Karen Goodman | Future Expat

Healthy Recipes: Stuffed Ground Beef Eggplant

Sep 12, 2014 | Main Dish, My Recipes | 8 comments

I know so many people who think that the only way to eat eggplant is Eggplant Parmesan. If you are one of those people like me who does not like fried eggplant topped in tomato sauce and cheese at all, you need to check out my Stuffed Ground Beef Eggplant recipe.

I love eggplant and have found several other ways to eat it including my Cheesy Eggplant Casserole and Balsamic Eggplant Pasta Salad.

Eggplant season is July through October, so hit the grocery store and eat seasonally.

Why Eat Eggplant?

Eggplant has a mild flavor that should be ok even for picky eaters. The biggest hurdle for some people is the texture of eggplant, which is really soft when cooked. All of my eggplant recipes solve the texture issue.

It’s also really healthy.

According to World’s Healthiest Foods:

Eggplant is a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B1, and copper. It is a good source of manganese, vitamin B6, niacin, potassium, folate, and vitamin K. Eggplant also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid. Eggplant also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid.

It is good for your brain and cardiovascular health, and is a good source of antioxidants.

TIP: Eggplant is also known as aubergine in much of the world…so if you are exploring recipes, you might search on aubergine in addition to eggplant.

MORE GROUND BEEF RECIPES:

Stuffed Ground Beef Eggplant Recipe:

Scroll to the bottom for a printable recipe with nutritional information.

If you like casseroles, you’ll like this recipe. Add a salad and you’ve got a complete meal.

One half of the eggplant like you see in the picture above is really filling, but uses less than 1/4 lb of meat…making this recipe budget friendly too!

It’s also easy to tweak. If you like bell peppers, add them in or swap them out for the mushrooms. Add your favorite herbs, switch the ground beef to ground turkey or sausage, and feel free to use a different cheese.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried parsley or 1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tsp dried basil or 1/2 cup fresh basil
1 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

It doesn’t take long to put together the stuffed eggplants, so start by preheating the oven to 350°.

Cut the stem off of the eggplant and then cut it in half lengthwise.

Using a spoon, scoop out the fleshy center, leaving about 1/2 inch next to the skin so that it holds its shape when baked.

Boil the scooped out center part of the eggplant until very soft, about 10-12 minutes. Then pour the cooked eggplant into a strainer and squeeze out as much of the water as you can using the back of a spoon.

While the eggplant is cooking, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Break the ground beef up into small pieces as you add it to the hot oil, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the meat until it is not pink at all, stirring and poking it around so that it breaks into small crumbles.

Drain the beef in a strainer to remove the extra fat. If you really want to watch your calories, you can rinse the meat in water to get rid of all of the fat.

Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan you just used to cook the meat. You won’t need to add any additional oil since there will be residue of fat in the pan from cooking the meat. Once the onions and mushrooms have started to brown, add your garlic. Watch the heat and stir as needed so your garlic doesn’t burn.

Take your browned onions and mushrooms, and combine them in a bowl with the cooked eggplant, ground beef, parsley, basil, bread crumbs, egg and 1 cup of the cheese.

Fill the scooped out eggplant shells, dividing it evenly among the 2 halves.

If you have extra filling, which I always do, then put the extra meat mixture into a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top of the eggplants and add a little more salt and pepper if you want. Place the stuffed eggplants on a cookie sheet or baking dish and cook for 30 minutes.