Instant Pot Spicy Garlic Eggplant
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This Instant Pot spicy garlic eggplant is so addictive! Cooked to perfection in minutes, each bite is bursting with flavor!
Looking for Instant Pot eggplant recipes? You’ve stumbled upon a perfect one :) Chopped eggplant is seasoned with garlic, red pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, olive oil and tomato sauce, which bring out such deep flavor! This eggplant is tender, smooth and well-seasoned – perfect served over rice, as a side dish or on top of toast!
This Instant Pot garlic eggplant recipe is the second eggplant recipe I made in my Instant Pot (the first one was baba ganoush). When mulling over the eggplant recipe ideas, I decided to adapt my popular roasted spicy garlic eggplant recipe to the Instant Pot. The original recipe calls for baking seasoned eggplant slices in the oven, but for the Instant Pot version I decided to cut the eggplant into cubes. The final product is like a coarsely chopped version of eggplant caviar, and it is so addictive!
This spicy eggplant is really healthy – it’s low in carbs and full of nutrients! Easy and yummy low-carb dish in your recipe arsenal is always welcome :)
You can eat this Instant Pot garlic eggplant many different ways. Since the eggplant is very hearty and filling, it can serve as a vegan meat substitute – laddle this spicy garlic eggplant over rice or quinoa for a complete plant-based meal. Or you can serve it as a vegetable side dish alongside meat or fish. Or you can spread it on a slice of bread – you can take it even further by turning it into eggplant bruschetta!
If you liked Instant Pot spicy garlic eggplant, you will also love these easy Instant Pot recipes:
- Instant Pot Eggplant Dip – tastes exactly like the baba ganoush from the Middle Eastern restaurants! You’ll want to lick the whole bowl!
- Instant Pot Fajitas – peppers and onions cook to perfection in Instant Pot in minutes!
- Instant Pot Baby Potatoes – these buttery dilled little potatoes are so cute! Tender and mouthwatering!
- Instant Pot Ribs – best ever, truly fall-off-the-bone! Better than any restaurant!
- Instant Pot Beets – perfectly cooked tender beets in your Instant Pot, you’ll never want to cook them any other way!
Don’t own an Instant Pot and are wondering what am I talking about? Read my article “What Is An Instant Pot”.
Already a fan and want more Instant Pot recipes? Click here to browse my whole Instant Pot recipe collection.
Instant Pot Spicy Garlic Eggplant
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp red pepper
- 1 tsp sweet paprika optional
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce or ketchup
- 1/2 cup water
Recommended Kitchen Tools (click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe)
Instructions
- Cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes (peeling is optional, I personally don't peel the eggplant).
- Pour 1/2 cup of water into the Instant Pot. Add cubed eggplant to the Instant Pot (do not stir).
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot and turn the vent to a Sealing position. Press the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" button and set the time to 5 minutes on High pressure.
- Once Instant Pot is done cooking, quick release (QR) the steam. Drain the eggplant in a colander.
- Return the Inner pot to the Instant Pot and pour olive oil in it. Press the Saute button on the Instant Pot and set the time to 10 minutes. Add the eggplant back to the Instant Pot, add the garlic powder, red pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and tomato sauce and mix until combined. Cook the eggplant mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Oh. My. Goodness. That was so delicious!! Not too spicy that you couldn’t enjoy it, so garlicky and perfectly salted. Yum. I am so tempted to just eat it all right now. I wish I had doubled the recipe. Yum.
I just made a second double batch. I can’t wait!! Now the rest of my family can have some.
This will be my first dish made in the instant pot. Can I make extra and freeze it?
Absolutely!
Have made this twice now. So easy and delicious!
Hi – this looks great! Is it 1/2 tsp actual red pepper or is it red pepper flakes?
Actual :) If you want it less spicy, feel free to use less.
Thank you! So easy and yummy. I have made several time now.
This was so delicious that I made a triple batch so I could freeze some plus added chick peas for protein and texture.
Very good..I substituted 1/2 of a small fully cooked chorizo sausage, sliced, for the paprika, and used 1 tsp. garlic salt in place of the garlic powder and salt. Used Spanish-style tomato sauce. It was excellent. Cooks down a lot–you might need two eggplants if cooking for a family of four!
Original and amended versions are good. Second time I changed it:
1) 3 big bellas
2) 2 cloves freshly minced garlic, instead of powder
3) used 2 cups of sauce
4) axed the salt because sauce had salt
I had the time, so after Saute, I hit slow cook so it was ready when I wanted to serve. Next time definitely more eggplant with this sauce. Want leftovers!
Before I hit “Post” I scrolled thru other comments. Many possibilities.
So good…it’s eggplant crack! I’m lazy though and threw all ingredients into the instant pot, cooked the 5 minutes, quick release, sautéd 2 minutes. Perfection. Thank you for a great recipe for my huge eggplant harvest this year!
This turned out so well! I substituted real garlic for garlic powder. I also didn’t have Italian seasoning so I just used parsley and thyme. And, I added zucchini! It was so yummy and easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for posting this receipe to Pintrest, I loved it!! I can see this becoming a regular dish, quick and easy and very very tasty.
This was incredibly easy to make. I used two eggplants and think I could have used 1/2 the amount of oil and salt (as I doubled the quantity for using 1 eggplant) but next time I will cut the oil and salt in half. I always find cooking eggplant so time consuming so finding this recipe was very helpful. It would be great mashed as a dip as well.
Easy and delicious! Served with toasted ciabatta and fresh salad. So yummy.
Your recipe is what I was looking for. It’s simple, Uses house hold ingredients and looks easy to make. Going to fix it tonight for dinner. Thank you. ?
This was awesome! I used minced garlic instead of powder,1/4 tsp cayenne instead of red pepper flakes, and less salt. Soooo goood!
This was a easy and delicious way to bring eggplant into a weekday menu! I served it over whole wheat pasta and increased the marinara sauce portion
Very good. Moved to top of my “favorites” list of recipes. Made it no oil (follow McDougall), so just use liquid instead), and tasted fabulous. Thank you.
This is seriously one of my all time favorite recipes. So easy, quick and delicious! I used a vodka sauce and added some mushrooms and it was amazing. Another time, I broiled it with a topping made of breadcrumbs, parmesan and melted butter. Then I tried adding a little sausage. The opportunities here are endless! And even just the eggplant by itself – it’s healthy, delicious and filling. This has become a regular part of my rotation! Thank you!
I had doubts as to the consistency of the result, but it tasted great!
As single guy, cooking can become a chore. This recipe was done in no time with very little clean up. I live in Central America and fresh vegetables are always available. This is a nice change from Eggplant Parmesan. Did not really measure the ingredients. After 40+ years of cooking, one can pretty well judge the quantities. Turned out really well. Will use this for the next party.
Thank you for sharing.
I loved it! My wife didn’t like the texture but then again she doesn’t like mushrooms either. I added orzo and nutritional yeast to mine. 😋
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! It is the most delicious way that I know of for serving eggplant!
I love spicy food, please create more recipes like this ❤️
It’s way better than ordering takeout and way healthier too, the blend of spices and the tender eggplant made for a hearty, satisfying dish that I enjoyed over quinoa.
the eggplant ended up being puree with the times in the recipe, but still very good. going forward i’ll lower the pressure cook time for the eggplant.
Awesome
Delicious
Easy
❤️