Italian Eggplant Recipe – Sauteed With Tomatoes
Updated Mar 05, 2025, Published Apr 12, 2023
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This Italian Eggplant and tomatoes recipe is the best way to enjoy eggplant cooked on the stove. Sauteed eggplants and tomatoes create a delicious sauce with a few fresh ingredients and are ready in under 30 minutes.
For a simple lunch or dinner, serve with a homemade loaf of ciabatta bread.
More best eggplant recipes- Baked Eggplant Slices Recipe with Ricotta Cheese (healthy eggplant parmesan), Grilled Eggplant, Easy Eggplant Caponata, Melanzane alla Parmigiana, and Eggplant and Tomato Pasta Sauce.
Italian sautéed eggplants make the perfect side dish to any meal. Enjoy this classic Italian recipe as an appetizer on toasted bread, or add it to perfectly cooked pasta.
In Italy, we call this dish “Melanzane a funghetto,” meaning mushroom-shaped eggplant since the eggplant dice resemble the shape of cut mushrooms.
This is a fantastic everyday recipe the whole family will enjoy.
Table of Contents
Simple Ingredients
You only need a few fresh ingredients to make this simple pan-fried eggplant.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Garlic cloves
- Eggplants
- Canned whole tomatoes (can also use crushed tomatoes, plum tomatoes, diced tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes)
- Kosher Salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh basil leaves
- Parmigiano cheese (parmesan cheese) optional- for serving
How To Make Italian Eggplant
This sauteed eggplant and tomato recipe is one of the best you’ll ever make. Tender, chewy chunks of diced eggplants are cooked with tomatoes to create a flavorful vegetarian meal.
Slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes.
Add olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Add the eggplant- season with salt when the oil is shimmering and hot. This will help release the water right away before browning.
Cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes until the eggplant is tender and golden brown. This may take some time since the eggplant will release all its water before browning. Add garlic and stir to combine.
Add undrained tomatoes and stir to combine. Turn heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add fresh basil and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
The basil adds the perfect touch of freshness.
Add a sprinkle of parmigiano cheese, if desired.
Serve hot, warm, or cold with a garnish of fresh basil.
Variations
- Sauce- Use this sauce in place of Sugo al Pomodoro (Classic Italian Tomato Sauce) sauce to make baked ziti; it comes out delicious!
- Eggplant Skin- If you don’t like eggplant skin, peel it before cooking.
- Tomatoes- If you prefer fresh cherry tomatoes or other fresh tomatoes, use those!
- Fresh Herbs- add oregano, thyme, Italian seasoning, or rosemary if desired.
- Spicy- add some red pepper flakes for spice. You can also add chili powder or dried chili.
- Lasagna– use layers of eggplant sauce, and cheese to create a low-carb version of your favorite lasagna.
- Eggplant Parmigiana– slice the eggplant instead of cubing it for this recipe, then layer in a dish with mozzarella cheese on top for a fun twist on your favorite parmigiana recipe.
Top tips
- Do not overcrowd the pan- spread it in a single layer, so it has space to brown and get nice and crisp on the exterior while the inside cooks up to be soft and tender.
- Add enough oil to the pan, but not too much. The flesh of the eggplant is like a sponge — it will immediately soak up any liquid or cooking oil it touches. Add the amount the recipe says and a little more, if needed, depending on the type of eggplant you use. Do not add too much oil, or il will taste greasy as the eggplant will absorb it all.
FAQs
No, you do not need to salt eggplants before cooking them. Here’s why:
Many years ago, eggplants tasted incredibly bitter and salting them before cooking helped to draw out and eliminate some of that bitterness. These days, that overwhelming bitterness has been bred out of eggplants. This means you do not need to salt and rinse eggplants before cooking with them.
The skin of smaller eggplants is more tender and mild than that of large eggplants. The skin becomes bitter on larger or older eggplants. When in doubt, peel the eggplant before cooking. Otherwise, if you like the taste and texture keep the skin on and sautee eggplant in olive oil. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin.
Eggplant is a high-fiber, low-calorie food rich in nutrients and has many potential health benefits. Eggplants may reduce the risk of heart disease to help with blood sugar control and weight loss; eggplants are a simple and delicious addition to any healthy diet.
You can use any fresh eggplant found at your local grocery store. Anything from Chinese eggplant, small eggplants, round eggplants, and more will work in this sauteed eggplant and tomato recipe. I like to use small to medium eggplants since they have fewer seeds and thinner skin. Fun fact: Eggplants are not vegetables; they are fruits because they have seeds! They are a nightshade, just like tomatoes.
If you have gorgeous and fresh garden tomatoes- use them! If you don’t, you can use any variety of canned tomatoes. Both will produce a delicious eggplant dish.
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftover sauteed eggplant and tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-4 days.
To reheat your sauteed eggplant, put it in a pan on the stovetop and saute for a few minutes until warm.
Or, you can put it in an oven-safe dish and place it at 350°F for about 5-10 minutes or until the roasted eggplant is warm again.
What To Serve With This Recipe
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Italian Sauteed Eggplant and Tomatoes Recipe:
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Italian Sauteed Eggplant with Tomatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 small or medium eggplants, cut into cubes (skins removed if desired)
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, can also use crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
- Parmigiano cheese, parmesan cheese optional- for serving
Instructions
- Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Add olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the eggplant- season with salt when the oil is shimmering and hot. This will help release the water right away before browning.
- Cook, stirring often, until eggplant is tender and golden brown (about 10 minutes). This may take some time since the eggplant will release all its water before browning. Add garlic and stir to combine.
- Add undrained tomatoes and stir to combine. Turn heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add fresh basil and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Serve hot, warm, or cold with a garnish of fresh basil. Add a sprinkle of parmigiano cheese, if desired.
Notes
-
- Do not overcrowd the pan- spread it in a single layer, so it has space to brown and get nice and crisp on the exterior while the inside cooks up to be soft and tender.
- Add enough oil to the pan, but not too much. The flesh of the eggplant is like a sponge — it will immediately soak up any liquid or cooking oil it touches. Add the amount the recipe says and a little more, if needed, depending on the type of eggplant you use. Do not add too much oil, or il will taste greasy as the eggplant will absorb it all.
- Store any leftover sauteed eggplant and tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-4 days.
- To reheat your sauteed eggplant, put it in a pan on the stovetop and saute for a few minutes until warm.
- Or, you can put it in an oven-safe dish and place it at 350°F for about 5-10 minutes or until the roasted eggplant is warm again.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was excellent. I served it over whole pasta, used capers in it and garnished with toasted pine nuts. So good!
Yumm! Love the pasta addition.
I never know what to do with all the eggplant we grow in our garden.! This was an easy and tasty dish I whipped up for a side. I made a few modifications: (1) I salted the cubed eggplant for about 2 hours before sautéing them and drained the water. (2) I sautéed 2-3 finely chopped shallots and then added the eggplant to sauté.
Happy you loved it! Love the shallots in there too!
It is definitely easy & delicious! Helpful instructions/explanations
Thank you! Happy you loved it.
Can the leftovers be frozen for reheating again later? I’m the only one in my home that will eat eggplant and I don’t want it to go to waste. This is a great, flavorful recipe!
Yes! You can freeze this dish. Enjoy!
Thanks you for the quick response, Elena! I’m going to make this today!
You are welcome! Sounds great.
Easy, delicious!!
Happy you loved it!
five out of five dish, I’ll be making this all summer!
Yay! 🌸Enjoy the recipe.