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Hearty, nutritious, and delicious stuffed eggplant recipe. This Beef and Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant is a tender baked eggplant stuffed with a delectable seasoned beef and quinoa filling. Easy to make, delicious, and super satisfying!
This Beef Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant recipe is packed with flavor and bound to please the hungriest of appetites! Succulent ground beef is mixed with healthy quinoa and seasoned to perfection. These roasted eggplants taste as good as they look and they are so filling and nutritious. Makes for a perfect weeknight meal that everyone will love. Something different to indulge in and enjoy instead of the repeat meals you make all the time. This stuffed eggplant recipe is one we make when we also want to impress guests over dinner.
Looking for other delicious weeknight meals? Why not also try my Keto Taco Steak Stuffed Peppers and my Honey Mustard Shrimp and Potatoes.
why you’ll love this Recipe
- A delicious beef filling. Seasoned ground beef mixed with hearty quinoa and topped with melty mozzarella – so good!
- Roasted eggplant. The eggplant is oven-baked and roasted to tender, juicy perfection.
- An easy weeknight meal. The filling is a breeze to whip up, then just pop it all in the oven – done!
ingredients you’ll need
Here are a list of ingredients you will need to make these stuffed eggplants. The full measurements and instructions are listed further down below.
- 3-4 Eggplants
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
- For the Beef Filling: Olive oil, onion, garlic, ground beef, oregano, tomato paste, can plum tomatoes, roasted red peppers, quinoa, balsamic vinegar, parmesan, parsley, mozzarella.
how to make This beef and quinoa stuffed eggplant
- Roast the eggplant – Cut the eggplant in half lengthways, and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a bit of oil and rub it all over the cut side of the eggplants. Place in an oven dish or a parchment paper-lined baking pan. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and roast for 40-45 minutes, or until super tender when pierced with a fork.
- Make the beef filling – In a large pan add the beef and filling ingredients, finishing with the quinoa. Cook until the filling has thickened. Detailed instructions found further down below.
- Assemble the eggplant – With a fork, create some space in the roasted eggplants. Then stuff the eggplants with the beef filling. Top with cheese and return to oven to bake for another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Garnish, serve, and enjoy!
recipe notes and tips
- Use a preheated oven.
- Opt for medium to smaller eggplant, but use ones that have some width.
- Be sure to cover the eggplant with foil when roasting.
- Ideally, shred your own cheese. Pre shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents and doesn’t melt as well.
- Keep the flesh from the eggplants that you scrape out, perfect for omelets! Or make some eggplant dip.
- Garnish with parsley for a pop of freshness and color!
faq’s
This can easily be made into a great vegetarian or vegan dish. Just omit the ground beef and increase the quinoa or add some lentils. To make vegan omit the ground beef and cheese.
You can freeze this recipe, either once it’s cooked or you can freeze the filling and then add to freshly roasted eggplants. It will last up to 3 months in the freezer if stored in a tightly sealed container.
This is a complete meal on its own but you can totally amp things up with a side of warm pita bread or top with tzatziki. You could also serve with a side of Parmesan Oven-Baked Asparagus or Creamy Garlic Parmesan Brussel Sprouts.
The skin of the eggplant is edible and doesn’t need to be peeled. Bigger eggplants do have tougher skin and harder to eat but you still don’t need to peel the eggplant before roasting, Roast the eggplant with the skin on and after the roasted eggplant is cooled off, you can easily scoop the flesh off the skin.
other dinner recipes
- Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
- Keto Beef Chili Recipe
- Baked BBQ Chicken Breast
- White Bean Turkey Chili
- Beef Bolognese Sauce
- Chickpea Butternut Squash Curry
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Beef and Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant
Ingredients
Roasted eggplant:
- 3 medium-small eggplants, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Beef filling:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 x 15 oz can plum tomatoes
- 1 x 15 oz jar roasted red pepper, drained and chopped
- 1/2 cup uncooked white quinoa
- 1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
Instructions:
- To roast the eggplant:
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Cut the eggplant in half lengthways, and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a bit of oil and rub it all over the cut side of the eggplants. Place in an oven dish or a parchment paper lined baking pan.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and roast for 40-45 minutes, or until super tender when pierced with a fork.
To make the beef filling:
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until softens, 3-4 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, garlic, oregano, and cook, mincing the meat with a wooden spatula as it cooks.
- Cook until no longer pink, then stir in the tomato paste. All the liquid should be 1 lb lean ground beef evaporated by now.
- Stir in the plum tomatoes and peppers. Break the tomatoes with the wooden spoon and mix well to combine.
- Add the quinoa and stir well. Simmer, covered, over low heat, until the quinoa is fully cooked, 10-12 minutes.
- Once the beef and quinoa sauce is done and thickened, stir in the balsamic, parmesan and 2/3 of the chopped parsley.
- Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
To assemble the stuffed eggplant:
- Remove the roasted eggplant from the oven. Using a fork, fluff each to create some space for the filling.
- Divide the beef filling between the eggplant halves. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
- Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Sprinkle with remaining parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- Use a preheated oven.
- You do not need to peel the eggplant.
- A great make-ahead option would be to make the filling ahead of time
- Opt for medium to smaller eggplant, but use ones that have some width.
- Be sure to cover the eggplant with foil when roasting.
- Ideally, shred your own cheese. Pre shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents and doesn’t melt as well.
- Keep the flesh from the eggplants that you scrape out, perfect for omelets!
- Garnish with parsley for a pop of freshness and color!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tasted great, just recommend cooking the capsicum a bit longer if slighter larger
This was very good ! I loved it ! The beef and quinoa filling is so GOOD !!!!
I had a hard time getting the eggplant cooked to the right texture … it took me more than double the time. But I always had that problem with eggplants …. I know I must be doing something wrong.
So long as you loved it. Thanks rating and the feedback
I’m going to try this out! Question though, wouldn’t the eggplant need to be sweated first?
It’s not a necessary step, but you could still try it why not