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Eggplant caponata in a gray serving bowl with a spoon.

The Best Sicilian Eggplant Caponata

Eggplant Caponata is a traditional Sicilian dish with a sweet and sour flavor known as "agrodolce" in Italian. It's a rustic eggplant salad made with olives, tomatoes, celery, pine nuts, raisins and plenty of other flavorful ingredients. This traditional eggplant caponata recipe makes a wonderful antipasto, side dish or condiment to go along with your favorite Italian meals. 
4.84 from 6 votes
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Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Sicilian
Keyword: appetizer, capers, caponata, dip, eggplant, raisins, salad, Sicilian, spread
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 1 quart
Calories: 1088kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 pounds eggplant cut into 1-inch cubes
  • salt to taste
  • 1 large yellow onion diced
  • 2 celery ribs thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic very thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 plum tomatoes peeled, seeded and diced (or 1 cup crushed canned tomatoes)
  • 1 cup Castelvetrano or other green olives pitted and roughly chopped
  • ½ cup white wine vinegar
  • cup golden raisins
  • ¼ cup capers drained and rinsed (don't skip the rinse!)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • ½ cup roughly chopped basil leaves
  • 2 tablespoon roughly chopped parsley leaves
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts toasted until golden and cooled

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.* (see note)
  • Toss the eggplant with ½ cup olive oil, then spread out into an even layer on the sheet pans. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes, tossing once about half way through to ensure even browning. In the meantime, prep the rest of your ingredients. Transfer the browned eggplant to paper towels to drain, then sprinkle with salt.
  • Heat a medium-large pot or high-sided skillet over medium heat, then add the remaining 3 tablespoon olive oil and the onions and celery. Season with salt, then cook until just starting to lightly brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, cook for one minute more, then add tomato paste and water. Cook until the water has mostly evaporated and the tomato baste starts to caramelize. Add the tomatoes, then simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Add the olives, capers, vinegar, raisins and sugar, then cook until thickened, about another 15 minutes. Be sure to give it a stir every so often to prevent the bottom from burning. Turn off the heat, then add the eggplant, basil, parsley and pine nuts. Stir until everything is well combined, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Let cool to room temperature, then serve.
  • Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

  • If it’s too hot to turn on the stove, you can pan fry the eggplant instead with a little bit of oil. 
  • If using large eggplant, you may want to peel them before roasting as the skins can get tough and bitter. Smaller eggplants tend to have mild-tasting and softer skins that don’t need to be peeled. 
  • While you could eat this dish warm, the flavors come out and shine when served at room temperature, and it tastes even better the next day. 
  • If you want to make your caponata spicy, add a generous pinch of red pepper flakes or some chopped long hot peppers

Nutrition

Calories: 1088kcal | Carbohydrates: 166g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 47g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 0.4mg | Sodium: 3822mg | Potassium: 3745mg | Fiber: 42g | Sugar: 108g | Vitamin A: 2623IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 306mg | Iron: 9mg