This Lebanese eggplant chickpea recipe is a Middle Eastern moussaka that's the perfect easy vegan stew to feed the whole family. Roasted eggplants and chickpeas are immersed in a rich tomato sauce with beautiful fragrant spices.
Greek Moussaka is rather different from this Lebanese version {Maghmour) as it's traditionally vegan without the béchamel sauce and served cold or room temperature.
I was recently inspired to make Lebanese moussaka as I was inundated with chickpeas after making my vegan german pancake where I needed the aquafaba (chickpea juice).
And let me tell you, a great thing you'll find is that this delicious side dish tas tasty hot and cold. Oh, and it's great for filling or dipping in pita bread pockets!
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🛒 Ingredients
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities, nutritional daily values, and instructions at the bottom of this post.
Diced fresh tomatoes - ideally ripe tomatoes for extra flavour, or you can use a 400g/14oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
Eggplants (aubergines) - no bitter eggplants here as they're cubed and roasted in a lot of oil. I use 2 medium weighing 1lb, but you could use a few smaller eggplants
Chickpeas - are full of protein and fibre to make it a filling dish
Olive oil - adds flavour to this Lebanese eggplant stew and is also used for roast eggplant chunks in the oven
Garlic - several cloves of garlic are minced and sauted along with the caramelized onion for extra flavour to create a rich tomato
Onion - tons of onion slices are sautéd with garlic. Alternatively, you can use red onions or shallots for a more subtle flavour
Tomato sauce (passata) - tomato juice from strained tomatoes
Tomato paste (puree) - adds sweetness from concentrated tomatoes
Green bell pepper - diced chunks adds a savoury peppery taste and contrasting colour
Spices - allspice, cinnamon and cumin give this a subtle sweet musky flavour
Salt and black pepper - to enhance all of the other ingredients
Water - helps the flavours meld together while simmering in the pot
Coriander - adds an extra fresh fragrant taste. Or you could garnish with fresh parsley.
Lemon - although an optional ingredient, the juice of an acidic lemon really makes the flavour pop, or try a drizzle of pomegranate molasses
📋 Instructions
The first thing you need to do is preheat your oven to 425F/Gas mark 7 /220c/200 c fan.
Place a single layer of chopped eggplants (aubergine) in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, drizzle oil, and toss well.
Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown while you work on the rest of the recipe.
In a deep frying pan, add the olive oil and salt, then saute the onions and garlic until caramelized.
Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well, and cover while cooking over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the passata, tomato puree and spices
Add the water and chopped peppers and bring to a boil.
Reduce the stove to a medium heat and add the chick peas and baked eggplant cubes, then stir well until everything is coated.
Cover and cook for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally. If it's watery, remove the lid and simmer for a final 5 minutes.
Garnish: Once cooked, season once more to taste and stir in the lemon juice and add a final layer of coriander leaves or parsley.
Full Oven Method
Instead of finishing the cooking on your stove top, yu can add all of your tomato and caramelized onions mixture to the baking dish with eggplants. Then cover and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
👩🍳 Substitutions
Here's a few different ways you can make this Lebanese maghmour:
- Oil - use low calorie cooking oil spray such as Frylight, which I estimate as Syn Free for an unofficial Slimming World eggplant chickpea stew
- Chickpeas - add peanuts so they boil in the mixture or try lupini beans
- Peppers - you could use large chunks of zuchini/courgettes like a ratatouille
⚖️ Variations
This Eastern Mediterranean recipe is already naturally gluten free and vegan, but here's a few tweaks for other dietary needs:
- Unofficial Slimming World - use low calorie cooking oil spray instead, such as Frylight for roasting and frying, which I estimate as Syn Free with no added oil
- Deluxe - add pomegranate molasses, chili powder or flakes for heat or cayenne pepper
- Meat eaters - create a Turkish Moussaka and fry a cup of minced meat such as beef after the onions and garlic
🔪 Equipment
- Baking dish
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- Large skillet or dutch oven
- Lemon juicer
- Salt and pepper grinder
❄️ Storage
As it creates a big batch, you might have lots of leftovers. For storing, I recommend storing in an airtight container and keeping in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to 3 months.
