This Italian pickled eggplant (melanzane sott’olio) recipe is a mainstay among many Italian-American families. When you visit Italian specialty stores you will often see little jars of pickled eggplant sold for a hefty price. It’s a lot cheaper to make a whole bunch yourself, and it’s real easy (and fun) too!

Jar of Italian pickled eggplant with olive oil container in background.

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When I made, filmed, and photoed this batch of pickled eggplant strips, I posted the story of making it on my Instagram page. I received more messages about this recipe than ever before. It brought back memories for a lot of Italian-Americans who grew up in the New York metro area.

One man in particular, who grew up in the Bronx and is now living in Las Vegas, told me that his family used to fill an entire bathtub with eggplant for the salting process. He was genuinely excited to see me make it, and for that I am grateful! If you have your own pickled eggplant story, drop a comment below – we love to hear these stories and it really adds a sense of camaraderie between us and those who follow Sip and Feast.

Italian pickled eggplant makes an excellent addition to any antipasto platter, but is also great with crusty bread and cheese.

Ingredients shown: parsley, cherry peppers, garlic and 2 eggplants on cutting board.

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How to make it

Each numbered pic corresponds to the numbered written instructions below.

Begin by peeling and slicing the eggplant into long strips that are roughly 1″ wide and 1/4″ thick. Don’t worry about being ultra precise.
In a large colander with a plate underneath, layer eggplant and sprinkle kosher salt, repeating every inch or so to get some salt on most of the eggplant. Use maybe 2 Tablespoons of salt. The actual amount is not critical because it will be rinsed off later on.

Italian pickled eggplant recipe process shot collage group number one.

Keep layering until the whole colander is filled.
Place a heavy plate on top of the eggplant to weigh it down to help hasten the water release. Placing a large tomato can on top wouldn’t be a bad idea. Note – The plate underneath the colander is used to catch the water. Dump the water every hour or so. Alternatively, you can opt to leave the colander in the kitchen sink for the whole process.
Chop up about a quarter cup of cherry (vinegar) peppers.
Mince 2 cloves of garlic. Note – The garlic can be overpowering and will get stronger every day the eggplant is stored, so maybe do one jar with a little and a separate jar with a bit more. Feel free to experiment, or if you don’t like garlic, leave it out.

Recipe process shot collage group number two.

Chop up a 1/4 cup of fresh parsley.
After 6 hours the eggplant strips will have lost a lot of their water. As you can see in pic 8 they occupy a lot less volume in the colander after this step. Now, take the eggplant strips and rinse them with tap water to remove some of the salt. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then set the eggplant strips aside.
Bring a pot with 1 cup vinegar and 2 cups water to a boil. Just use the 1:2 vinegar/water ratio if you are making a large batch. After the water and vinegar mixture comes to a boil, cook the eggplant in the pot for 2-3 minutes. Strain the eggplant in a colander to let dry.
After somewhat dry and not too hot squeeze any excess water out of the eggplant and lay on a few paper towels.

Recipe process shot collage group number three.

Begin the jarring process by placing a layer of eggplant, parsley, touch of garlic and cherry peppers. Work your way up in layers until the jars are filled.
Pour extra virgin olive oil into each jar, making sure to completely cover the eggplant with oil. Let them settle and press down the eggplant, then top off with oil, cap and refrigerate for up to a week. Each day the eggplant will develop a stronger garlic taste and will be perfectly pickled.

White dish with pickled Italian eggplant.

Top tips

Squeeze out the water after rinsing the salt off. This is an important step to ensure the eggplant can absorb the olive oil, and to not have too much water in the jars.
Do not boil the eggplant strips for longer than 3 minutes, to prevent mushiness.
When pulling a jar out of the fridge for serving, run it under warm water for 5 minutes or so to loosen up the congealed olive oil.
Eggplant can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week. Also, if you make a lot of pickled eggplant, storing it in the freezer in large plastic containers is a good option. The flavors will be locked in. When needed, defrost a batch, put it in jars with olive oil, and use it within 1 week.

Three jars of Italian pickled eggplant on cutting board.

More Italian condiment recipes

In addition to pickled eggplant, these condiments are great for an antipasto spread and are all great with crusty bread!

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