over each piece of eggplant, and let sit 10-15 minutes so eggplant can absorb sauce flavors.
- To serve, assemble eggplant on serving plate and sprinkle with mint and parsley.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
You can also use or 2 small eggplants or 2-3 long Asian eggplants. Asian eggplants don't need to be salted. Cut Asian eggplant on the diagonal to get bigger slices. You can use all mint or parsley if you don’t have both, and you can use more herbs if you prefer. Use whatever kind of red pepper flakes you have. I would start with a small amount and taste before you add all the red pepper.
Adapted from a recipe in Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1/4 of recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 185Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 11.5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1140mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 4.7gSugar: 5.61.7g
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Spicy Grilled Eggplant is a good side dish for any low-carb or Keto diet, including any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Eggplant Recipes or Side Dishes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2007 when I had lots of eggplant in my garden. I’ve been making it ever since and the recipe was last updated with more information in 2022.
47 Comments on “Spicy Grilled Eggplant (Video)”
Double the spicy sauce recipe, your eggplant will thank you for it.
I used Japanese eggplant (the long style) and only made minor modifications. I didn’t have aleppo pepper but took the advice from Google of substituting ancho pepper with a dash of salt for it. Not too spicy at all. Also increased the amount of red wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice to 1 T. each (half a lemon) just because I butterfingered my measuring skills. Still, needs more sauce. Absolutely tasty, but next time will use dried parsley instead of fresh to match the dried mint I used, and double the spicy sauce recipe to ensure plenty of coverage for each slice. I also mixed ALL the ingredients together, parsley and mint as well, and spooned some onto each slice. The Japanese eggplant made for very nice tidy individual bite-sized appetizers and highly recommend using that variety for anyone else who is thinking of making this (as opposed to the much larger globe varieties.)
Glad you enjoyed it! And more sauce sounds good to me!
What a yummy recipe. We have a bunch of my neighbor's eggplant right now and I'm making this tonight. Have to go over their again for mint but we have Aleppo pepper with us here in Hood River. f
Hope you enjoy Letty! This is one of my all-time favorite eggplant recipes.
I'm pretty sure I've never had eggplant grilled before. Definitely need to try this one!
Sandra, so glad you have enjoyed it!
This is an absolute yummy recipe, the best way to have eggplant as a side dish if you ask me. I made it many times after I spotted it on you blog. Thank you!
Sandra
I do agree, love the mint in this!
Mint is a great addition to eggplant, they go perfectly together in my opinion. I'll definitely give this a try!
Shawn, in that case you MUST try this recipe. So, so good!
Wow! This sounds fantastic! I love eggplant and I love spicy!
Stephanie, glad I was timely.
Pille, that's the same problem I'm having myself!
That sounds utterly gorgeous, Kalyn! I've got four eggplants in our greenhouse, and obviously it'll be a while before I can eat any of those. Will have to decide whether I'll use supermarket eggplants or whether I wait and savour this recipe in August 🙂
My mom loves eggplant! Thanks!
Housigirl, I agree, I love Aleppo pepper!
Excellent! I think the aleppo pepper adds a certain something…smokiness? Yesterday I snipped mint from a friend's garden, so I used all mint…scrumptious! Will definitely make again. (My grill ran out of gas, so today's meal was stovetop grill. Can't wait to try on the gas grill)
Jenny, thrilled to hear you liked it so much. This is definitely one of my favorite eggplant recipes. (And I love it that the photo got youto try it!)
This was my first attempt at grilling eggplant; so after searching online for ideas and how to's I settled on this recipe. The deciding factor, I am sorry to say was the pic that was included with blog – which looks delish. This was the first time anyone in my group ever grilled and ate roasted eggplants so this was a new venture. I received so many compliments on this dish, along with request for the recipe. This was a week ago, here I am grilling eggplant again, unfortunately didn't save recipe so I had to search for it again. I have never posted a feedback on a recipe I found online, but this recipe was awesome. Thanks.
Jeff, thanks for the update as to how this worked with smoked paprika. And I think the idea of using the extra marinade in cauliflower is brilliant!
Kalyn,
I did try this with pimenton (smoked paprika) instead of the spicier pepper and it was terrific. A good alternative for those that don't like the spicy stuff, and even for those that do.
Since I also did some grill-roasted cauliflower at the same meal, I used the "extra" marinade and poured it over the hot cauliflower, and let it sit for a bit. Not quite as stunning as the eggplant (the cauliflower doesn't absorb as much), but still a nice flavor boost to something lots of people think of as bland.
Wow, I see I got way behind on replying to comments here. Sorry about that, but I do appreciate all the nice comments.
Eggplant recipes, sorry but I don’t do link exchanges. I only link to blogs that I read regularly.
Nice blog, very informative content. Would you mind if I ask you for a link exchange? Regards…