Ratatouille is a classic French vegetable stew from Provence made with eggplant, red bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil and herbs- a summer celebration in one dish! Video.
Summertime. It was a song. It was a season. I wondered if that season would ever live inside me.
Benjamin Alire SAenz
Here is one of our favorite recipes for Ratatouille. During the summer months when eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini are in season, the flavor of each vegetable is elevated-you really don’t need to do too much to them! Making Ratatouille is a beautiful way to highlight your garden veggies and truly captures the essence of summer!
Easy Ratatouille Recipe | 60-sec video!
WhY You Will Love This recipe!
- The best flavor and texture! Roasting the veggies instead of stewing them intensifies their flavor, caramelizes them a bit, and gives them a better texture.
- Fast and easy! It only takes about 15 minutes to prep the veggies, and then they go into the oven to roast.
- Versatile! Serve it over pasta, rice or polenta, or pile on toast. Get creative! Ratatouille can be served warm or cold.
- Nutritious & Healthy! This recipe is all about the veggies and it is totally vegan!
- Perfect for meal prep! Make a big batch of Ratatouille on a Sunday, then serve it up in various ways during the workweek (see below for ideas). You can also freeze Ratatouille for winter- a little summer treasure when we need it most!
Table of Contents
ingredient Notes
- Eggplant– Globe or Japanese are great, but any variety will work here.
- Bell Peppers– Red, yellow, orange or green. Nice opportunity to get colorful!
- Summer Squash– Zucchini, yellow summer squash, patty pan whatever is fresh and available.
- Tomatoes- Any variety will work here!
- Herbs– Thyme, oregano, or rosemary or a combination! Or make Herbs de Provence!
- Olive oil – use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil, for the best flavor.
- Vinegar– Just a splash. Balsamic or Red wine vinegar both work.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Ratatouille
- Prep the veggies: Cut all the veggies into bite-sized pieces.
- Toss! Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on 2 sheet pans.
- Bake! Stirring every 20 minutes.
- Season with more salt and pepper to taste, and a splash of vinegar.
- Serve immediately, or cool and refrigerate (or freeze) until ready to use.
What is ratatouille Eaten with?
- It makes a delicious appetizer with French bread or baguette slices to mop up all the juices.
- Spoon warm ratatouille over creamy polenta for a delicious vegetarian meal– comfort food in a bowl It’s probably my favorite way to eat it.
- Create a pasta dish out of it! Toss ratatouille with pasta along with capers and grated pecorino for a punch of flavor!
- Turn Ratatouille into breakfast, serving it over toast and topping it with an egg.
- Serve it as a healthy vegetable side dish to grilled fish or meat.
And here’s how to serve ratatouille for breakfast or brunch; warm and spoon over toast, and top with an egg if you like! So yummy.
faqs
Ratatouille originated in Provence France in the 1700’s, traditionally made as a stew with summer ripe vegetables. The combination of eggplant, bell peppers, summer squash, herbs and olive oil with just a touch of vinegar is what creates the beautiful flavors.
In France, ratatouille is typically served with baguette, crusty French bread, polenta, pasta and rice.
Ratatouille, in essence, means a stirred, chunky stew. “Rata” translates to ‘stew’ in French, while “toiler” is a verb meaning to ‘stir and mix’.
More Recipes You May Enjoy
- Mexican Rice with Sheet-Pan Veggies
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Miso Tofu with Veggies & Rice
- Sheet-Pan Szechuan Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
I hope this easy, delicious Ratatouille Recipe inspires you to try something new and different this summer! Let us know how you like it…. it is one of our favorite meals!
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
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Ratatouille Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 5–6 cups 1x
- Category: dinner, vegetarian dinner, appetizer, side dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Ratatouille is a classic French dish from Provence made with eggplant, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil and herbs- a celebration of summer in one dish! Serve with crusty bread or baguette as an appetizer, serve over creamy polenta, rice, or pasta for a delicious vegetarian meal, or serve as a side dish or for breakfast over sourdough toast with an egg.
