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Karnıyarık: Turkish Stuffed Eggplant
4.9 from 354 votes

Karnıyarık: Turkish Stuffed Eggplant

Karnıyarık, a traditional Turkish dish, features medium-sized eggplants partially peeled to create a striped skin effect, fried until lightly browned, and then stuffed with a savory filling of sautéed onion, green bell pepper, ground beef, garlic, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes. The eggplants are slit lengthwise to form pockets for the filling, topped with tomato and green chili slices, then baked. This dish delivers rich, layered flavors and tender textures from the combination of fried eggplants and a well-seasoned meat filling.

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr
Servings: 5 servings
Course: Main Course, Appetizer
Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
  • 5 eggplant medium-sized
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion finely diced, large
  • 2 green bell pepper finely diced
  • 12 oz ground beef
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ½ tbsp tomato paste
  • ½ tbsp pepper paste
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 3 tomato diced small, medium
  • 1 tomato cut into 5 pieces, medium
  • 2-3 green chili peppers cut into large chunks

Instructions

Prepare the Filling:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the finely chopped onion and sauté until translucent. Then, add the diced green bell peppers and continue to sauté for about 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add the ground beef and minced garlic and cook until the meat browns all over evenly and the moisture evaporates.
  3. Stir in the tomato paste, pepper paste, salt, and black pepper. Add the diced tomatoes, then reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes.
Prepare the Eggplants:
  1. Peel the eggplants, leaving alternating strips of skin, giving them a striped appearance, and leaving the stem intact.
  2. Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and fry the eggplants until they're lightly browned on all sides. Place them in an ovenproof dish.
Assemble the Karniyarik:
  1. Make a lengthwise slit in the middle of each eggplant, being careful not to cut through the bottom, to create a pocket.
  2. Stuff the eggplants generously with the ground beef filling.
  3. Place a tomato and green chili pepper slices on top of each stuffed eggplant.
Bake the Karniyarik:
  1. Bake the stuffed eggplants in a preheated oven at 175°C (340°F) for 25-30 minutes.
  2. Serve the hot Karniyarik with optional Turkish rice pilaf or Turkish cacik on the side.

Notes