Meatless Stuffed Aubergines Recipe

Try the best meatless stuffed eggplant recipe you’ve ever tasted. Because not only are they easy to make but also, at the end of the steps we explain how to prepare meatless stuffed aubergines with different modifications so that you can adapt them to your tastes or nutritional needs if, for example, you are lactose intolerant, vegetarian or vegan.

In this case, I have made these baked meatless stuffed aubergines with a sauté of vegetables, tomato and milk cream, and I have added textured soybeans and canned tuna as proteins to replace the minced meat, but you can modify the ingredients as you like if this combination does not convince you.

You can serve them as a starter or as a main dish accompanied by a good side dish such as potatoes, rice or a good salad. Don’t wait any longer and review the step by step to make these easy and delicious stuffed eggplants without minced meat right now. I hope you like them as much as I do and tell me in the comments what you think and how you have prepared them to your liking.

Ingredients to make stuffed eggplants without meat:

• 2 eggplants
• 2 onions
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 Italian green pepper
• ½ can of crushed natural tomato
• ½ pot of liquid cream for cooking or heavy cream
• ½ cup of textured soy
• 2 cans of tuna in olive oil (optional)
• 1 handful of grated cheese to gratin
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of pepper

How to make stuffed eggplant without meat:

Preheat the oven to about 190ºC. Meanwhile, we wash the aubergines, cut them in half lengthwise and make some transverse cuts in the pulp. This will help them take less time to cook in the oven. Place the half aubergines on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, pour a trickle of oil over each one and season them a little. Then we put the aubergines in the oven in the middle part with heat up and down for about 40 minutes or until they are well done.

Tip: The cooking time of the baked aubergines can vary according to each appliance.

Meanwhile, we prepare the meatless eggplant filling. To do this, we chop the onions and peppers and begin to poach them in a large pan with a little of the oil from the cans of tuna that we are going to use, so we take advantage of it.

Tip: Add all the vegetables you want to the recipe for stuffed aubergines without minced meat to make them to your liking.

At the same time, we put the textured soybeans to hydrate in a container with water and leave it for about 15-20 minutes. I have chosen to use this ingredient to replace the minced meat in the meatless stuffed aubergines because it is the one that most resembles in texture and flavor at the end, because the soy itself has a neutral flavor and ends up taking on the flavor of the rest of the ingredients, but you can omit it or use another one you prefer. Add the crushed natural tomato once the vegetables have browned well and cook for a few minutes until it cools a bit.

Trick: If we see that there is a lack of fat, we can add more oil from the cans of tuna without problems.

Add the liquid cream or milk cream and stir well. Instead of the cream we can make a quick bechamel sauce for the fried stuffed aubergines without meat, or even do it only with bechamel without the cream or the tomato, as you like. I have done it this way because I like the combination of flavors that the tomato and the milk cream give together. Drain the textured soy well and add it to the fried eggplant without meat. Remove and cook for a few minutes. Add the chopped aubergine pulp to the sauce and mix with the rest of the ingredients.

Finally, add the well-drained tuna to the sauce and stir. We cook a few more minutes, simply to integrate the flavors of the filling of the aubergines without meat, since both the minced pulp and the canned tuna are already done and do not need further cooking.

Tip: You can use natural canned tuna instead of oil.

Fill the aubergines with the help of a spoon, trying not to spill over the edges but leaving them well filled. Finally, sprinkle the grated cheese on top. This step is completely optional since you can directly bake the meatless aubergines au gratin if you prefer or even eat them directly.

Trick: You can use any type of cheese that is both for gratin and for melting.

Put the stuffed aubergines without meat in the oven at 250ºC for about 10 minutes or until they are well browned. We serve the freshly made meatless stuffed aubergines as a starter or main course.