This delicious eggplant stir fry is made with a garlic-soy sauce and cooked until succulent. Great served with rice or noodles as a speedy main dish. You can even add protein to make it extra hearty!
Is there anything better than an eggplant stir fry? (Maybe miso-glazed eggplant, but that's another recipe...)
Eggplant is such a versatile vegetable, and soaks up flavours like a sponge. And this recipe is no exception!.
This simple dinner recipe combines tender chunks of perfectly cooked eggplant with a rich, savoury garlic sauce. It's restaurant-worthy but without the price tag!
Coming together in less than 30 minutes (and you can cut that down to 15 mins if you skip the soaking step), this recipe is rich, savoury and incredibly satisfying. Definitely one for eggplant lovers.
Serve it with noodles or a grain and your choice of protein (like my quick fried tempeh) for a hearty dinner. Great as an easy weeknight meal! (Just like my mushroom broccoli pasta, cherry tomato soup and vegetable lentil stew.)
(Psst! If you're new to a vegan diet, check out my 28 Easy Vegan Recipes for Beginners.)
Why you'll love this
Just a handful of ingredients - All you need are eggplants and a few pantry ingredients like garlic, ginger and soy sauce. So easy.
You can make it a more filling meal! Just serve with your choice of protein (I love quick crispy tofu) and rice or noodles for an extra hearty main course.
Like takeout but cheaper - Get the same delicious, umami flavours to satisfy your cravings for a fraction of what you'd pay at a restaurant. It's better for you too as takeout versions use a lot of oil.
Main ingredients
Eggplant - I recommend using long Chinese eggplant or Japanese eggplant as they're succulent, have fewer seeds than regular eggplants, and are a vibrant purple colour. You can use regular or globe eggplants if you don't have them.
Cornstarch - Adds crispiness to the eggplant and thickens the stir fry sauce when cooked. Sub tapioca starch or potato starch if you don't have it.
Garlic - The main sauce ingredient. Gives it flavour and depth.
Ginger - Compliments the garlic in the sauce. Adds a little heat!
Soy sauce - Adds that savoury, umami flavour to the sauce. Use tamari (gluten free soy sauce) if you're sensitive to gluten.
Sugar - Balances out the salty taste of the soy sauce. I recommend a brown sugar, or something like coconut sugar as it has a rich taste.
Why do you need to soak eggplant before frying?
Let's get one thing straight: I don't think it's essential to soak and salt eggplant before frying. There, I said it. (In my opinion, the most important thing is ensuring it's well seasoned.)
That said, there are benefits to soaking your eggplant, particularly if it's a larger one.
- Soaking can remove bitterness.
- It tends to give you crispy eggplant.
- It removes excess water so it holds its shape when cooking.
But in my view it's not essential. I regularly don't soak my eggplant - I just chop and cook. Sure, it's a little softer, but I've not found much difference in flavour.
It's up to you. If you have time, try soaking and see if it makes a difference. If you don't, skip it.
How to make eggplant stir fry
1. Cut eggplants into 4 pieces lengthwise, then cut each piece into rough 2-inch strips.
(NOTE: The next two steps are optional and will give you crispier, firmer eggplant. If you're short on time, you can skip to step 4 and fry the eggplant without soaking/coating.)
2. Stir 1 teaspoon of salt into a large bowl of water, and submerge eggplant pieces in the salt water (cover them with a plate to ensure all pieces are submerged). Leave to soak for 15 minutes.
3. Drain and pat dry eggplant, then toss the pieces in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, ensuring eggplant is evenly coated.
4. In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients: 2½ tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (use a whisk to break down cornstarch lumps).
5. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet or large pan on medium-high heat. Add eggplant in a single layer and fry until golden brown - 6-8 minutes - flipping frequently. (If skillet isn't large, repeat for a second batch.)
6. Transfer eggplant to a plate, and add the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Sauté minced garlic and ginger for 30 seconds until fragrant.
