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This Turkish eggplant salad is uniquely delicious. Charred eggplant and bell peppers are combined with tomatoes, herbs and spices for a delightful convergence of flavors. Like other Mediterranean salads, key ingredients include olive oil, lemon juice and sumac.
If you’ve been a long time reader, you know eggplant if one of our favorite ingredients. When it comes to eggplant recipes, we love them all; from baba ganoush and Middle Eastern eggplant to hearty karniyarik (Turkish stuffed eggplant). This Turkish style smoky eggplant salad is another favorite that I cannot wait to share with you. It goes well with many Turkish dishes and even eggplant skeptics love it!
Table of Contents
Smoky eggplant salad – Turkish style
Charred and smoky eggplant has a special place in the Persian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Just like melitzanosalata and mutabal, this recipe also calls for the eggplants to be charred on an open flame, preferably your gas range (instructions for the roasted version below).
If you’re looking for more ways to use charred and smoky eggplant, try mirza ghasemi, an Iranian dish made with eggplants, tomatoes and eggs.
Ingredients notes
- Eggplant: The star of the dish is the eggplant, so make sure to get the best ones you can find. It’s best to use Italian eggplants for this recipe. If using globe eggplants, make sure they’re not too large, otherwise they won’t cook completely and will remain raw in the middle.
- Bell peppers: You need both green and red bell peppers for this recipe.
- Onion: Yellow or white onion would work for this recipe.
- Tomato: Firm tomatoes such as roma or beefsteak would work perfectly for this recipe.
- Garlic: One to two cloves would do. It’s important not to overuse garlic in this recipe since it can overshadow the smoky eggplant flavor.
- Parsley: Use flat leaf parsley, not the curly variation.
- Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil adds depth and earthiness to the salad.
- Sumac: This bright red spice adds tanginess to the salad and cannot be substituted with any other spice. Find sumac in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean shops or online.
- Lemon: Freshly squeezed lemon juice adds a nice bright flavor to the smoky eggplant.
How to make eggplant salad Turkish style
- Wash and dry the eggplants completely. Then pierce them using a fork and place them on a gas range over medium high heat. Flip a few times using a pair of tongs so it cooks evenly on all sides. This will take about 20 minutes. The skin will get charred and wrinkly, and the flesh will be completely soft.
- Char the peppers on the gas range as well. Make sure to turn them occasionally so they char and soften evenly. This will take about 15 minutes. The peppers are ready once the skin is charred and they are somewhat softer. You can turn on 2-4 ranges at the same time to char the eggplants and peppers simultaneously.
- Place the charred eggplants and peppers in a large bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. Let them sit for 15 minutes to cool down and “sweat”. Peel them using gloves or under running cold water. Then finely chop them using a kitchen knife.
- In a large bowl, mix the chopped eggplant and peppers with the onion, tomato garlic and parsley.
- Add in some of the olive oil followed by the sumac, lemon juice and salt. Taste and add more sumac and salt if needed.
- Transfer to a serving plate and top with more olive oil. Serve at room temperature or cold.
Roasting instructions
If you don’t have a gas range, you can roast the eggplants and bell peppers by following these instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pierce the eggplants using a fork. Brush the eggplants and the peppers with a bit of olive oil and place them on a baking sheet.
- Roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, rotating a couple of times, until the skin is wrinkly and the vegetables are cooked.
- Let cool in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and proceed to use in the salad as instructed.
Serving suggestions
This smoky eggplant salad makes a nice addition to any mezze platter alongside some hummus, fried halloumi and dolma. Even though it’s called a salad, I love having it with some bread such as lavash, pita or Turkish pide bread as a light lunch.
You can also serve it as a side with dishes such as roasted chicken and vegetables, shish tawook, kofta kebab or beef shish kabob.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, pierce the eggplants using a fork and roast them at 400 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes until the flesh is tender. You can also broil them for 20 to 30 minutes as well. Follow my roasted eggplant recipe for more details.
Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. It’s best to drizzle with some olive oil before serving.
While I’m a firm believer in soaking and salting the eggplant before roasting and frying, I skip this step when charring on an open flame. I find that it doesn’t make much difference when charring.
More delicious Turkish salad recipes
Turkish Recipes
Turkish White Bean Salad Recipe (Piyaz)
Turkish Recipes
Turkish Bulgur Salad (Kisir)
Mediterranean recipes
Turkish Homemade Potato Salad (Patates Salatasi)
Mediterranean recipes
Turkish Tomato Salad Recipe (Gavurdagi)
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or subscribe to our newsletter to get a free e-Cookbook!
Turkish Smoky Eggplant Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants, see notes
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 yellow onion , finely diced
- 1 large tomato, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil , divided
- 2 tsp sumac
- 1 lemon , juice of
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Pierce the eggplants a few times using a fork. Turn on the gas stove to medium high and place the eggplant directly on the range. You can have 2 ranges on at the same time to char both eggplants at the same time. Char the eggplant for about 20 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes for all parts to cook evenly. This would take about 20 minutes, depending on the size of the eggplant.
- Place the red and green bell peppers on the stove as well to char. This would take about 15 minutes. Flip occasionally so they char evenly.
- Place the charred eggplants and peppers in a bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. Let them sit for 15 minutes so they sweat and are no longer hot.
- Gently peel the eggplants and peppers. You can do so on a board wearing cooking gloves or under running cold water.
- Finely chop the peeled eggplants and peppers and add them to a bowl followed by the chopped onion, tomato, garlic and parsley.
- Add 2 tbsp of the olive oil, sumac, lemon juice and salt. Stir to combine.
- Transfer to a serving platter and top with the rest of the olive oil.
Video
Notes
- The eggplants are going to be charred on the stove top therefore make sure they’re not too large otherwise they won’t cook completely. Italian eggplants work best for this recipe. If using globe eggplants, make sure they are not too large. Chinese or Japanese eggplants won’t work for this recipe since they don’t have enough flesh.
- Instead of charring, you can roast the eggplants in the oven following my instructions on how to roast an eggplant.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Give it a good stir and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
- To make this salad a little bit spicy, add a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love the smoky charred eggplant flavour with the fresh herbs, tomatoes and spices. I served it with a few pita triangles and it was so delicious, I should’ve made double! But now I know for next time.
This Turkish Smoky Eggplant, is fantastic! It’s a great way to use up garden eggplants and really brings out their flavor with a delightful smoky touch. It was easy to prepare and a big hit at my table, we all loved it! Thank you!
I’m not the biggest fan of eggplants so I wasn’t sure if I would like this salad, but once I made it and tasted it – it was too good for me to not eat! I added some grilled chicken on top and it was an excellent lunch!
Delightful smoky flavour from the eggplant! Absolutely gorgeous salad, we all loved it. Thanks!
Such a lovely flavor from all the veggies! Definitely a new summer favorite.