A simple delicious Tagine Recipe with Eggplant and Chickpeas infused with Moroccan spices served over cinnamon-scented couscous. This flavorful Eggplant Chickpea Stew is vegan and gluten-free! Video included.
This flavorful Moroccan Stew or “Tagine” is made with chickpeas, caramelized eggplant, and a fragrant Moroccan spice blend called Ras El Hanout. It’s luscious and hearty yet totally plant-based and vegan. It can be made ahead, as leftovers get even more flavorful as the flavors have time to meld.
What is a tagine?
A tagine can either refer to a traditional clay cooking vessel with a hooded lid, or a slow-cooked stew typically from Morocco and other North African countries like Algeria and Egypt.
how to make Eggplant Tagine | 60-sec video!
Can you make a tagine, without a tagine?
Yes, you can make a tagine (a slow-cooked stew) without the clay vessel, using a dutch oven, or another ovenproof, lidded baking dish.
This vegan tagine recipe starts with cutting and salting the eggplant. Eggplant is so meaty and filling here, you really won’t miss the meat at all.
Cut the eggplant into large triangular wedges. Place in a bowl of salted water and place a lid over top to keep them submerged for 20 minutes.
Salting the eggplant will not only help remove bitterness but will also prevent the eggplant from soaking up too much oil.
Pat the eggplant dry.
Working in batches, sear two sides of the eggplant until deeply golden.
No need to cook the eggplant all the way through here as it will cook through in the oven. Set these aside.
To the same pan, saute the onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery for the flavorful base of the stew.
Season with Ras El Hanout. You can buy this flavorful Ras el Hanout, or make this version at home.
Add crushed or diced tomatoes.
Let the tomatoes cook down.
Add fresh parsley.
Stir in raisins, which will give the stew a very subtle but lovely sweetness. Chopped dried apricots will work too.
Stir in the canned chickpeas.
Add the seared eggplant into the stew.
Nestle in the eggplant into the stew and cover.
Place this in the oven until the eggplant is translucent and cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Give a gentle stir, taste and adjust seasonings and salt to your liking. You want the stew generously seasoned as it will be served over couscous, mellowing out the flavors. Sometimes I’ll add a little more Ras El Hanout.
***Keep in mind, Ras El Hanout is a spice blend– so every version is different. Start conservatively and add more to taste.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve with couscous!
On the Homefront: We made it safe and sound to our Airbnb in the lovely little town of Encinitas. We brought our cat Bell, my sourdough starter (named Vita), and a flat of microgreens. All survived relatively unscathed.
On the long drive down, I listened to a few podcasts that may resonate. Everyday Wellness Podcast #131 with Dr. Cate Shanahan, Found My Fitness Podcast with Dr. Jed Fahey on Sulforaphane (the inspiration for the microgreens post), and this interview with James Hollis on Insights at the Edge on “finding meaning vs. happiness”.
The days are longer and warmer here and we’ve been hiking and biking and getting our feet in the sand. We watched the big red sun dip into the ocean last night, and felt the magnitude of that endless horizon, so open and spacious, like an invitation…
Hope you enjoy this decadent, Moroccan Tagine with Eggplant and Chickpeas! It’s healthy, vegan, and bursting with Moroccan flavors.
xoxo
Sylvia
More recipes you may like:
- Roasted Eggplant Lasagna with Arugula Pesto
- Meltingly Tender Moroccan Eggplant
- Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Szechuan Sauce
- Our 20 Best Chickpea Recipes!
- Tunisian Chickpea Stew with Carrots and Harissa
Moroccan Eggplant Chickpea Tagine
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: vegan dinner, vegan recipes
- Method: tagine, stovetop, oven
- Cuisine: moroccan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Delicious, healthy Tagine Recipe with Eggplant and Chickpeas- seasoned with Moroccan spices and served over couscous. A simple plant-based dinner recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 extra-large eggplant (or two small)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Bowl of water
- 2–4 tablespoons olive oil (divided) or coconut oil.
- 1 onion, diced
- 6–8 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 1 cup celery
- 1 red bell pepper (or large carrot)
- 1 tablespoon, ras el hanout, more taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 14-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
- 1/3 cup raisins (or chopped dried apricots)
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed.
- 1 cup veggie broth
Garnishes: Cinnamon scented couscous, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, optional yogurt, optional Aleppo chili flakes
Cinnamon-Scented Couscous (serves 4)
- 1 3/4 cup veggie stock
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small cinnamon stick ( or 1/2 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic ( or onion)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 1/2 cup dry couscous
Instructions
PREP EGGPLANT: Quarter the eggplant, and cut into large chunks (1 1/2 inches at widest part). Place in a big bowl, cover with cool water just to enough to cover, and stir in the salt. Place a plate over top to keep the eggplant submerged 20 minutes. Drain and pat dry. (Don’t rinse.)
Preheat the oven to 375F
Pan Sear: In a large dutch oven, or ovenproof skillet, over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Working in 2 batches, brown two sides of the eggplant, until golden, then set these aside. No need to cook through.
Make the stew: Add more oil to the same pan, and the onion and saute 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic, celery and red pepper and lower heat, cook until tender about 5 minutes. Lower heat to low. Add the spices, canned tomatoes (and juices), raisins, salt, pepper, chickpeas and veggie broth. Bring to simmer, stirring.