Ingredients
- 4 cups eggplant- 3 Japanese eggplant or one large globe eggplant
- 1–2 red bell pepper – or use yellow bell pepper or green bell pepper
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 2 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash
- 1 onion
- 8–14 garlic cloves, whole, peeled
- 2–3 tablespoons fresh herbs – fresh thyme, oregano, or rosemary or any combination.
- olive oil for drizzling
- salt and black pepper to taste
- splash balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
Optional Garnishes: Italian parsley or fresh basil ribbons, red chili flakes, olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line two sheet pans with parchment.
- Prep the veggies: Using a vegetable peeler, peel eggplant if you want – or remove some of the skin in long strips. (Or if you prefer, leave the skin on.) Cut into ½-inch thick bite-sized pieces. Slice the bell pepper into ½-inch wide strips. Cut the tomatoes into 3/4-inch wedges. Slice the zucchini the long way and then slice into ½ inch thick half-moons. Slice the onion into ¼-½ inch thick half-moons.
- Spread out the veggies on the sheet pan in a single layer (this is why you most likely need two sheet pans).
- Drizzle with olive oil and toss, using enough oil to coat generously. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Toss well.
- Roast in the hot oven for 20 minutes; then scatter the whole garlic cloves (peeled) and herbs and mix the veggies. Roast for 20 more minutes, mix again. Turn heat down to 300F and roast for 10-20 more minutes, or until tender and edges begin to caramelize- watch closely here.
- Remove from oven, taste, adjust salt and pepper, and drizzle with a little splash of vinegar, carefully mixing.
- Use immediately, or cool and refrigerate (or freeze) until ready to use.
Notes
Ratatouille will keep up to 4 days in the fridge in an air-tight container or can be frozen for up to 6 months. It can be eaten warm or chilled.
Garlic: I really love garlic, so I add a lot here; feel free to cut back if you like!
To serve with pasta: cook pasta according to directions. Heat Ratatouille in a large skillet adding a little more olive oil and capers (optional). Stir in the cooked pasta, adjust salt. Sprinkle with grated pecorino (optional) and fresh herbs.
To serve over toast: Toast the bread, heat up the Ratatouille and poach an egg. Drizzle toast with a little olive oil, top with warm Ratatouille and poached egg. Season with salt and pepper and top with fresh herbs.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 147
- Sugar: 7.1 g
- Sodium: 202.8 mg
- Fat: 9.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 15.1 g
- Fiber: 4.2 g
- Protein: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Other than the amazing taste, the best part of this meal was leaving my home office every 20 minutes and walking into the mouthwatering aromas that were filling the rest of the house. Delicious, easy, and healthy! Loaded up with extra garlic and fresh thyme, served on top of simple lentils (to get some protein). Thanks for the great meal, Sylvia!
Haha! Love it! The lentils are a great idea!
Excellent, though I did not find that leftovers were as good. I would just make enough for one meal next time.
I am going to make the Ratatouille tonight!! It looks FABULOUS! w
So easy & delicious!
Hi Sylvia,
This ratatouille was so yummy! And easy- just love all of your sheet pan meals! Been following you for several months now and just love how flexible and adaptable all of your recipes are. I have referred you to my daughter as well and she is loving your healthy and simple approach to cooking fabulous meals. Keep up the good work!!!
Thanks Patty! Glad you liked it and appreciate you sharing!
Trying to convince my non-vegetable eating family that they wouldn’t like this (so that I could eat it all myself) did not work. It was gone in two days 🙁
OH JOY!!! They loved it and I have enough ingredients for another batch!
Just curious, when you say, “Add whole garlic…” are we to remove the skin of the garlic? Are we leaving the whole garlic intact?
Thanks!
whole garlic cloves, peeled! Sorry!
This is fantastic! It’s amazing how 2 sheet pans of veggies can cook down to a 4-cup storage container, but I’ll eat on it for days and make it again. I didn’t add the herbs, choosing to just top with sliced basil at the end. I over salted it accidentally and tossed a little red wine vinegar to make up for if. Delicious!!!
