Ratatouille
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Ratatouille is a bright and chunky summer vegetable stew, rich with olive oil and fragrant with garlic and herbs.
Hailing from Provence, a region in the south of France near the Mediterranean Sea, ratatouille is a bright and chunky summer vegetable stew made with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomatoes. It is rich with the flavor of olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs. Making it properly takes a bit of time, so I suggest cooking a big batch over the weekend. That way, you’ll have a tasty and colorful base for meals throughout the week. With a little imagination, there are endless ways to use ratatouille, such as:
- As a vegetarian main course over grains or polenta
- Alongside roasted or grilled meats and fish
- Shakshuka-style with poached eggs
- Tossed with pasta
- Folded into omelets or frittatas
- Dolloped over crostini with goat cheese
- Straight from the fridge as a snack (it’s delicious cold)
What You’ll Need To Make Ratatouille
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by heating 3 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the eggplant and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and starting to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan (no need to clean it). Add the zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.
Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and transfer to a plate; set aside.
Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan and add the onion and bell pepper.
Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and continue cooking for about 3 minutes more. Do not brown. Next, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes (if using) and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down into a sauce, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the cooked eggplant to the pan; bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant is soft.
Add the zucchini and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, or until just warmed through. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
Sprinkle with fresh basil and thyme, drizzle with a little olive oil if desired, and serve warm or chilled.
How To Make Ahead & Freeze Ratatouille
If possible, you should make ratatouille at least a day ahead of time — like most stews, the taste improves after the flavors have a chance to mingle in the refrigerator. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months for a taste of summer once the cooler weather arrives. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a bright and chunky summer vegetable stew, rich with olive oil and fragrant with garlic and herbs.
Ingredients
- 1 large (1¼ lbs) eggplant, cut into ⅓-inch cubes
- Salt
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb), cut into ⅓-inch cubes
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice
- 5 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 5 large vine-ripened tomatoes (1¾ lbs), cut into ⅓-inch cubes, with their juices
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme, plus more for serving
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the eggplant and season with ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and starting to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan (no need to clean it). Add the zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and transfer to a plate; set aside.
- Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan and add the onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking for about 3 minutes more. Do not brown. Add the tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, thyme, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes (if using) and ¾ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down into a sauce, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the cooked eggplant to the pan; bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant is soft. Add the zucchini and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, or until just warmed through. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Sprinkle with fresh basil and thyme, drizzle with a little olive oil if desired, and serve warm or chilled. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: Let the dish cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. (Keep in mind that the zucchini won't stay crisp after being frozen.) This is delicious served cold, or reheated in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 153
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 14 g
- Sugar: 8 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 392 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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My favorite recipe I’ve found for Ratatouille. My bestie and I have become obsessed with it!
I’ve used this recipe several times, and it is good. But it drives me CRAZY that the ingredients are at the bottom, contrary to other recipes. I am always scrolling the wrong way.
Hi Jackie, at the very top of the page, to the right of the recipe name, you’ll see an orange/red button that says Jump to Recipe – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that helps!
My husband made this dish for a family gathering and everyone loved it. Thank you Jenn for this wonderful recipe 🙂
Excellent!! Loved it, will make again!
This turned out wonderful!
An excellent recipe; easy-to-follow instructions.
I never knew how tasty ratatouille was until making this, followed recipe pretty exactly. So fresh and feels very healthy. I think the addition of salt at various stages makes the seasoning perfect. We have it in regular rotation and it does a couple of meals.
Excellent recipe! I did not have fresh tomatoes so I used canned diced tomatoes which I drained. Turned out great! Thank you!!
I made the recipe almost as written. I didn’t add tomato paste (didn’t have any) and added some herbs de Provence, with some fresh thyme, savory, rosemary from the garden. I was out of fresh basil though and I was really missing that for a garnish!
All was good except the texture of the eggplant was too mushy and weird for my daughter. I kind of understood what she was saying. My co-worker made some ratatouille recently and I wanted to recreate it, but didn’t get her recipe and went based on what I saw her cook. She removed the skins on the eggplant so I decided to do that too. Do you think that contributed to the texture issue?
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Michelle, yes, I do think that peeling the eggplant could have contributed to the texture.
Made this recipe last night and it was fabulous. It was so fresh and flavourful. Thanks for a great recipe.
Love, love, love this recipe! I didn’t use tomato paste because I didn’t have any but I had more tomatoes than it called for so it was juicy enough! I think the trick is to use juice tomatoes, not meaty tomatoes. I love the different textures and flavors!
Good! To those complaining about the tomato paste–you need to cook the tomato paste first. Add it to the onion, garlic, and pepper mixture and let it cook for a minute or two before adding the tomatoes. You should never just plop it in without sauteing first.
I don’t generally leave comments unless I have found a recipe truly exceptional, and this one delivered! I have made ratatouille many time with many different recipes and it never turned out as flavorful as I had hoped. The texture was always just mush. This is the best recipe was the best of both worlds. I made it for a party and everyone loved it! Thank you so much!!
My mother and I made this tonight. It tasted wonderful! Prep time was reduced by having one person chop veggies and one person cook. Oh, we did not add the tomato paste. I used fresh paste tomatoes and found the sauce was thick enough for us.
First time making ratatouille and it is wonderful. Love that you gave weights. My tomatoes are so large I only needed 3 and it is still a bit juicy! Everything from my garden except for the garlic…didn’t get any planted last winter. So glad to hear that it freezes well.
What ruined this recipe for me was the addition of tomato paste. I was using fresh vegetables from the garden and the paste not only did not add anything, it detracted from the delicate flavour of the veggies. Bad idea.