Nestle in the eggplant and give the pan a good shake so the stew levels. It should be like a stew-like. If it seems dry, add a little water. Drizzle with a little olive oil, cover tightly and place in the warm oven.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until eggplant is tender and cooked through. While it’s baking make the couscous.
Remove the lid, taste adding more salt to taste, keeping in mind the couscous will soak up some of the salt. If you feel the stew needs more flavor overall, add a little more ras el hanout, a 1/2 teaspoon at a time, tasting as you go. If it seems watery, bake uncovered for a few minutes. If dry, add a little water. To serve, Sprinkle with optional Aleppo chili flakes and fresh Parsley. I like adding an additional drizzle of olive oil, or a dollop of yogurt, up to you.
Serve with the cinnamon-scented couscous.
To make couscous: Place broth, oil, spices and salt in a medium pot, and bring to boil. Stir in couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 7 minutes. Uncover and fluff with fork. Adjust salt.
Notes
Soaking the eggplant, not only seasons it, it helps remove some bitterness and helps the eggplant absorb less oil. Don’t skip this step.
You can make your own Ras El Hanout here.
If leaving the raisins and apricots out, you will need to add a little sweetness- honey, sugar, something, to taste. 1-3 teaspoons.
Feel free to cook and bake in a tagine – if using a brand new tagine, make doubly sure you soak it first.
Keywords: eggplant tagine, eggplant chickpea tagine, moroccan chickpea stew, moroccan eggplant chickpea stew
Extremely extremely good even if you don’t have ras el hanout on hand!
★★★★★
This is one of the best vegetarian recipes I’ve come across and my whole family love it! I sometimes crumble some feta on the top which adds another level. So easy to make too! Thoroughly recommended!
★★★★★
Does this recipe reheat well? Is it a good “make ahead” dish to eat during the work week?
Yes, reheats great!
This does indeed reheat well on the stove top, and it’s delicious!
Hand ground most of the spices (including the homemade ras el hanout with the saffron and fennel seed) using my molcajete, and was in love with the flavors. It’s hard to describe the complexity of this dish — sweetness from the apricot, brightness from the coriander, warmth from the clove and cinnamon — but it works so well with no one thing overpowering the others. Everything has its place. Garnished it with yogurt and Aleppo pepper as suggested. This was my first tagine, so thanks for continuing to introduce me to new cuisines. Also loved the tip on brining the eggplant (I’m going to try that next time I make pasta alla norma).
★★★★★
Awesome Brandon! So glad you enjoyed this. 🙂
I’ve never had tagine before but if this is what it tastes like, wow! So much depth of flavor! I made your homemade spice blend and topped the final dish with yogurt. The only substitution I made was canned white beans instead of chickpeas because I didn’t realize I had run out of chickpeas. My boyfriend’s favorite part of the meal was the couscous. Can’t wait to share this recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Glad you both liked it Savi!
Made this for tonights dinner. Couldn’t help but taste it. Yum!!!
Want to serve it with the yogurt. Do you add anything to the yogurt or just use plain?
★★★★★
I like adding a little Harissa Paste 😉
I tried in the past other tajine recipes, but I was never really satisfied. This one will really be the recipe that I will make again! So delicious!
Thank you for sharing another great recipe!
★★★★★
Wowza— this was delicious!!! Love the spices and texture of the vegetables. So healthy, delicious, and easy!!
★★★★★
This was great- even my kids were fans. I found the eggplant browning to take a lot of time so next time I will toss the eggplant with oil and roast it to save time.
★★★★★
That works, but may take just as long and without caramelizing the exterior. But up to you. 🙂
I made this last night, and it was excellent. The couscous is a nice touch. My family doesn’t like eggplant, but they liked it in this recipe. Score!
I think I’ll roast or grill the eggplant next time to save a little prep time, which will come in handy for week nights. If the other veggies are chopped in advance, all one has to do is toss ingredients in the pot and heat until tender.
Thank you Sylvia!
★★★★★
This was absolutely delicious! Perfectly spiced with the homemade version of ras el hanout. I topped it off with fresh mint and added some crumbled feta to the couscous just before serving. Will make again soon. Thanks Sylvia!
★★★★★
So good, made it tonight with the temps in the mid 30s in SoCal, burr! My husband had 2 servings. He was intrigued with the spices, and it got a thumbs up. Thank you Sylvia, another winner!
★★★★★
Looks delicious 😋
I don’t like cinnamon can you substitute for anything else?
Do you mean in the couscous- just leave it out. 🙂
I made this last night for dinner. It was delicious! I was a little worried that my husband wouldn’t like it as he has always said he doesn’t like eggplant. He loved this recipe! I made my own ras el hanout; I’m glad I did as it is probably cheaper. Many thanks to you Sylvia as the spices made for a divine stew! The cinnamon scented couscous was perfect with this stew!
★★★★★
This looks great – but I cannot eat raisins. Any thoughts on a small substitution?
★★★★
How about some chopped dried apricots?
Couscous isn’t gluten free. I am going to make this, but sub quinoa for the couscous.
Hi Cathi, correct, quinoa would be great here…also I’ve been seeing gluten free couscous too.
Do you think it would work to grill the eggplant rather than salting and sautéing as a way to streamline?
Totally!