Ratatouille is a French side dish made with sliced vegetables such as eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, and red onion. Ratatouille makes a great main course or side dish! Check out these suggestions for the best ideas of what to serve with ratatouille.
Ratatouille began as a food for peasants and farmers in the French countryside in the 18th century. It was a recipe created to use up all of the ripe vegetables at one time while the harvest was good!
For quite a long time it maintained this reputation, but as of late, Ratatouille has begun rising in fame! The dish is now considered a fancy or exciting recipe to serve, especially at dinner parties.
Most ratatouille recipes feature the vegetables stewed together, but there is also a variation of the dish called Tian in which the produce is assembled in a circle as you see here. Tian is colloquially referred to as Ratatouille, especially after the emergence of the 2007 Disney movie, Ratatouille.
This dish is easy to make and even more fun to eat! Keep reading for suggestions on what to serve with Ratatouille, a delightful dish from France.
Why Make Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a perfect dish because it can be served as either a main dish or, if you want a hearty meal, can be served as a side to a meat. It is the perfect way to prepare some fresh vegetables and enjoy the flavors that French cuisine has to offer. But if it’s a side dish, you need to know what to serve with Ratatouille to keep everyone’s stomach’s filled.
FAQs about Ratatouille
Ratatouille is the absolute best way to use up your summer vegetables. Summer is when ingredients like tomatoes, eggplant, and bell peppers will be freshest at the grocery store. This is also a great time to experiment pairing your ratatouille with fresh herbs like fresh basil, thyme, etc.
Ratatouille is an exciting dish because although there aren’t many seasoning ingredients, so much of the amazing flavor comes directly from the vegetables and how they work together!
Ratatouille is slightly acidic but also sweet. It is a great way to excite (and confuse) your tastebuds.
The name ratatouille originally comes from the word touiller, which means “to stir up”.
Yes you can definitely freeze leftovers! Put them in the fridge and they should stay good for up to 3 months. Make sure to thaw before reheating
Yes! Ratatouille is made almost entirely out of vegetables, with a few herbs and seasonings, making it a very healthy dish to serve.
If you need to reheat your dish, you have a few different options. You can add it into the microwave and heat until warmed through. Alternatively, you can bake the ratatouille in the oven again until it reaches your desired temperature!
How to Make this Recipe
It only takes a few steps to make this dish from scratch! Here are the basic steps. Make sure to visit my Easy Ratatouille Recipe for ingredient measurements and tips!
- Pour tomato sauce into the bottom of a pan and season.
- Arrange the vegetables in a circular pattern in the pan.
- Bake!
Ratatouille Variations
There are many different ways to make ratatouille, and everyone has their preferences on how it should be done! Some make a vegetable stew using the ingredients, while others decorate it more elaborately. Here are some common variations of this classic vegetable dish:
- This ratatouille recipe calls for displaying the vegetables in a circular pattern and then baking them in a cast iron skillet.
- More traditional recipes will call for stewing the vegetables together in a large pot, and can be either cooked on the stove or baked.
- Some recipes are served with a layer of bechamel sauce coating the bottom of the pan (some even call for using cream cheese).
Recipe Notes
- The shapes of the vegetables can be tough to work with when displaying your ratatouille in the circular manner pictured above. You may need to cut some of your vegetables into eights instead of quarters to get the slices around the same size.
- I sprinkled my ratatouille with onion powder and garlic powder. Though this is not traditional, I really enjoyed the taste! It is also seasoned with fresh thyme. If you want a spicier option, you can consider adding red pepper flakes.
- You can add parmesan cheese to the top of your ratatouille recipe for some extra flavor. You could also consider another cheese option such as goat cheese.
- You can brush the bottom of the cast iron with olive oil if desired to make sure that the roasted vegetables don’t stick. Alternatively, you can use an oven safe, large nonstick pan.
What to Eat with Ratatouille
- French Bread (a crusty bread is my favorite option)
- Pork Chops
- Creamy polenta
- Orzo Pasta
- Flank Steak
- Italian Sausage
- White Rice
- Brown Rice
- Egg Noodles
- White Wine
- Garlic Bread
Instant Pot White Rice
Vermicelli Rice
Instant Pot Wild Rice
Lemon Ricotta Pasta
Instant Pot Polenta
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Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says
Thank you for including me! Pinned and tweeted!