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The Best Baba Ghanoush Recipe

March 6, 2017

Ok guys, confession time. I have this weird obsession with baba ghanoush. I love the stuff. This love affair started several years ago after trying the creamy eggplant dip at a Mediterranean restaurant in Dallas and was reignited during my experience on the Whole 30 diet last year. 

Recently it has reached a whole new level thanks to our new favorite restaurant here in Charlotte, Yafo Kitchen. They make the best baba ghanoush I have ever had. The stuff is practically addicting. I will order an extra large side of the stuff just so I can take it home and eat it throughout the week. I also try and find new and creative ways of trying to trick the staff at the restaurant what their secret ingredient is. So far, no one has given it up.

But lucky for all of us, I think I figured it out on my own. Now I can make the best GD baba ghanoush anytime I want, and so can you! 


Start with two good sized eggplant and stab them all over with a knife. Unless you want them to blow up in the oven, that’s your call. 

Broil them until they are completely charred and wrinkled, but also totally soft inside. 


Cut the eggplants open and spoon out all the delicious flesh. 

Now here’s the fun part! Put all that flesh into a salad spinner (it’s not just for salad anymore, guys!) and give it a good spin to get out all that extra moisture. Then throw all of it into the food processor. 

[Big thanks to Serious Eats for that tip!]


Too the egg plant, add some good tahini. How do I know if it’s good tahini? The less English there is on the bottle, the better! But the stuff from Trader Joe’s will also work just fine. 

Now here is where this stuff goes from good, to great. Add in some sumac (probably not something you have lying around your spice cabinet, but I highly recommend getting yourself some if you like Middle Eastern food) and smoked paprika.

The smoked paprika is the kicker. It gives the baba ghanoush this mildly sweet and smokey flavor that is just heavenly. You can skip the sumac. Do not skip the smoked paprika. 

We aren’t done yet. The last step is adding the garlic. However, I do not recommend adding a whole clove of garlic to the food processor. It will make the garlic flavor very harsh and almost spicy. 

I recommend mincing it very finely then “pureeing” it with the side of a knife. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the garlic, then run blade of the knife at about a 75 degree angle over the garlic. Then mix it into the baba ghanoush at the very end. 

Don’t you just want to stick your fave right into that work bowl? Just me? 

You may change your mind after trying this baba ghanoush. I don’t care if you don’t really like eggplant. Or even if you have tried the dip before and didn’t like it. Try this one and I will almost guarantee that you will like it. I forced my husband to try it, even though he isn’t a fan of eggplant, and he actually liked it.

Actually, what he said was “I think this is better than Yafo’s”. Sure he might be biased and only said that to get in my pants, but let’s just pretend that it’s true, okay. 

At the very least, it is so good that I licked the bowl clean, an honor I only reserve for cake batter and cookie dough. 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:137]

/ Filed In: Eat, Jaimie, Other Savories New, Paleo Dishes, Side Dishes
Tagged: appetizer, dip, eggplant, Paleo, tahini, vegetarian, whole 30

Baba Ganoush

January 22, 2016

Baba-Ganoush-Title

One of the hardest parts about this Whole 30 Challenge are the snack options. If I were following the book to the letter, I wouldn’t be snacking much at all. But that’s just now how I function. I need a few snacks to get me through the day. 

Typically I would reach for some Greek yogurt, string cheese, or carrots and hummus for a healthy snack option. Unfortunately all of those are strictly forbidden on the Whole 30. Instead I have been turning to almonds and apples with almond butter as my snack, but honestly that is getting SO old. I needed to spice it up a bit. 

Babaganoush-4

Enter, baba ganoush! “What the F&#$ is baba ganoush?” you ask? Well, I had no idea what it was until a couple years ago. After my first taste I was totally hooked! It is a roasted eggplant dip that is creamy and savory like hummus, but has this added sweetness since it is made from eggplant. 

Babaganoush-2

If you are like me, eggplant totally intimidates you. Every time I try to cook with it, the eggplant ends up rubbery and tasteless. But baba ganoush is very different because you don’t have to do much with the eggplant. All you have to do is roast it either on the grill or under the broiler until it is totally shriveled and soft. I was trying to save a bit of time, so I sliced my eggplant then roasted it, and it worked just fine. You are just aiming to get the eggplant to be totally soft and caramelized

Babaganoush-3

Once the eggplant is roasted, the rest is as simple as tossing all the ingredients into a food processor and processing until nice and smooth. Easy enough, right?!

Baba ganoush has been a wonderful change of pace to my apples and almond butter. Now I can add veggies and baba ganoush to my list of allowable snack options! Trust me, I will take all that I can get!

Babaganoush-7

[yumprint-recipe id=’94’]

/ Filed In: Appetizers, Eat, Other Savories New
Tagged: baba ganoush, dip, eggplant, Paleo, whole 30

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Hey There!

Hey there, I'm Lindsey. I'm a number cruncher by day and a home cook and baker by night. While I love to eat healthy and find fresh and healthy alternatives for my favorite foods, I will never turn down dessert! Life is all about moderation, right?

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