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Home Cuisine Levantine

Mehshi Betenjan (Stuffed Eggplants)

Stuffed aubergines cooked the Middle Eastern way in tomato sauce. These stuffed aubergines/eggplants are made vegan as they're stuffed with just rice, veggies, spices and no meat!
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By: Diana Last updated on March 21, 2025

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Stuffed aubergines cooked the Middle Eastern way in tomato sauce. These stuffed aubergines/eggplants are made vegan as they’re stuffed with just rice, veggies, spices and no meat!

Stuffed aubergines


Another family favourite! This is my mum’s recipe as I grew up eating lots of stuffed vegetables that were always stuffed with rice. For these stuffed aubergines, you will need to get the mini type of aubergines or at least medium-sized ones. The recipe is ready in just one hour and could be made in a couple of days in advance.

Levantine Recipes

As I grew up in Jordan, I ate and still cook and eat lots of Middle Eastern food. It’s a very rich cuisine that consists of a huge variety of vegetables, meat, legumes and grains. So many main courses use rice as a base, and this recipe is one of them.

Vegan Stuffed Eggplants or Aubergines

Stuffed baby eggplants or aubergines in the Middle East are usually made meaty. So the filling is almost always made with rice, but it could be mixed with either minced beef or lamb. However, as this is a vegan version of the dish I’ve used rice with lots of veggies and seasonings for the filling.

Fun fact: In Arabic, these are called “Batenjan Mehshi”.

Middle Eastern Stuffed eggplants recipe

How to Make Stuffed Aubergines

Step 1. You will need to prepare your mini aubergines or eggplants, by cutting the top off (the stems) and hollowing out the centres of the aubergines to make room for the stuffing. To do that, you will need a special courgette corer to get rid of the flesh.

Leave about 1/2 inch of the rim of zucchini and make sure not to make any holes.

The whole green part could be removed, but I think that the aubergines are super pretty when it stays on. I just remove it using a spoon or a fork when I’m eating.

Using the zucchini corer, hollow out the eggplant.

The eggplant in the picture above is ready to be stuffed as there’s enough room for the stuffing.

Step 2. Make the stuffing!

Start by pouring warm water over rice, and leave aside for it to soften a little.

Dice onions, tomato, and mince some garlic.

Roughly chop parsley and fresh mint leaves.

Mix all of the ingredients together with olive oil, salt, cumin, baharat seasoning, and black pepper.

Middle Eastern rice stuffing

Mix all the ingredients along with the rice to create the filling. You could also add other vegetables and seasonings, but the ingredients that I’ve used is what’s usually used to make the stuffing in the Middle East.

stuffed aubergine

Step 3. Start stuffing the eggplants with the rice veggie stuffing, but make sure that the rice takes only two thirds of the space in the aubergine, as the rice will expand while cooking and can become a bit messy and aubergines might even break.

You could also stuff bell peppers same way as you stuffed the aubergines/eggplants. My Mum always adds at least one bellpepper to the pot along with the aubergines as it adds a lot to the flavour.

cooking stuffed aubergines

Step 4. Arrange the stuffed aubergines/eggplants in a pot. Then add water or vegetable stock and cook for 15 minutes.

Then add tomato paste or blended tomatoes with garlic. Add 2 bay leaves and a few mint leaves (fresh or dried). Cook on medium heat for around 40 minutes or until the rice is soft.

If you add the tomato mixture from the beginning of the cooking, this may result in your aubergines hardening, so they won’t be soft and will take much longer to cook.

Cover with a plate to help the aubergines stay in place, you could also place a mug on top if the plates start to move.

Step 5. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until the aubergines are cooked and soft.

batenjan mehshi stuffed eggplants

Step 6. Serve warm in a pasta plate or bowl with some extra tomato sauce from the pot. Eat with yogurt or pita bread.

stuffed baby eggplants

Next time, I’ll be posting Indian Stuffed Brinjal recipe. It’s a completely different recipe with lots of lovely spices and no rice!

