Greek Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata) is a classic Greek appetizer. It is made with baked eggplants, Greek yogurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon and without tahini.
This rustic recipe was submitted by a reader of this blog many years ago, but only now I managed to take a photo of it so that you can see how great it looks. It is really easy to make and tastes great with bread, fish or meat.
Greek Eggplant Dip is traditionally made with Greek strained yoghurt but can also be made with mayonnaise instead (I used a mixture of Greek yogurt and mayo). Try both ways and see which you prefer – with mayonnaise it has a slightly thicker, richer taste.
This is a side dish which can be served with any meat, fish or vegetable dish.

- 3 large eggplants
- 300 g strained Greek yoghurt or mayonnaise
- 3 cloves medium-sized of garlic
- 2 tablespoonfuls extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon
- salt
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Bake them whole in a very hot oven for approximately 1 hour until the skin is burned and cracks if you tap it with your fingers. It is important to be burned because that gives a special smoky taste to the dip.
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Allow them to cool and cut them in two lengthwise.
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Scoop out the white flesh and try to remove the dark seeds.
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Put the flesh in a colander, add salt which will remove the bitterness from the eggplants and lemon juice which will help them to remain white.
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Allow them to stand and drain for an hour.
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Mash them as much as you can with the help of a fork, do not use a blender.
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Add the yoghurt (or mayonnaise), the crushed garlic and the olive oil and stir them well.
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Place them in a shallow bowl and decorate them with parsley leaves and a few drops of olive oil.
recipe submitted by: symposio; images by: kitchennostalgia.com
Nice recipe. It is worth trying at home. I love varieties and this is impressive.