Easy Ratatouille: French Vegetable Stew
This easy ratatouille recipe is a wonderful dish to enjoy as a side or a light entrée during the summer months. Made with a variety of summer vegetables, this French Provencal stew is healthy and delicious!
Easy Ratatouille Recipe
The ratatouille recipe from the movie (I’m referring to the digital Disney version released in 2007) made the Provencal dish famous, even though the French ratatouille recipe has really been around for ages. It’s very common to find many households in France enjoying this summer stew, room temperature or cold.
The vegetable stew is a creation from the south of France, boasting the flavors of garlic and olive oil, as well as your favorite summer crops. The traditional ratatouille recipe contains zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onion.
Even though the Disney movie showcased these vegetables sliced and arranged in a radial pattern, traditional ratatouille looks more like the stew in these photos. The vegetables are often cubed and tossed into a large saucepan or pot and simmered until tender.
If you were to make ratatouille by the book, each of these vegetables would be cooked separately to ensure they all maintain their perfect texture and appearance. But since even Jacques Pepin doesn’t make his ratatouille like this anymore, I think it’s safe to say we can make this simple ratatouille recipe by just adding everything to the pot at once.
Ratatouille is just such a convenient way to use so many great summer vegetables at their prime. Because the vegetables used are ripe and in-season, all you really need to flavor this dish is some onion and garlic. I like to add a couple sprigs of thyme for its aromatic quality, but even that’s optional.
What is ratatouille traditionally served with?
Ratatouille is traditionally served with crusty French bread. The bread is great for soaking up the delicious stew broth and all the yummy summer vegetable flavors.
I like to slice the bread too and make little crostini with the vegetables scooped onto the bread slices. So good!
What meat does ratatouille go with?
To make this less of a vegetarian meal and something a little more filling, you can enjoy this easy ratatouille recipe as a side dish to chicken or fish.
When I make ratatouille as a main, I like to also make a runny egg (such as eggs à la provencal) and serve the egg on top of the vegetables. It adds that touch of protein to really complete the dish.
Easy Ratatouille Recipe
French vegetable dish from the south of France, made with the best summer veggies! Perfect as a side to chicken or fish, or as a light entrée.
Ingredients
- 1 whole white onion
- 1 large japanese eggplant
- 1 large zucchini squash
- 1 bell pepper
- 2 medium tomatoes (tomatoes on the vine)
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 2 sprigs thyme
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or pot, warm enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Warm over low heat. In the meanwhile, chop your onion into small chunks. Add the onion to the pot to cook until tender - about 5 minutes.
- While the onion cooks, chop your other veggies. Remove both ends from both the eggplant and the squash; cut each into cubes. Cut a medium dice on the bell pepper and tomatoes. For the garlic, simply peel the skin, slightly smash with your knife and cut into a rough chop.
- Once the onions are tender, add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add all the veggies to the pot. Add a generous pinch of salt and a light pinch of pepper. Add the thyme. Cover the saucepan or pot with a lid and cook over medium-low heat for approximately 40 minutes, until all the veggies are tender and there is little liquid in the pot.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 4 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 94Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 81mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 4gSugar: 7gProtein: 3g
One of our favorites..but I never had a recipe .. so it was a hit or miss . Merci, now it will always be a HIT. Some time ago I wrote to you about selling our home in France…I have recently encountered some health challenges, but I will send you the details of that saga soon. I really enjoy your blog …a bientot,
Dear Beeta,
Great recipe – so simple, as it should be. I tend to add a splash of red wine vinegar and some chopped parsley stalks to add the “je ne sais quoi” – and stew it more than your pictures describe – perhaps because it is a stew in Southern France with little crunch…
The best mopped juices in the world – with tranches of pain de campagne.
Happy 2022
Thanks so much for the kind comment! Wishing you a happy 2022 as well! 🙂
I am so glad I came across you blog. This came out amazing. Thank you
That’s so wonderful to hear, Randa! Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
This is a dish we make often at my house. It has many uses: a side-dish, to fill an emelette, as a pasta sauce. You could prabably brown some chichen pieces and simmer them in ratatouille til done. We’ve never tried it as a dessert, though. Prabably for the best. However, we find that having it in the fridge makes meal planning a lot easier. h, and canned tomatoes, diced, are also good to use when you can’t find good, flovorful ones (who can, theese days). In my experience, basil is a tradtional flavor to be added, but then this is one of those recipes that a adaptable to what you have on hand. Bonne chance!
Hi Margaret – I completely agree! This is a very versatile and easily adaptable recipe. So glad you enjoy it as much as I do! Thank you for the comment <3
This recipe sounds delicious but I don’t have access to Japanese eggplant. Can I use eggplant from my farmers market.
Hi Audrey! Yes of course! Because the size may be different, I would just adjust accordingly. If you have a really big eggplant, you may not use the entire eggplant. 🙂
This has rapidly become my favorite vegetable dish. I have been adding a tablespoon and a half of tomato paste and it comes out delightful! The fresh thyme makes a world of difference as I have done it with dried thyme as well. Nothing compares to the one with the fresh sprigs. Lovely dish!
Thank you for the kind feedback, Suzanne! I love making this dish routinely as well! 🙂
very tasty yummy