🥔 SIDE
Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad)
Charred eggplant cooked down with tomato, garlic, cumin, paprika, olive oil and fresh herbs into a smoky, spoonable cooked salad eaten with Moroccan bread.
Moroccan · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~131 cal · 2g protein · 12g carbs · 9g fat · 5g fiber · 6g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Zaalouk is one of the cooked salads that come to a Moroccan table before or alongside the main dish, set out in small plates with the bread that serves as the spoon. The American food writer Paula Wolfert, who spent years documenting Moroccan cooking, called it one of the best of all the cooked Moroccan salads.
Eggplant is roasted or grilled until the skin chars and the flesh collapses, then stirred into tomatoes that have been cooked down with olive oil, plenty of garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, parsley and coriander. Everything is mashed together and cooked a little longer until thick and jammy, and finished with a squeeze of lemon and a thread of olive oil. Some cooks cube and the eggplant instead of roasting it, and some add a little chili for heat.
It is eaten warm, at room temperature or cold, scooped up with pieces of khobz, and it keeps well for days, which is why a bowl of it is so often waiting in a Moroccan fridge.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 2 large (about 800 g) eggplants
- 3 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp olive oil, plus a little to finish
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- a pinch cayenne pepper, optional
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, optional
Instructions
- 1Halve the eggplants lengthwise and roast them skin side up under a hot grill or in a 230C (450F) oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the skins are charred and the flesh is completely soft.✎ Chef’s noteTake them further than you think. The char is where the smoky flavour comes from, and undercooked eggplant stays spongy.
- 2Meanwhile put the tomatoes in a wide frying pan with the olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt, cayenne if using, and half the herbs. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes until the tomatoes break down into a thick sauce.
- 3Scoop the eggplant flesh out of the skins, discarding the skin, and stir it into the tomatoes, mashing any firm pieces with a fork.
- 4Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring, until thick and most of the liquid has gone. Add the lemon juice if using, then taste for salt.
- 5Spread on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, scatter over the rest of the herbs and serve warm or at room temperature with bread.
Moroccan home tradition (cooked salads).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Fès-Meknès. Bread in the medina is made at home and baked in public. Households knead their own dough, mark it with a family sign so it can be told apart, and carry it on a board to the neighbourhood ferran, the wood-fired communal oven that sits beside the mosque, the hammam and the fountain as one of the fixed points of a quarter. Tangia and pastilla go in the same way.
🗺️
Morocco. Couscous is not Morocco's alone: UNESCO inscribed the knowledge and practices around it in 2020 as a shared Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Tunisian tradition. In Moroccan homes it is the Friday dish, hand-rolled from semolina and steamed three times over the broth it will be served with, carried out on one communal platter after midday prayers.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Morocco
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon & OlivesSlow-braised chicken perfumed with saffron and ginger, brightened by salty preserved lemon and green olives.
Chicken BastillaA sweet-savory pie of spiced shredded chicken and almonds in crackling pastry, dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
Kefta Mkaouara (Meatball Tagine)Spiced meatballs simmered in a cumin-scented tomato sauce with eggs cracked on top, a bubbling tagine eaten with bread.
Browse all Morocco recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Oven, Grill or barbecue.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad)?
Charred eggplant cooked down with tomato, garlic, cumin, paprika, olive oil and fresh herbs into a smoky, spoonable cooked salad eaten with Moroccan bread.
Where does Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad) come from?
Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad) is a Moroccan dish from Fès-Meknès, Morocco.
Can Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant and Tomato Salad) take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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