’Tis the season of soup and stew supremacy. Here’s some smoky eggplant, mushroom, and chickpea stew that is tomato-based with deep smoky flavors. It’s easy to put together and perfect for serving with toasted bread during cozy season!
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This smoky eggplant, mushroom, and chickpea stew was born from what I had in the fridge the week before coming home for the holidays. But the combo ended up working very well, so here we are. The eggplant and mushrooms offer some juiciness and chewiness, the soft chickpeas make it a complete meal, and the tomato base makes it as comforting as tomato soup, but it’s still substantially different from tomato soup.
How to Make this Smoky Eggplant, Mushroom, and Chickpea Stew
Salt the eggplant for an hour.
I got this tip from Laura Wright of The First Mess on this recipe. She salts the eggplant because it reduces bitterness and improves texture, allowing the eggplant to turn crisp, yet silky. It seems like a lot of salt, but you can just brush off any excess salt before frying the eggplant.
Lightly fry the eggplant.
You could also just add the eggplant while making the base of the stew, but I find that giving a star ingredient like eggplant some time on it’s own helps!
Make the flavor base.
You’ll need onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, red chili powder, smoked paprika, pepper, and canned tomato paste. You could also process 2 tomatoes to make 1 cup of tomato paste, but know that the tomato flavor won’t be as strong. Canned tomato paste is super concentrated since its made from cooking tomatoes down for several hours and forming a thick paste!
Add the veggies and chickpeas.
Now it’s time to add some cremini/button mushrooms, the eggplant, and canned chickpeas. Add water (or vegetable broth if you have one you really like) and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked. You could also use chickpeas pressure cooked from dry chickpeas; I usually prefer that but didn’t soak any chickpeas the night before making this.
Finish with liquid smoke.
Liquid smoke is a flavoring made from condensing the smoke from burning wood. It’s such a cool concept and it sounds fancy, but it’s actually super affordable! Here is the one I used. You can find liquid smoke at pretty much any grocery store.
Smoky Eggplant, Mushroom, and Chickpea Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp olive or avocado oil, divided
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup canned tomato paste
- 5-7 cremini mushrooms *approximately 1.5 cups when quartered
- 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas
- 2¼ cups water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp liquid smoke *optional
- salt as needed
- sourdough bread *for serving
Instructions
- Cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a colander and toss with 1 tablespoon of salt.* Let it sit in the sink for an hour, but at least 30 minutes will also be ok if you're crunched for time. After the hour has passed, wipe off any excess salt.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a soup pot or saucepan over medium heat. Add the eggplant and cook until it is fork tender and golden. Stir frequently to ensure even cooking. Place the eggplant on a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot or saucepan. Add the onion and cook until it starts to turn translucent, so about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and stir for another 2 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, chili powder, and pepper. Stir for 30 seconds-1 minute, but add 1 tablespoon of the tomato paste if the spices stick to the pot too much. Add the canned tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Cut 3-4 of the mushrooms into eighths by quartering them and then cutting the quarters in half. Mince the rest of the mushrooms to add a fun texture. Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook for about 4 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the eggplant and chickpeas. Stir for a few minutes before adding 2¼ cups of water. Increase heat to medium-high. Once it starts to bubble, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the mushrooms are fully cooked.
- Finish with lemon juice and liquid smoke. Serve on its own or with toasted bread.
Notes
If you like this smoky eggplant, mushroom, and chickpea stew you may also enjoy these cozy recipes:
Oops, sorry that wasn’t included! It should serve ~ 3, maybe 4 as a side.
How many people does this serve? Looking forward to trying!
Haha so glad to hear you liked it! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this! I followed the recipe to the letter and it tastes delicious! I think I will use a bit less water next time, only because it seemed a cross between soup and stew!!
I’m a 77 year old man – so if I could do it anyone can!!🤣
Oooh this one sure is perfect as we enter fall! Happy you enjoyed it 🙂
This was so yummy!! I’ll be putting this in my weekly rotation through the coming cooler months – it’s also a perfect recipe springboard — we could easily play with spices, different veggies, etc. Thanks for sharing!