Baked Ratatouille

This Baked Ratatouille is packed with fresh zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes with plenty of herbs and a layer of gooey mozzarella for the most delicious meal or side dish. I love to serve it with Basil Parmesan Polenta or Mashed Cauliflower.

With a glorious combination of fresh vegetables, herbs, and melty mozzarella cheese, this Baked Ratatouille is absolutely bursting with incredible flavors. You can serve it as a vegetarian main dish for Meatless Monday or as a vibrant side dish that guarantees to steal the show.

Every time I’ve made this dish for my family or friends, the plates of everyone in the room have been wiped clean. If, by some stroke of luck, you end up with leftovers, I love adding them to a big bowl of pasta or rice.

While this dish doesn’t traditionally include cheese, I love the taste of melted mozzarella over the top. For a vegan-friendly version, feel free to leave it out. If you love cheese as much as I do, it’s a definite must.

I typically like to serve Ratatouille alongside creamy polenta or mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food meal. This versatile dish is perfect for both hot summer days and cold winter nights, so it’s a great staple to make year-round.

Serve up this Baked Ratatouille for your next dinner party, backyard barbecue, baby shower, or weeknight meal with the family. This stunning dish is easy to make and comes together in under an hour, making it the ideal dish for any occasion. For a hands-off ratatouille, try this slow cooker version with polenta.

What is Ratatouille?

Ratatouille is a classic French dish made from stewed vegetables and herbs. The dish originated in Nice around 1877, but has since been recreated in different variations all around the world. While ratatouille varies from place to place, it most often includes a combination of tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic, and herbs. Once considered to be a dish traditionally eaten by the poor, ratatouille is now commonly seen on menus at upscale restaurants across Europe.

In my version, I use the classic combination of vegetables, with the addition of red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and mozzarella. Any vegetables you have at home will work, so this dish is great for clearing out the fridge if you don’t know what to do with vegetables that are on their way out.

Key Ingredients

The key ingredients you will need for this vibrant dish include:

• Squash: As is tradition, we use both zucchini and summer squash in this delicious recipe.
• Tomatoes: To keep things easy, we just used crushed tomatoes. For a more authentic version, add sliced Roma tomatoes as well. You can sub them out for any fresh tomatoes you like.
• Eggplant: This vegetable adds a beautiful color contrast, tons of beneficial nutrients, and delicious flavor.
• Dried herbs: We’re going to use a combination of dried oregano, thyme, and rosemary. If you don’t have all of these, you can sub them out for an Italian seasoning blend.
• Mozzarella: I find that fresh sliced mozzarella yields the best flavor, but you can use fresh mozzarella instead if you have some at home.

Recipe Variations

There are a ton of fun and delicious ways to switch up this fantastic recipe. Here are some of my favorites:

• Skip the cheese and make a dairy-free version instead.
• During the fall, try switching out the summer squash for butternut squash.
• Use cherry tomatoes instead of Roma tomatoes.
• Try using balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar.
• Instead of red onions, try white onions or shallots.
• If you wind up with leftovers, add them to cooked pasta. Delicious!
• If you don’t have all the spices this recipe calls for, you can use an Italian spice blend instead.
• You can switch up the flavor profile with some different spice blends like Mediterranean, Indian, and Mexican.
• For a touch of added sweetness, try adding in sweet bell peppers.
• If you’re a spicy food lover, use spicy diced tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes, or add crushed red pepper to the dish.
• To add a delicious crispy coating on top, cover the dish with seasoned toasted breadcrumbs and a few tablespoons of melted butter, then broil for 10-15 minutes at the end.
• For more of a vegetable stew, you can chop the veggies into chunks instead of thin slices.

How to Store This Dish

To store this dish, simply transfer it to an airtight container and keep the leftovers in the fridge for up to one week. Leftovers can be reheated and served over pasta or kept cold and served over a bed of greens. You could even mix your leftovers into a bowl of scrambled or fried eggs for breakfast! This dish can also be stored in the freezer for 2-3 months, but keep in mind that the textures of the vegetables will likely be mushier than before.