Creamy Eggplant and Zucchini Dip Recipe
Inspired by baba ganoush, this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip recipe is the perfect way to use summer’s bounty of produce! Grilled eggplant and zucchini are mixed with a tahini and lemon dressing! Serve with pita!
And so it begins: The Summer of the Squash.
Earlier this spring, Scott came home with twenty (20!!!) squash seedlings, leftover from a community garden project at work. At first I fought him when he wanted to plant all twenty, knowing squash produce like rabbits, but then I remembered we kill everything we plant, so I let the boy have his fun.
Two months later, we could essentially cure a small developing nation of nutritional deficiencies with our backyard garden. Good thing I really like squash.
Because I just can't bring myself to toss anything that came from our backyard, I've been working squash into as many meals as I possibly can. After so many years of killing everything we put in the ground, I’m not going to let a single zucchini go to waste. So when I was in the mood for baba ganoush, a creamy Middle Eastern eggplant dip, I decided to throw some zucchini in there too!
The result was this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip, which has all the yummy smoky flavors of baba ganoush, but with a bit of added texture from the zucchini, which holds up a little more than the eggplant on the grill. When eggplant is cooked on the grill, it gets super tender and the flesh gets a silky, creamy consistency. Mixed with the tahini dressing, it almost melts together to form the base of this dip.
How to Make This Creamy Eggplant and Zucchini Dip Recipe
The first step in making this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip recipe is to grill the vegetables. Cut them into thick planks, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper. When cooking eggplant, it’s usually recommended to salt the eggplant and let it drain 30 minutes to get rid of the bitterness, but in making this recipe I find that step unnecessary. Grill the veggies until they are tender with good char marks.
While the veggies cool, make the tahini dressing, a mixture of tahini seasoned with lemon juice, garlic and cumin. Simply chop the vegetables, mix with the dressing, and you’re ready to serve! I like mine drizzled with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with za’atar, baharat, or smoked paprika, and perhaps a bit of cilantro or parsley. In these pictures, I used a cracked coriander and pepper mix from Spicewalla, my favorite place to pick up yummy spice mixes.
Creamy Eggplant and Zucchini Dip Recipe Adaptions
Usually baba ganoush is served pureed, and if you like, this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip is also delish after a spin through the food processor.
If you don’t have a grill, you can easily make this eggplant dip in the oven using your broiler. For the eggplant, prick it all over using the tines of a fork and broil it whole - no olive oil, salt or pepper needed - until the skin is blackened and charred. The broiler in my oven is a little funky and weak, but I bet for most non-crappy ovens it would take about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the oven and let it cool before slicing the eggplant in half and scooping out the flesh. It should be tender, silky and easily scoopable. For the zucchini, I would cut it into planks, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, then broil until it’s slightly charred.
While I added zucchini to this recipe in a desperate attempt to free up space in our veggie bin, I bet you could make this with other grilled vegetables, like peppers, mushrooms, tomato, or red onion.
You can also make another version of this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip using Greek yogurt. Swap all or half of the tahini for plain, full fat Greek yogurt. While it doesn’t have the earthy, nutty flavor of the tahini, it’s equally creamy and delish!
How to Serve This Creamy Eggplant and Zucchini Dip
Obviously, baked pita or pita chips are perfect for serving with this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip, but there’s lots of other ways to enjoy it. I love it as a spread in sandwiches and wraps, like my chickpea salad pita or in a veggie wrap. It’s also tasty scooped onto a grain bowl, for example, on this baba ganoush bowl topped with chickpeas, pickled red onions, and roasted broccoli.
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Creamy Eggplant and Zucchini Dip Recipe
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant or 2 medium, sliced into 1-inch thick planks
1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and each half cut into 4 spears
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
Heat a grill to medium-high heat. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
When the grill is hot, grill the vegetables about 5 minutes per side until tender with nice char marks. Remove to a platter and set aside to cool.
As the vegetables cool, make the dressing. Whisk together tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and cumin until well combined, then season to taste with salt and black pepper.
When vegetables are room temperature, dice and place in a large bowl. Pour in dressing and stir to combine. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator up to 5 days in a covered container.
If you like this creamy eggplant and zucchini dip recipe, you might also like:
Babaganoush Bowl
Middle Eastern Eggplant and Wheat Berry Salad
Eggplant and Zucchini Veggie Burger