7. Add stir-fry sauce and cooked eggplant to the skillet, and stir while cooking for one more minute to allow the sauce to thicken.
8. Decorate with green onion slices and sesame seeds, and served with rice or noodles if desired.
See step-by-step how to make my eggplant stir fry.
Expert tips
Soak - As mentioned above soaking your eggplant is not essential, but it will help you achieve firmer, crispier pieces if that's your desired outcome. If you have the time, try soaking.
High heat oil - Be sure to use a cooking oil that's stable in high heat, as some oils don't perform well at high temperatures. I like using avocado oil personally.
Storage
Store any uneaten eggplant stir fry in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat in a microwave or on the stove before eating (if reheating on the stove, you may need to add a little water to stop eggplant sticking to the pan).
What to serve with eggplant stir fry
You can serve any of the following with eggplant stir fry:
- Brown or white rice
- Quinoa
- Millet
- Noodles (pad thai, udon etc.)
- Crispy tofu (can be added to the sauce for an eggplant tofu stir fry.)
- Quick fried tempeh
More vegan dinners under 30 minutes
FAQs
Chinese eggplant is widely available in Asian stores, but these days you can also find it in the farmers market and many supermarkets.
See section above where I talk about this! It can be helpful to soak your eggplant before frying as it makes it crispier and firmer, but it's not essential.
Easy Eggplant Stir Fry with Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 large Chinese long eggplant (can also use regular eggplant)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2½ tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon sugar (I like coconut sugar)
- 2½ tablespoon oil suitable for high heat cooking
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
To serve
- Green onions/ spring onions
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cut eggplants into 4 pieces lengthwise, then cut each piece into rough 2-inch strips.
- (NOTE: The two next steps are optional and will give you crispier eggplant. If short on time, skip straight to step 4 and fry eggplant without soaking/coating.) Stir 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl of water, and submerge eggplant pieces (cover with a plate to ensure pieces are submerged). Leave to soak for 15 minutes.
- Drain and pat dry eggplant with paper towel, then toss in 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ensuring eggplant is evenly coated.
- In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon cornstarch until combined (use a whisk to break down cornstarch lumps).
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet or frying pan on medium high heat. Add eggplant in a single layer and fry until golden - 6-8 minutes - flipping frequently. (If skillet isn't large enough, do two batches.)
- Transfer eggplant to a plate. Add remaining ½ tablespoon oil to skillet. Sauté garlic and ginger for 30 seconds on medium heat.
- Add sauce and cooked eggplant to skillet, and cook - stirring - for one minute to allow sauce to thicken.
- Decorate with green onion slices and sesame seeds, and serve with rice or noodles if desired.
Notes
Nutritional information per serving
If you’ve tried this eggplant stir fry recipe, please leave a comment or tip for others below!
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JC Belmont
Very easy and delicious. I made a few adjustments by adding onion and carrots and stir frying before adding garlic and ginger. Will be making this again, next time I’ll add tofu, basil and maybe some cilantro for a Thai take on this.
Elizabeth
Wonderful additions! I Love how you customized it and made it your own. It sounds delicious!
Cinde
I loved this dish! Quick and easy when I was looking for an Asian idea for my eggplant.
Elizabeth
So glad you liked it! It's one of my favourites too. 🙂
Rachel
This was amazing. Great way to use up my eggplant from the garden.
Elizabeth
Wonderful! Really glad to hear you liked it.
Lisa
YUM! I was looking for a simple eggplant recipe using pantry ingredients, and this was perfect. I was out of fresh ginger, so used bottled ginger juice, but otherwise made it according to the recipe and served it with fusili. Did I say yum? This will definitely become a frequent quick meal for me. I might go spicy next time and add some sambal oelek. Thank you for this winner!
