This is my Gochujang Eggplant skewers recipe and it's unbelievably delicious. It comes together in less than 20 minutes and is such a crowd-pleaser. The sauce is super simple and only requires 5 ingredients.
I absolutely love eggplant / aubergine, contrary to many people's opinions, it's one of my favourite vegetables. It's so versatile and absorbs flavours like a sponge. It's a great vehicle for comforting textures and bold ingredients.
This gochujang eggplant recipe is one exciting way of cooking aubergines, but another couple of recipes I love are my sticky miso aubergines and my sticky ginger aubergines , both so delicious and easy to make!
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Why you'll love this recipe
Simple: This gochujang eggplant recipe requires a handful of ingredients, a few skewer sticks and a good non-stick pan.
Full of flavour: The 5 ingredient gochujang sauce that is brushed over the eggplant skewers is so delicious. It's a bit spicy, peanut-y, sweet, the perfect balance.
Great for meal prep: You can easily make these gochujang aubergine skewers in advance and then store them in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can then serve them with noodles, rice, pasta, or on toast!
If you're a fan of gochujang, then check out the 10 best gochujang chicken recipes from burgers to salads!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Eggplant / aubergine: You'll need an eggplant per person for this recipe. You could also make this with courgette / zucchini, which would be super delicious. If you wanted to add some more protein, you could cook off some cubes of tofu or some chicken thighs.
Garlic: fresh garlic cloves are a great addition of flavour to this recipe. I've roughly chopped mine. You could alternatively add ½ teaspoon of garlic granules to the sauce.
Ginger: get yourself some fresh ginger and finely chop it. You could alternatively add ½ teaspoon ground ginger to the sauce.
Gochujang: a lovely Korean red pepper paste, it's smoky and spicy. So delicious. If you don't have this, I'd recommend using chili garlic sauce (not the same flavour but similar feel), sriracha, or hoisin sauce.
Peanut butter: This adds a lovely creamy nuttiness to the sauce. You can use crunchy or smooth, whatever you fancy. If you don't have peanut butter, any nut butter will work. You could also use tahini.
Soy sauce: whenever I say use soy sauce, 9 times out of 10, I mean light soy sauce. It's lower in sodium (salt), and lighter in colour compared to dark soy sauce. If you don't have light soy sauce, use coconut aminos or tamari.
Sesame oil: this adds another style of nutty flavour to the sauce which I absolutely love. Once again, if you don't have sesame oil, feel free to use peanut oil or walnut oil.
Olive oil: This is optional as you could just add some water to loosen up the sauce, but if you don't have olive oil, then regular vegetable oil will suffice.
Honey: To add sweetness to the sauce, I love honey. You could also use agave, maple syrup, or brown sugar.
Rice noodles: I used medium-wide rice noodles for this recipe but any kind you like will work!
Toppings: I've used coriander/cilantro and green onions.
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Slice your eggplant down the length of the vegetable in very thin strips (¼cm).
Step 2: Fold a slice of the eggplant into three and then spike it down onto the skewer. You want around 6-8 eggplant slices per skewer. Repeat for all 4 skewers.
Step 3: Place a non-stick pan on medium heat and drizzle in some oil. Add in your garlic and ginger and your skewers and leave to fry for 2 minutes on each side until beginning to lightly brown.
Step 4: Meanwhile, make your gochujang peanut butter sauce. Taste and add more ingredients based on your preference. Feel free to make extra sauce to drizzle over the dish at the end!
Step 5: Brush the sauce all over your skewers covering all corners and all the crevices. Fry for another 2-3 minutes until slightly brown. Meanwhile, prepare your noodles and toppings.
Step 6: Divide your noodles between two plates, then remove the skewers from the eggplant and place two on each plate. Top with cilantro/coriander, spring onions, more sauce if you like things saucy, and enjoy!
What to do with leftovers
Storage: The great thing about eggplant/aubergine is that it's a great absorber of flavours, so the longer you leave it, the better! Once cooled, store in an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing: Store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. The texture might change slightly but it should still taste delicious. Leave to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Reheating: Add a teaspoon of water into the container and add on a loosely fitted lid. Place in the microwave until piping hot. Serve with rice, noodles, or whatever you fancy!
Gochujang Eggplant FAQs
They're not thin enough. Slice them with a sharp knife, or you could use a peeler to get them super thin.
If this is the case and you don't like it, feel free to add the garlic and ginger to the sauce instead of frying it in the pan individually.
Yes, courgette / zucchini would work really well too!
Feel free to fry some tofu on the side, you could also add in some chicken thigh or chickpeas!
If you tried this Gochujang Eggplant Skewers recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Gochujang Eggplant
Equipment
- 4 skewers
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants thinly sliced lengthways
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 inch ginger finely chopped
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon honey
- 2 portions rice noodles cooked to packet instructions
- Cilantro (coriander), finely chopped
- Scallions (spring onions), finely sliced
Instructions
- Slice your eggplant (aubergine) down the length of the vegetable in very thin strips (¼cm). You could also use a peeler for this if you have one that is sharp enough!
- Fold a slice of the eggplant into three and then spike it down onto the skewer (see images further up in the blog for references). You want around 6-8 eggplant slices per skewer. Repeat for all 4 skewers.
- Place a non-stick pan on medium heat and drizzle in some oil. Add in your garlic and ginger and your skewers and leave to fry for 2 minutes on each side until beginning to lightly brown.
- Meanwhile, make your gochujang peanut butter sauce. Taste and add more ingredients based on your preference. Feel free to make extra sauce to drizzle over the dish at the end (feel free to add a splash of water if you're doing this so that it loosens up the sauce for drizzling at the end).
- Brush the sauce all over your skewers covering all corners and all the crevices. Fry for another 2-3 minutes until slightly brown. Meanwhile, prepare your noodles and toppings.
- Divide your noodles between two plates, then remove the skewers from the eggplant and place two loads on each plate. Top with cilantro/coriander, scallions/spring onions, more sauce if you like things saucy, and enjoy!
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