This recipe really is the best way to prepare tender grilled eggplant! There are hundreds of recipes on the web that call for simply grilling eggplant on the BBQ right after cutting and coating with oil and seasoning. My vegan recipe involves one small extra step to get silky and meaty slices every time–no rubbery eggplant here! The key? A simple salting and rinsing technique. We also bump up the flavour with a sticky swipe of barbecue sauce to finish.
Grilled veg, big salads, and simple proteins is how we eat all summer long. Eggplant is a vegetable that comes around locally once the weather heats up, and I think it’s one of the trickier vegetables for folks to master! No matter how I’m cooking up any of my eggplant recipes, most of the time I’m doing one crucial preparation step: salting 20 minutes ahead of time.
Does eggplant need to be salted before grilling?
- After many tests in my kitchen, I do think that eggplant needs to be salted before grilling (or roasting, sautéing etc).
- In this recipe you simply slice the eggplant and toss it into a colander and then coat in a generous amount of salt (don’t worry–you’ll be rinsing most of it away later).
- Let the salted eggplant sit for 20 minutes or so in the colander. Excess moisture will be drawn out (and with it most traces of bitterness).
- Before cooking, you’ll rinse the salt off and pat slices dry (and then toss with oil, seasonings etc). The end result is silky, luscious grilled eggplant every time.
I like to keep the skin on the eggplant because I like the texture and the visual presentation. I think it helps the slices hold together better on the grill as well. To avoid sogginess, I quickly spray the slices with oil and coat with spices right before grilling. Eggplant will soak up as much oil as you can offer like a sponge, so it’s key to apply it right before cooking.
When making char grilled eggplant, I cook it for about 3-4 minutes per side. Once you have grill marks and some softness, you’re good to go. To make this recipe extra succulent, I toss with some spices and finish with a brush of sticky barbecue sauce. This is my little trick for entertaining folks that are fussy about veg–a slick of sweet barbecue sauce and pretty char marks from the grill are generally irresistible. You can use homemade or a store bought sauce here. Primal Kitchen makes some of my favourite bottled barbecue sauce options.
A platter of this tender and flavourful eggplant with a little barbecue saucy sheen is simply delicious. I garnish with some chopped chives and parsley from my patio garden. A few slices stacked up make a fab grilled eggplant sandwich with a slice of your fave vegan cheese, crunchy lettuce, and maybe a swoop of mayo too. Enjoy!
Tender Grilled Eggplant Slices with Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants, sliced into 1-inch thick rounds
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- oil spray (I like avocado)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup barbecue sauce of choice
- chopped herbs, for garnish (optional)
Equipment
- Grill
Notes
- It seems like a lot of salt, but you will be rinsing most of it away before it’s time to cook!
- You could apply this cooking method with any sauce you love! Harissa, peanut sauce, chimichurri… the sky is the limit.
- Homemade barbecue sauce is great, but I rock with store bought options too. Primal Kitchen makes my go-to’s and you can find them here.
- I really do find that oil spray is the most effective here for coating the slices evenly without absolutely drowning them.
Instructions
- Set a large colander in the sink. Place the rounds of eggplant into the colander. Sprinkle the tablespoon of salt over the eggplant and toss with your hands to evenly coat each slice in the salt. Let the eggplant rest for 20 minutes.
- Place a baking sheet on the counter and line it with a clean kitchen towel.
- The eggplant should have let off quite a bit of moisture. Rinse the eggplant thoroughly, tossing the slices with your hands to get all of the excess salt off. Then, transfer the rinsed eggplant slices to the baking sheet lined with the clean kitchen towel. Pat them dry and then remove the towel, leaving just the dry eggplant slices on the baking sheet.
- Preheat your grill to high.
- Evenly spray both sides of the eggplant with the oil. Season the slices with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper on both sides. You can sprinkle some salt here, but I generally find it unnecessary.
- Place the eggplant slices on the grill. Cook until char marks appear on the undersides, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip the eggplant slices over. Continue to cook until char marks appear on the other side and eggplant has softened, about another 3 minutes. Brush the eggplant slices with barbecue sauce and flip over to caramelize. Repeat this step on the flip sides of the eggplant slices.
- Serve the eggplant slices immediately with chopped herbs on top if you wish.
Hi Laura,
I adore eggplant and most often air fry it in some olive oil and spices. (it’s amazing as a pizza topper or rice replacement with curries) I have it at least a couple of times a week.
I’m going to try this recipe now.
I’d like to share a life changer of an eggplant tip. There are male and female eggplant, the females being the ones to avoid as they are so full of seeds and the seeds have a bitterness to protect them. Look for more slender eggplants that have more of a ‘belly button’ mark at the bottom as opposed to the females which have an elongated mark. There is no place to put photos here but google it and you’ll see examples.
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for sharing this! I often bypass trying eggplant recipes because of experiences with bitterness, but now I know how to select them. TY!
I’m definitely going to try this, many thanks!
Would roasting, air fryer, or searing on the stovetop work? / Have you tried other methods besides grilling for this recipe? I sadly do not have a grill…