If you like Middle Eastern food, then you definitely need to try my Molokhia recipe. And another Middle Eastern dish cooked in tomato sauce is these Middle Eastern green beans with rice. They’re slow cooked in tomato sauce, but could also be made over the stovetop.

More Great Eggplant Recipes

If you make this Middle Eastern stuffed aubergine recipe, please don’t forget to rate this recipe and share a picture on social media. Tag #LittleSunnyKitchen in your posts as I would really love to see what you make! Thank you for supporting Little Sunny Kitchen, so I can keep sharing my tasty recipes with you for free.

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe
5 from 7 votes
(Click stars to rate!)

Middle Eastern Stuffed Aubergines

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 55 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Author: Diana
Print Rate Recipe
Stuffed aubergines cooked the Middle Eastern way in tomato sauce. These stuffed aubergines/eggplants are made vegan as they’re stuffed with just rice, veggies, spices and no meat!
4
Stuffed aubergines cooked the Middle Eastern way in tomato sauce. These stuffed aubergines/eggplants are made vegan as they’re stuffed with just rice, veggies, spices and no meat!

Ingredients 

  • 16 baby aubergines
  • 1 cup (175g) rice uncooked
  • 2 tomatoes diced
  • 1 onion diced
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 20 grams parsley chopped
  • 10 grams mint leaves chopped
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 and ½ teaspoon baharat seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 litres water or vegetable stock
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6 mint leaves fresh or dried

Instructions 

To prepare the baby aubergines:

  • Cut the stems off and hollow out the centres of the aubergines to make room for the stuffing. To do that, you will need a special courgette or zucchini corer to get rid of the flesh.
    Leave about 1/2 inch of rim of aubergine and make sure not to make any holes.

For the stuffing:

  • Start by pouring warm water over rice, and leave aside for it to soften a little.
  • Dice onion, tomatoes, and mince some garlic. Roughly chop parsley and fresh mint leaves.
  • Mix all of the ingredients together with olive oil, salt, cumin, baharat mix and black pepper. Add the rice and mix. Your stuffing is now ready.
  • Stuff the eggplants with the rice veggie stuffing, but make sure that the rice takes only two thirds of the space in the aubergine and is loose as the rice will expand while cooking and can become a bit messy and aubergines might even break.

To cook the stuffed aubergines:

  • Arrange the stuffed aubergines/eggplants in a pot. Then add water or vegetable stock and cook for 15 minutes.
  • Add tomato paste or blended tomatoes with garlic, 2 bay leaves and a few mint leaves (fresh or dried). Cook on medium heat for around 40 minutes or until the rice is soft.
    Cover with a plate to help the aubergines stay in place, you could also place a mug on top if the plates starts to move.
  • Cook for about 40 minutes, or until the aubergines are cooked and soft. While the aubergines are being cooked, try the sauce and see if it needs more salt. Add more salt to taste.
  • Serve warm in a plate or bowl with some extra tomato sauce from the pot. Eat with yogurt or pita bread.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 394kcal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 1866mg, Potassium: 2434mg, Fiber: 29g, Sugar: 36g, Vitamin A: 1495IU, Vitamin C: 42.3mg, Calcium: 122mg, Iron: 3.5mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Little Sunny Kitchen

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  1. Valerie says

    Posted on 8/27/21 at 00:45

    5 stars
    Really loved the spices. I never had baharat seasoning before and loved it. I did not have enough eggplants in my garden and had to cut the recipe in half. I will make it next time I get a batch of aubergines.

    Reply
  2. Maristela says

    Posted on 12/8/19 at 16:13

    5 stars
    I just made it and it is delicious. Easy to prepare, which is a perk. Thank you for this lovely recipe.

    Reply
  3. Ritchie Dee says

    Posted on 12/4/18 at 15:33

    5 stars
    These look very tasty

    Reply
  4. Margaret Gallagher says

    Posted on 10/22/18 at 16:26

    5 stars
    These look devine – I’ve tried with peppers before but not with aubergine – the combination of flavours win be perfect

    Reply

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