Flavor-packed sticky aubergine (eggplant) with teriyaki sauce. Make this a rice bowl by adding your favorite veggies to pair with the aubergine teriyaki!

Teriyaki aubergine rice bowl taken from overhead, with lime and other garnishes around it.

Why You Will Love This Sticky Teriyaki Aubergine

✨ Minimal ingredients needed, but packed with flavor.
😋 The perfect teriyaki sauce that will satisfy your cravings.
⏱️ Done in 20 minutes, it’s a quick and easy weeknight meal!
🍽️ Works as a delicious main dish or side for any meal.
🌱 Completely vegetarian and vegan, can be turned into a complete meal by loading it with wholesome ingredients.

Sticky teriyaki eggplant bowl with a spoon scooping the rice and eggplant from the top right.

Ingredients

First up, note that ingredients marked with an asterisk (*) are optional!

Aubergine (Eggplant): Soaks up flavors beautifully! Use any kind of variety, including a Chinese eggplant!
Corn Starch: Creates a crispy coating on the aubergine for a nicer mouthfeel.
*White Pepper + Black Pepper: Adds a subtle heat (optional).
Vegetable Oil: Use any of your favorite such as olive oil, sunflower oil, etc.

Now, for the teriyaki sauce, which is very similar to the sauce for my sticky tempeh!

*Garlic + Ginger: Brings a deep, aromatic flavor (optional).
- Sub with garlic and ginger powder if you don’t mind a milder flavor.
Light Soy Sauce: The savory base for the teriyaki sauce.
- Sub with tamari for a gluten-free option.
Water: Thins out the sauce to the right consistency.
Agave Syrup: A natural sweetener which creates that beautiful caramel.
- Sub with any other liquid sweetener or even brown sugar.

Ingredients for sticky aubergine/eggplant teriyaki with labels, laid on a white marbled background.

And for serving:

Brown Rice: Nutty, whole-grain rice that pairs perfectly with our umami sticky aubergine.
Spring Onion / Green Onion / Scallion: Adds a fresh garnish and unique finish to the dish.
*Lime: Brightens up the flavors with a zesty touch.
*Toasted Sesame Seeds: Adds an aromatic nutty flavor.
*Edamame Beans: Protein-packed add-in.
*Carrots: Adds nutrition, color, and texture.

Step-by-step Instructions

Cook the brown rice according to the package instructions.

Cut the aubergine into eggplant pieces (refer to the picture below) and coat them with corn starch, white pepper, and black pepper.

Spray or brush with some vegetable oil, then air fry the aubergine for 15 minutes at 190℃ (375℉). You can also pan-fry/stir-fry them, or bake them in the oven.

Cutting the aubergine into chunks, step-by-step. — Cut the aubergine.

Adding cornflour, white pepper, and black pepper to coat the eggplant chunks, in a glass bowl. — Cut the aubergine.

(Optional) If using the garlic and ginger, sauté until golden in a non-stick pan.

Add soy sauce, water, and agave syrup to the pan to make the teriyaki sauce. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the sauce reduces.

Add the cooked aubergine into the sauce, then mix together until fully coated.

Sauteed garlic and ginger mince, with the teriyaki sauce. — Making the teriyaki sauce

Teriyaki sauce after it simmers and reduces to thicken. — Making the teriyaki sauce

Serve over brown rice and garnish with spring onions, sesame seeds, and a squeeze of lime. Add edamame and carrots for a more nutritionally complete aubergine rice bowl.

Top Tips

Adjust the sauce to your taste.
- If you prefer a sweeter teriyaki sauce, feel free to add a bit more agave syrup.
- For more saltiness, a dash of extra soy sauce will do the trick.
- If you want to add something tangy, add some rice wine vinegar, rice vinegar, or the good old lime juice!
Watch the sauce carefully: The teriyaki sauce thickens quickly once it starts bubbling, so keep an eye on it to prevent it from reducing too much that you won’t get enough sauce!
- In case your sauce reduces too much, add a bit of water to thin it out.

How can I stop aubergine eggplant from soaking up oil during cooking?

Great question, I understand the struggle! Eggplants tend to soak up a lot of oil when fried in a pan. That’s why I love using my air fryer / oven to first cook and crisp them up. Then I just had to coat them in the sauce for 30-60 seconds, without letting them soak up a lot of oil!

A scoop of sticky aubergine teriyaki right out from the pan.

Serving Suggestions

Serve your teriyaki eggplant with my brown sticky/sushi rice for a Japanese donburi (rice bowl dish). You can also drizzle some of my oil-free mayo on top, try it with my yuzu mayo, or this Japanese spicy mayo.

For a bit of fragrance, drizzle a bit of sesame oil on top. Feel free to also add some marinated tofu for some plant-based protein.

Teriyaki aubergine with sticky sauce, served on a rectangular plate with chopsticks and rice around it.

Jazzing Up Your Vegan Sticky Aubergine

If you’re a fan of miso, replace 1 Tablespoon of soy sauce with 1/2 Tablespoon of miso + 1 Tablespoon of water. This way, you can make some sticky miso aubergine for even more flavor!

This recipe can be easily turned into a macro bowl/Buddha bowl/poke bowl recipe. So to make it a complete meal, you can mix and match the veggies you serve this with. Some delicious ideas are cabbage, cucumber, and radish (similar to my rainbow poke bowl recipe), or try any other vegetable you see fit!

A bowl of sticky aubergine teriyaki served with rice, edamame, carrot slice, and glasses of lime water.

Storage and Meal Prep Instructions

Storage: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat your homemade teriyaki eggplant in the microwave.

Meal Prep: Prep the aubergine and sauce separately, then air fry just before serving. You might need to only coat the aubergine before frying too to keep them as fresh as possible.

Freezing: I have NOT tried freezing this sticky eggplant since I don’t imagine that it will freeze well. But let me know if it actually freezes well!

FAQ

Yes! Just skip the oil when air frying or baking the aubergine, and use water or vegetable broth to sauté the garlic and ginger.

No, you don’t have to. Eggplants these days are bred to not have the bitterness that they used to have, as explained in this Epicurious article.

No, the skin is edible and softens during cooking. In fact, I always recommend to keep the skin on for added texture. Plus, the skin is a very nutritious part of the eggplant anyway, as explained in this article by The New York Times.

Coat the aubergine in corn starch and avoid overcrowding the pan or air fryer/oven/pan to keep it crispy. And of course, enjoy them as soon as you can!

If your aubergines are salty, salt the aubergine slices and let them sit for 20-30 minutes helps draw out any bitterness. Then don’t forget to wash them to remove any excess salt.

Yes, modern eggplants are usually less bitter, so salting is usually no longer required like in this recipe!

Close-up of sticky teriyaki eggplant, garnished with spring onions and sesame seeds.

Want More Flavor-Packed Recipes?

Try my sticky tempeh recipe, which is an Indonesian version of this teriyaki bowl. And if you like eggplants, then you’d like my harissa eggplant/aubergine recipe. My tandoori roasted vegetables are also a crowd favorite.

And if you like bold Korean flavors, try my gochujang noodle, kimchi loaded fries, gochujang fries, or kimchi sushi.