🍆 Baba Ghanoush 🇱🇧: A Homemade Recipe from A-Z

Yesterday, I hosted my (early) birthday party at my place, and a lot of people asked if I plan to write only technical blogs or if I’ll touch on other topics too. I’m pleased to tell you that this blog won’t be exclusively technical—it’ll include a bit of everything I enjoy writing about.

Background Story

That being said, I was also asked (a lot!) for my recipe for Baba Ghanoush, also known as Mutabal Batenjeen. It’s a super delicious Lebanese cold appetizer—or mezze—mainly made with eggplant and tahini as the key ingredients.

Back in Lebanon, I never tried to make Baba Ghanoush—or any dish, for that matter 😅. I guess I always took the amazing Lebanese food for granted, whether at family dinners or restaurants. But once I moved to Munich, I learned the hard way: authentic Lebanese cuisine is almost impossible to find here. You’ll find a handful of places claiming to serve Lebanese food, but most aren’t even remotely authentic. Unfortunately, they just use the cuisine’s good reputation for marketing. And for someone who’s never tasted real Lebanese food, it’s impossible to tell the difference—after all, if you’ve never experienced authentic flavors, how would you know what you’re missing? 🤷‍♂️

After learning my lesson, I started cooking everything at home. Baba Ghanoush quickly became one of my top dishes, and I think I’ve perfected the recipe. EVERY person I’ve served it to has LOVED it! Seriously, I’m not kidding (or trying to brag!). Even my lovely wife, Zoya—who hates eggplants—tried it once and admitted she liked it despite her lifelong eggplant aversion 😆.

In this post, I’ll walk you through a super simple, easy-to-make-at-home Baba Ghanoush recipe. I hope you’ll love it as much as we do!

Ingredients 🍆

1. 2 medium-sized eggplants (500-700g)
2. 1 cup tahini
3. 2 tablespoons yogurt
4. 2 tablespoons labneh
5. Juice of half a lemon
6. Juice of half an orange
7. ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
8. A drizzle of olive oil
9. 3 cloves of garlic (adjust to taste)

Steps 🪜

1. With a knife, stab the eggplants a few times. The more, the better—this helps them cook properly from the inside.
2. Place the eggplants in the oven and set it to 200°C-220°C.
3. Let them cook for 20-30 minutes, then turn off the oven.
4. Leave the eggplants in the oven to cool for 15-20 minutes. You can also partially open the oven door.
5. While they cool, prepare the other ingredients.
6. Once the eggplants are cool, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon—just like you would with an avocado.
7. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and blend with a hand blender until smooth.
8. Let it rest for a couple of hours, or even overnight, in the fridge—or on the balcony if it’s cold enough (I do this sometimes when I run out of fridge space¹ 😁).
9. DONE!! 🎉

Some Useful Tips 💡

• Serve it best with an extra drizzle of olive oil on top.
• Taste your Baba Ghanoush and adjust the salt, lemon, tahini, or olive oil as needed.
• If it’s too salty, add a little olive oil and lemon juice—but be careful not to make it too watery.
• No hand blender? No problem! Mash everything together with a fork, spoon, or even your hands. It’ll still taste amazing—the hand blender just gives it a smoother look 😊.
• Feel free to garnish it as you like; I recommend a sprinkle of sumac, some pomegranate seeds, and maybe a few mint leaves in the center for an extra burst of flavor.

---

Now that you have the recipe, do with it what you wish 🫡. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know in the comments how it turned out, and feel free to share pictures! 📸 😋

1. Always keep food safety in mind—make sure it’s covered and stored at 0-5°C, out of direct sunlight, or it’ll spoil 😭. ↩︎