Eggplant Caviar Spread Recipe (2024)

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Eggplant caviar makes a great party appetizer or “zakuska”. It’s an old Russian favorite. You can enjoy it as a spread over toast for breakfast, lunch or even dinner, maybe a mid-day snack and when you can’t sleep at night because you can’t stop thinking about this eggplant caviar ;). I’ve been testing several eggplant spread recipes and so far this is my favorite. I learned to make this eggplant caviar from Natalia K, a friend from our worship team.

Natalia uses Pace Picante sauce in her recipe.I made it with the roasted salsa we posted recently which is seriously amazing.

Back on track… I’m thinking the eggplant caviar would work if you use your favorite store-bought salsa in it (but you should still try the roasted salsa – you’ll probably get hooked like we are). P.S. After everything is chopped, total cooking time is under 10 minutes. Nice.

Ingredients for Eggplant Caviar Spread:

2 medium (1 1/2 to 2 lbs) eggplants
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 small/2 medium carrots, grated
7 garlic cloves, pressed
Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt (I used sea salt)
1/4 tsp Pepper
3/4 to 1 cup salsa (we used our roasted salsa) Natalia Uses Pace Picante Sauce and you can buy Mild, Medium, or Hot depending on your affinity for spice.

How To MakeEggplant Caviar Spread:

1. In a Medium skillet, heat 2-3 Tbsp oil over medium high heat. Add onion and carrot and saute until soft (7 min), stirring often. Add pressed garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a second, large skillet, heat 4-5 Tbsp oil over medium/high heat. Add finely diced eggplant (you could make bigger dice but it’s more spreadable this way). The Vidalia Chop Wizard makes chopping so much easier. Sprinkle in 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, stir, and cook uncovered for 10 minutes stirring often until eggplant is very soft (7 minutes). Add more oil if the eggplant is sticking to the pan.

3. Once it’s soft, stir in 3/4 to 1 cup salsa and your onion/carrot mix. Mix well and heat for another minute until the spread is hot. Serve with toasted bread or your favorite crackers.

We took this stuff over to my sisters house for dinner and it went fast. Everyone loved it!