Grilled eggplant with coconut milk

Name: Grilled eggplant with coconut milk
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 21 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 6 Egg Plants; 1 can Coconut Milk; 1 tbs Lemon Juice; 1 tsp Salt; To taste Red Pepper Flakes; 4 Sticks Onions

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Vegetarian recipe with Filipino flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 38 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Step-by-step instructions

. Prepare the eggplants for grilling by pricking them all over with a fork. This is so it won’t burst during the grilling process as the natural water in it heats up.
Grill the eggplants, turning them over frequently to ensure even cooking. Grill until the skins are dark brown, even black and the eggplant is soft when you touch it.
Soak the grilled eggplant in a bowl of water to cool it down. Peel the skin off the eggplant. Place the whole eggplants in a shallow dish (my mom actually cuts the eggplant into small, bite-sized pieces).
In a small mixing bowl, mix together the coconut milk or cream, lemon powder, salt and hot pepper. Mix until the lemon powder and salt dissolve. Taste, then adjust the amount of lemon powder, salt and hot pepper to your liking. Pour the mixture over the eggplant. Sprinkle the green onions over the eggplant and coconut milk. Stir gently to combine.

Why this works on a weeknight

Grilled eggplant with coconut milk genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Grilled eggplant with coconut milk actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Vegetarian Filipino ⚡ 30-Min Dinner