🍽️ Serving Ideas
Let me show you a few delicious ways you can eat this lebanese recipe.
Moussaka Soup Recipe
If you have half the amount of leftover, a great way to make an equally delicious moussaka recipe the next day is to add 1.5 cups of vegetable stock in a large pot.
Then simmer for about 10 minutes and stir in the following until melted:
- 1 cup vegan cheese
- ½ cup plant based double cream
Eggplant Moussaka Crostini
Slice crusty bread and brush with olive oil before grilling to toast. Then spoon the mixture and fresh herbs on top. It's perfect for parties or gatherings!
💡 Top Tip
Did you the is the Arabic word moussaka means "cold"? But I can assure you, it's equally delicious served hot.
❓ FAQ
Once you've roasted your eggplant on a baking tray and transferred to the slow cooker, I recommend only adding ¼ cup of water in the slow cooker as it won't get hot enough to evaporate most of the moisture.
Then use a cook time of 6-7 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. You may also want to add a bit of sugar to this Lebanese eggplant moussaka for extra sweetness.
Yes! As they won't be on a baking sheet, I recommend mixing the eggplant in a large bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil. Then place eggplant cubes in the air fryer basket and bake for 20 minutes at 375F/190c, shaking half way.
I use cooked chickpeas as it's a much quicker recipe. But you can soak and cook ½ a cup (100g) of dried chickpeas in advance.
Yes, frying eggplant slices or cubes is much quicker as you can see in my Thai spinach and eggplant soup. But sometimes I prefer the oven result as it's less hands-on and creates crispier skin.
There's no need! It's completely edible and roasting or frying with salt helps draw the moisture out along with any bitter taste.
➕ More Delicious Recipes
- Chickpea and aubergine curry
- Moroccan chickpea soup in a maker
- Moroccan tagine
- Eggplant caponata by adding vinegar, olives, capers etc
- Vegan Greek version of moussaka by My Greek Dish using lentils
📖 Recipe
Eggplant Chickpea Recipe {Lebanese Moussaka - Maghmour}
Equipment
Ingredients
Roasted Eggplants
- 2 medium Eggplants (Aubergines) (around 1lb / 500g) or 1 large eggplant
- ⅓ cup Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Sea salt
Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 Fresh tomatoes (14oz/400g) Chopped (Or 14 oz can of San Marzano Tomatoes)
- 5 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 large Onion Halved and sliced
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- ⅓ cup Tomato sauce (passata)
- 3 tablespoon Tomato paste (puree)
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Allspice
- ½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground cumin
- ½ Green bell pepper diced
- 2.5 cups Cooked chickpeas (14oz/400g from almost 2 cans at drained weight)
- 1 cup Water Or vegetable broth
Garnish
- Fresh coriander or Fresh parsley
- 1 Lemon juice (and zest if you wish)
Instructions
- The first thing you need to do is preheat your oven to 425F/Gas mark 7 /220c/200 c fan.
- Place your chopped eggplants (aubergine) in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, drizzle oil, and toss well.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown while you work on the rest of the recipe.
- In a deep frying pan, add the olive oil and salt, then saute the onions and garlic until caramelized.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well, and cover while cooking over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the passata, tomato puree and spices
- Add the water and chopped peppers and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the stove to a medium heat and add the chick peas and baked eggplant cubes, then stir well until everything is coated.
- Cover and cook for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally. If it's watery, remove the lid and simmer for a final 5 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or coriander, lemon juice and an extra tablespoon of olive oil for good health!
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Shantena Freeman
I just finished making this. My Husband says it's pretty good. And he's Lebanese! I tweeked it a little. I added black olives 😂