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. Check out our 25+ Incredible Chickpea Recipes and our 20+ Best Eggplant Recipes!
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. The eggplant is succulent and meaty, a deliciously satisfying way to cook it!
What is a tagine?
A tagine can 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?
You can make a tagine (a slow-cooked stew) without the clay vessel, using a dutch oven, or another ovenproof, lidded baking dish.
How to make Moroccan Eggplant Tagine
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.
How to serve Tagine
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
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- Meltingly Tender Moroccan Eggplant
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- Chickpea Salad
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Moroccan Eggplant Chickpea Tagine
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- 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 medium 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
- 14-ounce 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ¼ cup
- Calories: 384
- Sugar: 13.3 g
- Sodium: 823.2 mg
- Fat: 9.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 66.2 g
- Fiber: 10.7 g
- Protein: 12.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Excellent!
Yowzers! Added courgette and carrots as I had just one small aubergine and made Sylvia’s Ras el hanout, served with chutney, yoghurt and fresh coriander. We LOVED it!
That sounds just perfect Kath!
Incredible Tagine. It’s now in my Top 25 to make for family and guests. Everyone loves it! It freezes well, too!
Wonderful to hear!
This recipe is fantastic! The eggplant turns out so tender. I didn’t have couscous so I served it with coarse bulgur wheat- delicious!
That sounds great! Glad you enjoyed.
So so good
Great to hear Abbie!
Such a great recipe. I made it tonight again and added few other veggies and it was delish!
Wonderful Silvia!
Yum!
Absolutely love this dish but I’d say the stew is 4 servings as well. My only problem with it is that it is low in protein – any ideas on how to add some more?
Hey Erika, you could add more chickpeas?
Tonight we are just 2. Can i freeze this?
Yes Davina, I think it should freeze just fine!
My 3yo loves it. We call it “the veggies” and he frequently asks for it. I replace the main spice with non spicy Garam Masala.
So great to hear!
this is a very savory, flavorful dish and thrilled it’s vegan
Thank so much Holly!
What a delicious vegetarian recipe. Will definitely make it again!
Great to hear Sophie!
This was so delicious I’m making it again now 💜
Great to hear Julie!
This is fast becoming a staple in our home. Everyone loves it!! It’s perfect as is, but would do well with some extra heat-cayenne or hot peppers. The flavors blend perfectly and it’s great the next day or to freeze. I am GF, so I served with rice. Delicious.
So helpful, thanks Wendy! Totally add heat-sounds good!
Thank you for all the recipe inspiration. Cooked this last night for the first time & added a squeeze of lemon to finish off, Absolutely delicious recipe!!
So happy you enjoyed it- one of my favorites too!
I served with a Morroccan style pilaf instead of cous-cous, and some labneh like concoction of strained yogurt, preserved lemons & mint. Worked a treat. Thank you for the basic idea
Sounds like a beautiful meal Neeraja!
Looking forward to making this! To make it gluten free, would you recommend cooking brown rice with all the same additions as the couscous?
I think that would be great!
Loved the balance of flavors here! I often find that Moroccan recipes are too heavy on cinnamon for me, but this was perfect. Dried cranberries instead of raisins was also great.
Good to hear Amanda! Thanks so much for coming back and rating it!
One of our household favorites. So much amazing flavor
Great to hear Tom! Thanks so much.
This is one of the best eggplant recipes I’ve ever had! made some adjustments: used fresh tomatoes and some leftover tomato sauce, more onion and topped with some toasted nuts and cilantro. Perfetion
Yum! Sounds perfect.
I wonder if you could add the serving size to the nutrition info?
Done!
Made this dish twice now. Awe… The flavors from the spices! Pure happiness! Highly recommend it!
Yay, glad to hear it Silvia!
Delicious easy to make but very impressive
Thank you
Great to hear Jacqui!
I made this in my solar oven today while on a boat in hot Mexico. Great spices and recipe! I added a yogurt dipping sauce to mine.
Wow, how fun Kristin! So glad it worked out and you enjoyed!
Fantastic! This vegan recipe is a special treat ~ Thank you!
Appreciate the comments and ratings Daniella- and glad you enjoyed this!