Elizabeth
So happy you like it Lisa! Love the addition of ginger juice too - I bet that gave it extra zing. 🙂
Mary
Well I must have made a serious error along the way. Worse thing I have ever made and a waste of ingredients
Elizabeth
Sorry to hear it didn't work out as it's such a satisfying recipe. Are there any steps I can help with?
Lucy Caceres
Loved it! It is wonderfully simple but tastes amazing. I added red onions and green peppers and they complemented the dish perfectly! I also used spiced honey instead of sugar. My family has never been so excited about eggplants, but would not stop complimenting this dish (and the cook!).
Elizabeth
I love this Lucy! Makes me so happy to hear they enjoyed it so much and thanks for the lovely feedback. Eggplant can be so delicious when cooked the right way. 🙂
Jan
We have a bumper crop of eggplant this year. I have enough eggplant parm in the freezer and was looking for some other recipes. We LOVED the stir fry. It was better than takeout! We served it over brown rice. I just reread the recipe seeing if anyone tried freezing it. I guess I'll just go ahead and try making a batch for the freezer and see what happens. Also have a Mediterranean soup cooking right now that smells heavenly!
Elizabeth
Oh that's wonderful to hear! So glad you loved it. 🙂 (I'm jealous of your bumper crop.) I haven't tried freezing it personally - I'm sure it would be ok, it just might change the texture of the eggplant slightly.
Elaine
Just made it for my supper tonight and it turned out perfect…so yummy 😋… will be on of my favourites! Thank you
Elizabeth
Excellent! Really happy you loved it so much Elaine. 🙂
Star
Made this exactly as instructed, including soaking the eggplant in the salted water. I also cooked your recommended Quick Crispy Tofu (recipe listed In this post,) and it was perfection!!!! I made this recipe about 3 weeks ago, and planning to make it again today. Now that I think of it, the only alteration I made was doubling the garlic and ginger. I can never get enough of those two beauties! Thanks for this fantastic recipe!
Elizabeth
I so appreciate your lovely comment. Really really glad you loved the recipe, and I totally agree that the tofu goes with it so well! Also, it's true, it's not possible to have too much garlic and ginger in a stir fry. 🙂 Thank you again for taking the time to share this!
Jameson
Absolutely delicious. On par with most takeout restaurant versions of the dish. I did more of a deep fry on the eggplant and got some wonderful color before cooking in the sauce. Salty, savory, sweet, garlicky; everything I wanted out of the dish
Elizabeth
I'm so happy to hear this! Thanks for the wonderful feedback and great tip on frying for longer. Will have to try that myself. 🙂
Wendy
Can you give an approximate weight for eggplant?
Elizabeth
Great question! Around 14oz, but this is approximate. 🙂
DDavis
I loved this recipe! I didn't have ginger so I put in some red pepper flakes instead- so simple and delicious. Thank you!
Elizabeth
Great swap! Glad it worked so well, and thank you for taking the time to leave this lovely feedback. It really helps!
Laura
Delicious and easy meal I’ll be repeating! I added thinly sliced carrot and spinach and served with hot soba noodles. Didn’t have any cornstarch but still came out really tasty. Thank you!
Elizabeth
Wonderful! It's great over noodles isn't it? And I love the veggies you added. I'll have to try them too. 🙂
Amy
Amazing! I had a lone eggplant that was transformed by this recipe. This is definitely my go to for eggplant.
Elizabeth
I'm so happy to hear that Amy! Really glad you loved it. 🙂
Tracey
I made this last night and it was excellent! I wanted more protein so threw in some shrimp after the garlic and ginger step. The only thing I'd do differently next time is make more sauce--it's so good!
Elizabeth
I'm so happy you loved it Tracey! And I agree re the sauce - you could use it on so many things. 🙂
Shauna
Do you think the eggplant could be made in the air fryer and then added to the sauce?
Elizabeth
I do! It would have a slightly different texture but I think it would still work really well in the sauce. 🙂
Betty
Easy and yummy!
Elizabeth
So pleased you loved it!