If you’ve never tried vegetables Szechuan style, then this recipe of eggplant Szechuan-style with peppers and mushrooms is a great place to start.
I was inspired to make this dish from our home grown eggplant and peppers but also after enjoying an eggplant dish recently at, P.F. Chang’s restaurant.
This Szechuan eggplant recipe has been floating around my kitchen for many years and is one of my favorites from the cookbook, “Make it Easy in Your Kitchen,” published in 1982.
I’ve been cooking for quite a while but my version of Szechuan style eggplant recipe is updated to cut out the oil and adds the red peppers and mushrooms.
If you’re like me, you want your eggplant cooked until soft and this dish does the trick. A delicious and great way to serve eggplant. If you want to make a heartier meal, you can opt to serve it over brown rice or buckwheat noodles.
Be sure to try these other culture-inspired dinner recipes:
- Tempeh Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Asian Noodle Salad
- Moroccan Chickpea Vegetable Tagine
- Kimchi
- Vegan Chiles Rellenos
This Szechwan eggplant dish is great to serve as a main course or if you’re having an Asian inspired dinner party it will pair nicely with other Asian recipes.
The mushroom and eggplant Szechuan style is very filling without being too heavy. You can easily sub the soy sauce for liquid aminos, a natural soy sauce alternative.
You can buy or make your own veggie stock for this recipe. If you have time, make your own veggie stock and freeze it. This way you can control the stock and it’s loaded with so much more flavor than the store brands.
Another great addition to this Szechuan eggplant recipe is more peppers. Feel free to add in green bell peppers or for an elevated kick, some jalapenos.
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Eggplant Szechuan Style recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking
This recipe is Plantricious Friendly because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- *Plantricious Friendly foods may include but are not limited to condiments, fermented foods, soups, sauces, beverages, dressings, marinades, etc.
Eggplant Szechuan-Style with Peppers & Mushrooms
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1/4 cup homemade vegetable broth or water, (or 1/4 cup homemade)
- 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger peeled and finely minced or grated
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp chili paste
- 4 tsp rice vinegar
Eggplant
- 1 medium eggplant unpeeled and cut into 1″ cubes
- 1 medium red pepper seeded and cut into 1″ cubes
- 1 (8-ounce) package mushrooms sliced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, make broth mixture by adding veggie broth or water, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, maple syrup, chili paste, and vinegar. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, saute eggplant in 1/4 cup water until soften just a bit and then add peppers and mushrooms and continue to sauté for about 3-4 minutes.
- Add sauce mixture to eggplant, bring to boil, and stir. Cook for a few minutes until the mixture has reduced a little.
- Serve over steamed rice, quinoa or grain of your choice.
When does the sugar come into play?
Hey Dorothy, the sugar goes into the sauce in step 1 of the instructions. You may have noticed that I changed sugar to maple syrup, but either will work. Maple syrup or date syrup is more plant-based friendly. 👍 I hope that helps.
still looking for “low carb” plant based recipe
Did you see my response to your question in the comments on “9 Plant-Based Store-Bought Foods with Hidden Oils?” Scroll to the bottom of the post. I also sent you an email. I’ll just add that plant-based diet isn’t a low carb diet but you can probably find recipes that have more protein in them. Unfortunately, I can’t pull all the recipes that may fit this description. You can check out the nutrition labels in the cookbook and on the website to identify those. It’s a good suggestion though. I can add this to my “to do” list and create a roundup with any low-carb plant-based recipes I find.
Delicious! Made it a second time, doubling the batch, wondering if I could freeze this? How long will this stay in the fridge?
Hey Cindy, Yes, you can freeze cooked eggplant and I read that it can last up to 8 months in the freezer. In the fridge, about 3-5 days. So glad you enjoyed the reicpe. 🙂