Easy Ratatouille Recipe

Ratatouille in a cast iron skillet surrounded by chopped ingredients.

5 from 1 vote

This Easy Ratatouille Recipe is made with fresh vegetables layered in a pattern and then baked. It is a straightforward recipe with gorgeous presentation, and is also vegetarian and vegan! Try this recipe if you want to experience true French cuisine.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine French

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1 35

Servings servings

Calories 84kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Cast Iron Skillet
Cutting Board
Knife/Knives
Oven Mitt

Ingredients

1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
4 sprigs Fresh thyme
2 zucchini sliced thin into rounds
5 roma tomatoes sliced thin into rounds
1 eggplant sliced thin into rounds
2 red peppers sliced thin into rounds
1 red onion sliced thin into rounds
1 tsp chopped garlic

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a 12” cast iron skillet, add 1 (14 oz) can of crushed tomatoes into the bottom of the pan and spread until the entire bottom is coated.
Sprinkled ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and 4 sprigs thyme to the bottom of the cast iron skillet.
Use the vegetable rounds to form a vegetable pattern around the inside of the pan. For example, I placed the slices in the following order: zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, red pepper, red onion, repeat. You can cut the larger vegetables rounds into halves or quarters if that makes them a better height.
Once the outer circle of the pan is complete, do the same thing in a smaller circle. Repeat until the entire pan is full of vegetables.
Once the pattern is complete, sprinkle another ¼ tsp salt and 1 tsp chopped garlic on top of the vegetables.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 55 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened and cooked through. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Sometimes the slices that you cut of the larger vegetables (ex: eggplants) are a lot larger than the slices you cut of the smaller vegetables (ex: zucchini). To get them to be relatively the same height, I would cut the eggplant slices into quarters, then chop off the tip of the quarter so that it would sit flat. This made the vegetables fit a lot better
The red onion slices are a little difficult to work with but it can be done. When placing the red onion slices in order, I would place the layers and then quickly add the next vegetable slice in order to hold the onions in place. Once you have completed the circle, the red onion slices will stay nicely.
I sprinkled the top of my ratatouille recipe with about ¼ tsp each of onion powder and garlic powder. This is not traditional, but I think it added a nice flavor.
If you want to add a fun pattern to the design of your Easy Ratatouille Recipe, you can peel stripes into some of the vegetables (zucchini and eggplant) and then cut the slices from there. That way you have a pattern of light green, dark green on your slices of zucchini, etc.
Feel free to add any other vegetables into this recipe that you think would be delicious!