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Türkiye · Main dish
Turkish Karnıyarık (Stuffed Eggplant)
Local name: Karnıyarık
A classic Turkish main of fried eggplants stuffed with a spiced minced meat and onion filling and baked in tomato sauce.
- Servings4
- Prep40 min
- Cooking1 h 1 min
- Total time1 h 41 min
- DifficultyMedium
About this dish
Karnıyarık, meaning 'riven belly', is a Turkish dish of eggplants split lengthwise and stuffed with a filling of sautéed onions, ground meat, garlic, tomatoes, parsley and, optionally, green pepper. It is related to imam bayıldı, which has no meat and is usually served warm or at room temperature.
It is a staple of Turkish home cooking and is usually served with rice. In this version the eggplants are fried in the traditional way, then topped with tomato and pepper and baked in a light tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Tick the ingredients off like a shopping list.
Eggplant
Filling
Topping and sauce
Method
Leave the stems on and peel the eggplants in lengthwise stripes, then soak them in salted water for 20 minutes.
Remove from the water and pat the eggplants thoroughly dry.
Fry the eggplants in plenty of oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until golden all over.
Drain on paper towels, arrange in a baking dish and slit each lengthwise, without cutting through the ends.
Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and sauté the onions for about 8 minutes until soft and pink.
Add the ground beef and cook for about 10 minutes until browned and the liquid has evaporated.
Add the garlic, green peppers, chopped tomatoes, paste, black pepper and salt and cook 8 minutes; remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
Preheat the oven to 200 °C and spoon the filling into the slits of the eggplants.
Place a tomato slice and a long green pepper on each eggplant, then stir the paste into the hot water and pour it around them.
Bake at 200 °C for about 25 minutes, rest for 5 minutes and serve with rice.
💡 Tips
- Soaking the eggplants in salted water removes bitterness and reduces oil absorption.
- Make sure the oil is hot before frying, as eggplants soak up oil in cold fat.
- For a lighter result, roast the eggplants at 220 °C with a little oil until soft instead of frying.
- Cook the filling until dry, otherwise the dish becomes watery.
- Serve with buttery rice pilaf.
🛒 Can't find it abroad?
- Long eggplants — Use regular eggplants cut in half lengthwise and cook slightly longer.
- Long green peppers — Use a green bell pepper cut into quarters.
- Ground beef — Ground lamb or a beef-lamb mix works well.
This recipe was prepared with the help of AI, following the traditional home-style method; quantities, times and steps were checked automatically for consistency. Ovens and stoves differ, so check doneness by eye.