This recipe is perfect. The best I have found. Easy to make after all the chopping! So yummy.
Jen, this is scrumptious, like Provence on a plate! I am eating last night’s leftovers as my lunch as I write! Thank you for another wonderful fresh and delicious recipe!!!
Although tasty, I had to add broth to the very dry sauce. A lot of prep and time.
Hands down the best ratatouille recipe! I served it over polenta – delicious! It’s even delicious cold! Will be making more and freezing some for a delicious taste of summer in the winter.
Great recipe. I love the way the tomatoes break down into a jammy sauce. Great way to use up all the fresh produce of the season! Thanks
This the absolute best Ratatouille recipe I have ever made. Definitely a keeper for me.
This is one of our summer favorites. We usually serve it with brown rice.
This recipe did not disappoint! I needed a way to use up extra eggplant and snake gourd from my garden. As I am disabled, easy was a big requirement. I made a few substitutions, just to use things I had on hand. This recipe is very versatile, full of flavor, and a big winner with everyone in my family. Even my very picky English mom like it. And that’s really saying something!
We had just gotten our weekly farm bag and I had to figure out what to do with all the veggies. I plugged in the ingredients and found this recipe. Lots of slicing and dicing but boy was it worth it! We’re on day 3 and my husband is still raving. It’s great to find something delicious that’s also healthy for you.
Thanks for this recipe – definitely a keeper!
Used all my garden harvest – huge hit with the family over pasta and chicken. Will definitely make again!
This is DELICIOUS!!! I’ve been holding off making it because my husband isn’t a fan of eggplant, but I figured I could just eat it myself throughout the week. Well, what do you know? My husband doesn’t dislike eggplant as much as he thought as the flavor just melded perfectly with all the other fresh summer veggies. Absolutely perfect, thank you!!
If there is time, would you salt the eggplant before making this dish (i.e., put the sliced eggplants in a colander – sprinkle with salt and set aside for an hour)?
Hi Diane, It won’t hurt, but it’s really not necessary. 😊
This was excellent! My whole family, including teenagers really enjoyed this recipe for ratatouille. This is now the recipe I am using instead of my former recipes.
Really delicious! Thank you
Tried “your” recipe! Wow, flavorful, easy to prep and prepare. Able to cook and prep at the same time, keeping the process moving to completion. Was making this for someone on a lean and green diet and turned out excellent. My only caviat to the end was grating some Mexican cojita cheese over the top. Hit the spot. I liked this recipe as it didn’t seem to be unusually time consuming in prep and preparation. Will definitely put this one in the book!
Made this with no eggplant because I didn’t have any and just threw everything in the cast iron skillet as I chopped and it turned out great. Didn’t have any basil on hand so I added about a tbsp of dried Italian seasoning. I really like the seasoning measurements in this recipe. Nothing is overwhelming and it has a nice fresh flavor for summer.
I’ve never been a big fan of ratatouille, but with ripe Japanese eggplant in the garden it was time to try something new. This dish is so easy to make! And the taste is outstanding. Definitely worth trying.
Very tasty! It was a big hit at the last picnic I attended
Very good recipe. I am not a big eggplant guy but this turned out beautifully. I found it easy to follow plus some personal prefs such as adding yellow squash (hey, I had it so…) Great by itself with some serious garlic bread and wine. Joyfully plump1
Yes, I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious on day one and again several days later. I served it over fish and rice. Today, I’m making it again. Thank you for sharing the recipe with all of us!
Loved this!! Was really hoping it would be good since it took around an 1 1/2 hours to make, and it did not disappoint! Had it by itself, tossed with pasta, in an omelette, and over rice with some blackened fish. Very versatile and a good way to get your veggies.
Followed the recipe to a “T” and I hate to say it but it was just ok. I’ve made ratatouille using a different recipe with success but this was just blah. It was a huge amount of work for very little payoff, unfortunately.
I’ve made this twice now. I froze it in smaller portions. It is fantastic!
I made this today and it was so tasty!!! I am so impressed by the way it turned out and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers I had tomorrow. Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
I am diabetic, so I eliminated the sugar. It was delicious without anything sweet added to it.
I have made it twice now and it is a definite hit with my family. Thank you for sharing it with everyone.
I don’t have zucchini, but I do have a yellow squash. Do you know if that would that be an okay substitute?
Sure, it’s perfectly fine to use yellow squash instead of zucchini — enjoy!
Tasty recipe without overworking it and leaves a nice texture to the vegetables
Absolutely delicious and easy to follow directions! You will not be disappointed!
I made mine with your recipe one week ago and my husband loved it so much. Everything is good except cutting vegetables but it is worth the effort.
I didn’t have fresh basil so added a tbsp of pesto I had in the freezer from my summer basil plant . Added a nice addition. loved the recipe. Easy and delicious.
I just made this as a winter dish which changes things. Husband said it was the best ‘ratty peeuy” that I had made. Because I had another pan that I was roasting chicken on and had the oven going…I roasted the eggplant, zucchini, onion and pepper on a sheet pan. Then I put the tomatoes, garlic and spices in a saucepan, adding the veg to the saucepan at the last minute.
It tasted like heaven! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Great recipe. Forgot to get eggplant but came out great without it. After making it I realized I could have used mushrooms in it to give it a deeper flavor. Will make again for sure. I added yellow squash since I forgot the eggplant.
Had for the first time cold on Crown Princess. Loved it.
I put it over rice. Hopefully they serve again. Will make it at home