The humble eggplant takes center stage when it comes to Sicilian cooking. Eggplant Caponata, a Sicilian eggplant recipe, has a flavorful blend of sweet and sour flavors all in one dish. And it’s even tastier served the next day!When you think of Sicilian cooking, one of the first ingredients that comes to mind is the iconic eggplant. During a recent trip to Sicily, the number of dishes featuring eggplant I sampled was mind-boggling. The record was five dishes during one meal!

And then, of course, there is Eggplant Caponata. The sweet and sour Sicilian eggplant recipe that is infamous all over this island! This blend of eggplant, onion, celery, tomatoes, olives and capers has a unique flavor due to the addition of sugar and red wine vinegar that take this dish to a whole new level.    

I used this beauty from my garden to make my caponata. This variety of Italian eggplant is perfect for making caponata and after years of trying, I finally had some luck growing them in my garden! But of course, you may use the common globe eggplant found in most grocery stores.Since they were plentiful in my garden, I chose to add fresh tomatoes, but in a pinch you can also use canned diced tomatoes.

Also, caponata is usually made with green olives. However, I brought back a batch of my favorite black olives cured by my lovely cousin in Sicily. I decided I needed to incorporate them in my caponata.  It was just as delicious!

The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed printable recipe card.

Step by Step Instructions

Salt the eggplant: 

Cut 2 large eggplants into approximate 1 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl, salt generously and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain, rinse and pat dry.

Cook the eggplant:

The eggplant for caponata is traditionally fried, but given my aversion to frying unless absolutely necessary, I chose to oven roast it. I apologize in advance to all the purists who prefer frying their eggplant!

Advantages of oven roasting eggplant for caponata:

• Since there is no frying involved this method is fuss free!
• Oven roasting ensures that each piece of eggplant is evenly roasted.
• This method is also time saving. While the eggplant is cooking, you can prepare the remaining ingredients and toss in the eggplant during the last few minutes of cooking.

Place cubed eggplant on two parchment paper lined baking sheets. Be sure to generously coat your eggplant with olive oil in order to prevent it from drying out. Roast in a 400 degrees F preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While the eggplant is roasting, in a large skillet heat olive oil and sauté a diced onion for 3 minutes. Stir in chopped celery, a pinch of salt and cover. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes until the celery is slightly softened.

Uncover and stir in diced tomatoes, cook 5 minutes. Add olives; capers; sugar and vinegar and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes longer.Toss in the roasted eggplant and stir to coat. Cook for 5 more minutes. Adjust seasoning ,if needed.

Stir in fresh basil leaves at the end of cooking.

Tips and suggestions:

• If you don’t have access to fresh, ripe tomatoes use canned diced tomatoes instead.
• Green olives may substituted for the black olives.

How to serve Eggplant Caponata:

Another wonderful thing about caponata is that it tastes better at room temperature or even the following day. 

I enjoy Eggplant Caponata as a side dish but it is hearty enough to enjoy as a main dish alongside some fresh, crusty Italian bread.

Storage

Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days. Let it come to room temperature before serving.

If you try out this recipe for Eggplant Caponata, please let me know how much you enjoyed it by rating it in the recipe card below.  Feel free to Pin it for later. Buon appetito!

Endless eggplant dishes!

And in case you were wondering, yes, I do have tons of eggplant recipes here on my blog!

Some are classics which I have enjoyed all my life as prepared by my mother such as eggplant parmigiana made with a Sicilian twist including mortadella and hard boiled eggs; Sicilian pasta al forno; baked eggplant and potatoes with tomato sauce; crispy baked eggplant cutlets; or pickled eggplant.

Then there are new Sicilian eggplant recipes that I had the fortune to sample during my travels and have recreated in order to share the recipes with you such as eggplant involtini with maccaruna; or grilled eggplant involtini. Check them out when you have a minute!

Tried this recipe?Mention @mangiabedda or tag #mangiabedda!

Eggplant Caponata Recipe

Eggplant Caponata an iconic Sicilian eggplant recipe, distinctive for it's sweet and sour flavor. It is best served at room temperature and keeps well refrigerated for several days.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Sicilian

Keyword: eggplant caponata, Sicilian sweet and sour eggplant

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 357kcal

Author: Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 Italian eggplants about 2 lbs
• ▢ 8 tbsp. olive oil divided
• ▢ 1 onion diced
• ▢ 2 stalks celery diced
• ▢ 4 large tomatoes (1 lb), diced
• ▢ 1/2 cup green or black olives whole or pitted
• ▢ 1-2 tbsp. capers
• ▢ 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• ▢ 4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ handful fresh basil leaves chopped or hand torn

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Salt the eggplant

• Cut the eggplants into approximate 1 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl, salt generously and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain, rinse and pat dry.

Cook the eggplant

• Preheat oven to 400F and cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Distribute the eggplant cubes in the pans and toss with 3 tbsp. of olive oil in each pan. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking.

Cook the remaining ingredients

• Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat 2 tbsp. olive oil on medium-high heat, add onion, cook for 3 minutes. Stir in celery, add a pinch of salt, lower heat, cover the pan and let the celery cook for 5 minutes.
• Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
• Stir in olives, capers sugar, red wine vinegar and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the roasted eggplant and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
• Remove from heat and stir in the basil.

Notes

Tips and suggestions:

• If you don't have access to fresh, ripe tomatoes use canned diced tomatoes instead.
• Green olives may substituted for the black olives.

How to serve Eggplant Caponata:

Another wonderful thing about caponata is that it tastes better at room temperature or even the following day. This is a dish that gets better with time, so you can definitely keep it in the fridge for a few days. Let it come to room temperature before serving.

I enjoy Eggplant Caponata as a side dish but it is hearty enough to enjoy as a main dish alongside some fresh, crusty Italian bread.

Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact ingredients used and portion size.

Nutrition

Calories: 357kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Sodium: 397mg | Potassium: 1063mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 1730IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg