These Herby Couscous Stuffed Eggplant Rolls are so flavourful! They are wonderful served as a light lunch, appetizer or for dinner with salad on the side. The combination of grilled eggplant, creamy tahini sauce and cauliflower couscous which is packed with fresh herbs is so tasty! These rolls are Whole30, Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Keto and Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal.
This recipe combines two of my favourite things, cauliflower rice and grilled eggplant.
The cauliflower rice is quickly sautéed until tender and then mixed with a delicious blend of parsley, mint, pine nuts, shallots and garlic. The result is a flavourful and refreshing salad very similar to a middle eastern couscous. To keep this recipe paleo and vegan I avoided using dairy, but crumbled feta would be a wonderful salty addition to the salad if cheese is a part of your diet.
Grilled slices of eggplant are the perfect encasing for the couscous, wrapping everything together into pretty serving sized portions. I am a bit of a grilled eggplant addict and absolutely love its tender texture and the way it absorbs other flavours, which in this dish is the garlic and herbs from the salad.
The tahini and lemon sauce is a wonderful combination of zesty citrus and creamy texture and is perfect for drizzling over the top of the rolls. You can also serve any extra sauce alongside the dish to spoon over because its so good, people always end up wanting more.
These Vegan Eggplant Rolls are incredibly versatile. You can serve them as an appetizer, as part of an antipasti platter, in place of salad, as a side dish or a healthy lunch.
I find that the texture and quality of the rolls doesn’t change once made, so you could prepare the Vegan Eggplant Rolls up to a day in advance, but would recommend only topping with the tahini sauce right before serving.
Here are a few other vegan recipes you will love:
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Vegan Beet & “Goat Cheese” Bites
- Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
- Roasted Pumpkin with Honey, Thyme & Pecans
- Cauliflower Tabbouleh Salad
- Roasted Cauliflower & Butternut Squash Tacos
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Herby Couscous Stuffed Eggplant Rolls
Ingredients
Eggplant Slices
- 2 eggplants
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Couscous filling*
- 2 cups cauliflower rice approximately half a head of cauliflower
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 red onion or 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
Tahini & Lemon Sauce
- 2 tbsp tahini
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp honey or other sweetener
- 1 clove garlic
- water
Instructions
- Heat a grill to medium high heat or alternatively preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Slice the eggplants length wise into 1cm thick slices. Brush each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill the slices for approximately 3 minutes per side until golden in colour and tender. Alternatively lay the slices on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 minutes per side.
- While the eggplant is cooking, heat 1/2 tsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add in the cauliflower rice and sauté for 5 minutes until softened. Transfer the cauliflower couscous to a bowl and put in the fridge to cool.
- Once the cauliflower couscous is cool, stir in the parsley, mint, pine nuts and chopped onion. In a small bowl whisk together the 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and garlic and then pour over the couscous and stir.
- In a bowl whisk together the tahini, lemon juice and crushed garlic. Add approximately 1 tbsp of water and continue to whisk until a a smooth sauce forms.
- To assemble the rolls place 1 to 2 spoonfuls of the couscous at the wider end of the eggplant slice and roll up. Repeat with the remaining slices.
- To serve drizzle the rolls with the tahini & lemon sauce and sprinkle with any additional parsley or pine nuts.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a comment below and let us know how it was!
It is very tasty.
This was so yummy!! I used cauliflower hash (with broccoli and carrots) instead of just cauliflower to add a little extra, and it was perfect! I’ll definitely be making this again.
Do you have a nutritional analysis of this recipe?
I made these with actual couscous and added the feta. They were soooo good. I’m making again for a dinner party this weekend.
Loved that they worked the couscous too! Thanks for the comment Molly!
I was really looking forward to tasting this! Taste was good, but it def. takes longer to prepare it! Too tricky to get the perfect “baking time” for the eggplant slices! 3 min was not enough- maybe on the grill but not the oven! I don’t know if i will try it again!!
Thanks for the feedback Evelyn! The oven will definitely take longer to grill the eggplant, I find that a sandwich press is actually the fastest method.
I was wondering what to serve with it!
They are great with a simple salad!
Do you have to let the eggplant sweat first before baking?
You can definitely leave it to sweat if you have time but I haven’t noticed a big difference in the end result if you skip it to be honest
I’m not a big fan of mint, could I skip that? And if I wanted to serve them warm do you have any suggestions? Thank you!
I have made this several times and it is so delicious. The only thing I changed is doubling the tahini drizzle. This is company food. I served a lightly dressed tomato, onion and parsley salad on the side.
That sounds like such a great meal!Thanks for the comment Pauline!
This isn’t something I would ever normally make but I love eggplant and have been looking for a really tasty way to prepare it so it appeals to my partner too. I was not disappointed!! I made them with Spanish rice that I had left over in place of cauliflower and I broiled the eggplant in the oven. It turned out incredible with the mint!! Loved the honey lemon tahini too, it will be my new go to dip.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the rolls! I feel the same way about the dip, I use it for absolutely everything from veggie dip to salad dressing, i cant get enough 🙂
This looks yummy! But how do you keep the eggplant rolled up?
Thanks Alexandra! After rolling them up, plate them with the end of the roll facing down