Easy French Ratatouille Is a Must-Make Summer Recipe (2024)

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Laure Joliet

Laure Joliet

updated Oct 2, 2022

summer

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Easy French Ratatouille Is a Must-Make Summer Recipe (1)

Make this thick and silky French stew of eggplant, zucchini, sweet peppers, and ripe summer tomatoes before summer ends.

Serves8Makesabout 2 quartsPrep20 minutesCook1 hour 5 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes

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Easy French Ratatouille Is a Must-Make Summer Recipe (2)

When your garden is overflowing and your kitchen is packed with produce, there is ratatouille. This thick and silky French stew of eggplant, zucchini, sweet bell peppers, and ripe summer tomatoes will use up your extra vegetables in one fell swoop, making enough food to feed a crowd, pack for lunch, and still freeze for later.

Making ratatouille is definitely a project for a weekend afternoon; it’s easy, but fairly time-consuming. First there’s getting all the vegetables washed, chopped, and ready. Then you need to cook them in batches — partly so they can brown instead of steam, and partly because the vegetables tend not to fit in a single pot until they’ve started breaking down a little.

The Best Time to Eat Ratatouille

Once this is all accomplished and the vegetables are simmering away on the back burner, there’s the waiting. You can certainly eat your ratatouille as soon as all the vegetables are warmed through — that’s a perfectly tasty and fresh meal — but the real magic of ratatouille happens after it’s been bubbling away for an hour or more. The vegetables melt into each other, turning silky and completely tender, while the thyme and garlic infuse every corner of the pot. Stirring in the basil at the last minute is the pièce de résistance.

This recipe for ratatouille comes from my dad, a genuine Frenchman who learned to make the dish while growing up. It’s filling, full of vegetables, and gets even better on the second and third day. I recommend serving it with plenty of crusty bread close at hand.

Tester’s Notes

This is the quintessential vegetarian summer recipe — what else uses and celebrates so much of the bounty of the summer produce? Ratatouille is a great way to turn that bumper crop of summer squash or tomatoes into a tasty side dish or topping for crusty bread. We’ve simplified the recipe a bit and clarified the amounts you’ll need. If you find yourself with even more produce than planned, you can easily double the recipe and freeze the extras for when you want a taste of summer.

Christine, April 2018

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Easy French Ratatouille Recipe

Make this thick and silky French stew of eggplant, zucchini, sweet peppers, and ripe summer tomatoes before summer ends.

Prep time 20 minutes

Cook time 1 hour 5 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes

Makes about 2 quarts

Serves 8

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons

    olive oil, divided, plus more for serving

  • 1 1/2 pounds

    eggplant (1 large), large dice

  • Kosher salt

  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 1/2 pounds

    zucchini or summer squash (3 to 4 medium squash), large dice

  • 1

    medium yellow onion, diced

  • 2 cloves

    garlic, minced

  • 2 sprigs

    fresh thyme

  • 1

    bay leaf

  • 1 pound

    tomatoes (3 to 4 medium), large dice

  • 1

    large bell pepper, large dice

  • 1/4 cup

    loosely packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced, plus more for serving

Instructions

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the eggplant, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

  2. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the pot. Add the zucchini, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the eggplant.

  3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and bell peppers. Add the reserved eggplant and zucchini and gently stir to combine.

  4. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 1/2 hours. A shorter cooking time will leave the vegetables in larger, more distinct pieces; longer cooking times will break the vegetables down into a silky stew.

  5. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Just before serving, stir in the basil. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve, sprinkling each serving with more basil and drizzling with more olive oil.

Recipe Notes

Making a larger batch: This recipe can be doubled and adapted to use whatever vegetables you have.

Flavor extras: For something different, try adding a tablespoon of smoked paprika, a pinch of red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup of red wine, or a splash of vinegar to the ratatouille.

Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Filed in:

Dairy-Free

dinner

Freezer Friendly

french

Gluten-Free

Healthy Living

Easy French Ratatouille Is a Must-Make Summer Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's the secret of a good ratatouille? ›

Ratatouille requires ripe vegetables, a liberal hand with the olive oil, and patience: only long, slow cooking will give you the creamy soft vegetables, and intense, almost jammy sauce that sings of the sun. Anything else is just plain vegetable stew.

What are the most common ingredients used in ratatouille? ›

Ratatouille is a classic French dish from the region of Provence that consists of eggplant, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs that are quickly seared and then gently stewed. The result is a creamy delicious mixture of fresh vegetables that serves as a wonderful main or side dish.

What is the best way to eat ratatouille? ›

It's the perfect pan for quintessential South-of-France recipe.
  1. FAQ – All About Ratatouille. ...
  2. Serve Ratatouille with a Poached Egg Salad and a Cheese Plate.
  3. Serve Ratatouille as a Side Dish to Meats.
  4. Ratatouille goes well with all kinds of grilled meats—I love it with flank steak, lamb, and veal, especially.
Aug 27, 2021

Why is ratatouille dish so good? ›

Hailing from the Provence region of southern France near the Mediterranean Sea, ratatouille is a colorful and hearty summer vegetable stew made with eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes. It is full of flavor of olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs. Who designed the dishes in Ratatouille? Thomas Keller!

What is the correct order of steps for making ratatouille? ›

  1. Step 1: Roast Nuts. Start by roasting the pine nuts in a dry frying pan. ...
  2. Step 2: Prepare Eggplant. Dice the eggplant, put the cubes in a strainer and sprinkle with salt. ...
  3. Step 3: Slice the Onion. ...
  4. Step 4: Cook the Onion. ...
  5. Step 5: Add Tomato Puree. ...
  6. Step 6: Cook Peppers. ...
  7. Step 7: Mushrooms and Zucchini. ...
  8. Step 8: Eggplant.

What is the original food ratatouille? ›

The history of the recipe for Ratatouille is said to be from France originally, though the ingredients and style of preparation has some historians wondering if it actually originated from the Basque region of Spain. The modern recipe for Ratatouille originated in the Nice and Provencal regions of France.

How do you cut tomatoes for ratatouille? ›

Hold upright, cut around the stalk, then cut into 3 pieces. Cut away any membrane, then chop into bite-size chunks. Score a small cross on the base of each of 4 large ripe tomatoes, then put them into a heatproof bowl.

Is ratatouille Italian or French? ›

Ratatouille (/ˌrætəˈtuːi/ RAT-ə-TOO-ee, French: [ʁatatuj]; Occitan: ratatolha [ʀataˈtuʎɔ]) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ratatouille niçoise ( French: [niswaz]).

How to make the perfect ratatouille Disney Dreamlight Valley? ›

To make ratatouille in Disney Dreamlight Valley, you'll need to bring the following ingredients to any of the stoves/hobs in the game: eggplant (AKA aubergine), zucchini (AKA courgette), onion, tomato, and the spice of your choice. Simply chuck those food items into any active hob and your job will be done.

What is the main lesson of ratatouille? ›

It conveys a message that there are a lot of difficulties in our life, we just need to be like Remy, focus on our goals, and find out a way to achieve them. We all are unique in our own ways. We need to figure out our strengths and polish them from time to time.

What is Remy's flaw in ratatouille? ›

Remy has a problem, though: He's a rat. A Parisian rat with a heightened sense of smell, a discerning palate and a natural skill in the culinary arts … but, still a rat.

What is ratatouille usually made of? ›

Ratatouille is traditionally made with tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, and eggplant when they are at the peak of their season at the same time. Garlic, thyme, and basil are often added to the mix as well.

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