This was fantastic! I subscribe to a frozen CSA and was looking for a good way to use the peppers and summer squash. This was perfect! I had to roast the veggies for an extra 10-15 minutes and used the convection feature to finish them. As another reviewer mentioned, after about 20 minutes, I was worried they’d be too watery, but that all cooked off to leave beautifully caramelized veggies. Served over toast with poached eggs. Thanks for the recipe!
thanks for sharing Becky!
This looks incredible! I love the idea of a roasted ratatouille. I am going to try mixing with pasta for a Meatless Monday meal.
Let me know how you like it. Great over polenta too!
Can you freeze this once it has cooled?
Yes!
Very easy, delicious recipe with great ideas for the leftovers. All the colorful veggies makes a beautiful presentation. The polenta is nice and creamy, just how I like it!
This recipe is delicious Sylvia (I added portobello mushrooms just because I had some in the fridge) and it looks so colourful just like your pictures, think I will add feta cheese sometimes for variety – I had it with seafood. I Also have your Energy Bowls on a regular basis – they are also delicious. Thanks for such lovely recipes.
I teach cooking and every year I have my students do food anthropology research on this dish, then make it!! I think I’m going to have my kiddos make this FOUR WAYS so they can try it in different ways. I’m making this tonight for my husband I, too!
Thanks and i love it!!!
Egg and cheese are NOT vegan.
These are optional.
Brilliant idea, and your photography is gorgeous!
awww thanks Kelly!
I’ve made this a million times since you published it–even throughout the winter. Never never never tire of it. It is sooooo good. The veggies actually get kind of creamy–hard to explain, but just wondrrful. When I put it on pasta I toss an egg over the noodles like a makeshift carbonara and it tastes so decadent. And it’s so basic. One of our very favorites.
Awwwww, thanks Susana! I appreciate you letting us know and Im so happy you are enjoying…one of my favorites too!
Im so glad you are enjoying it!!!
Fantastic post. Such inspiring ideas! My kind of meals for sure =)
I am constantly looking for ways to make simple roasted veggies into a meal (usually, I just eat them straight up!)- thanks for some new ideas. Also, super jealous you have those plates- I’ve been dreaming of them but have not been able to justify. Lovely, all of this!
Thank you Sylvia ! This is Delicious! ,Easy ,Fun,Perfect !
Awesome Mary!
This recipe is simply amazing. I ate the vegetables by themselves right out of the oven!! Thank you so much!
Ahaha! So do I! It’s really hard not to eat them all right away. Glad you liked it!
I happened upon the West Seattle Farmer’s Market by accident last weekend and with this with this recipe working itself around in my head, I picked up the vegetables I needed to make it. Admittedly, I wanted to make this more for the polenta than the ratatouille itself, something I have always found too wet and zucchini-y to like much. But, with the pan-roasting method, I was hopeful.
I just pulled the ratatouille from the oven, my kitchen heady with the scent of the roasting veggies, garlic and herbs. Oh, my! This is so good! I was worried initially, when the vegetables got wet and soggy about halfway through the cooking. And, I may have used a bit too much olive oil. However the finished recipe is not wet, but soft and caramelized, and the flavors are beautifully concentrated and, somehow, creamy. I can’t wait to whip up the polenta to serve it over tonight. And then on Monday, I plan to add some Italian sausage and serve it with pasta as recommended.
Thank you so much for this beautiful recipe!
Thanks Julie- I appreciate your feedback so much! Glad you enjoyed…. and sausage with this sounds divine! Love it!
so easy to make, so delicious, so great to have a quick easy lunch – thank you!!! I have eaten this for the last three days – I just add half a can of chickpeas- what a wonderful addition to my repertoire – and I can testify that the house does indeed smell amazing as it cooks. I am looking forward to trying it with the suggested additions. Thanks again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed Rachel!
Love this recipe – thank you !
Thanks Mary Jo!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love ratatouille but feel too overwhelmed to make it. This seems so simple and delicious!
Oh Good! Give a try! It’s really easy.