You can make this Easy Ratatouille in the Ninja Foodi with any vegetables you have on hand and it will be delicious!
I had never made Ratatouille before, but I had a ton of vegetables from the garden and I had to use them before they went bad. I wasn't expecting much, truth be told. I mean, it's a bunch of veggies and I'm pressure cooking them... how can that be spectacular?
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Well... it is! This recipe for Easy Ratatouille in the Ninja Foodi turned out so well I just had to share it with you!
What is Ratatouille?
Ratatouille is a dish that consists of various vegetables, most commonly eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers and seasoned with delicious garlic and simple spices.
It's a French dish that is usually served as a side dish and is great warm, room temp, or even cold. My preference is room temp. It is low calorie and super healthy!
Ratatouille made its name on the big screen when Disney put out a movie called, Ratatouille. In this movie, Remy the rat wanted to be a French chef, so he traveled to Paris and... well, if you haven't seen the movie, check it out, you can rent it right on Amazon! It's a super cute movie to watch and probably the ONLY time you will be rooting for a rat in the kitchen!
What do you serve with this Easy Ratatouille?
Anything or Nothing! If you want to eat a big plate of flavorful veggies this easy ratatoullie recipe is for you!
Or, serve it as a vegetable side dish. It goes great with a pork chop, grilled chicken or a juicy steak.
Here are a few other ideas for serving easy ratatouille:
- Put it over pasta for a Ratatouille Pasta dinner. In fact I make the pasta with the Ratatouille in the recipe video and there is a cool trick to get your pasta cooked in a short time. Here is the Video Recipe Link: Easy Ratatouille in the Ninja Foodi
- Dice the cooked ratatouille up a little and serve on a crusty loaf of French bread for a delicious brushetta
- Use the Ratatouille as a burger topping... YUM!
- Cook up a spaghetti squash and enjoy a filling and low carb dinner
- Make a vegetarian sub by hallowing out a sub roll, filling it with ratatouille and topping with provolone. Broil it in the Ninja Foodi until the cheese is melted. Delicious!
- Serve it as a cold salad
- Turn it in to a wonderful Pasta Primavera. In fact, I have a recipe that is very similar. You can check it out right here ⇒ One Pot Pasta Primavera
I'm sure there are tons of other ways to use this delicious and easy ratatouille recipe, what would you serve with it? Let me know in the comments!
What Vegetables Can I use in Ratatouille?
Traditionally, ratatouille is made from tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic, and bell peppers. As you can see in this video for Easy Ratatouille on YouTube, I didn't keep it traditional!
I didn't have an eggplant and I didn't want to buy one when I had so many other vegetables to use, so I skipped it. You can too.
I think an assortment of bell peppers would be beautiful and tasty in this recipe, but I only had one green pepper and that's what I used.
I also added in a few Anaheim peppers which are not spicy, but did add nice flavor.
Basically, use what you have on hand! Fresh zucchini and squash, a combination of cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes, fresh green beans even! It's YOUR easy ratatouille so you should use what you love!
Tips for Making Easy Ratatouille in the Ninja Foodi
There isn't any right way or wrong way to make Ratatouille in the Ninja Foodi, but here are my suggestions for the BEST Ratatouille.
Cut all your vegetables about the same size. This will result in even cooking. I cut them in about 2" chunks so they did not become too soft during the broiling and pressure cooking.
Use the vegetables you like and have. I didn't have Eggplant when I filmed the video, so I didn't use it. I have it in the recipe because I know it's great in ratatouille and is a usual ingredient. If you don't like eggplant, don't use it.
Don't worry too much about measurements. If you use more vegetables than I did, you might want to increase the salt a bit. If you love spice, increase the red pepper flakes.
If you don't like black olives, don't use them. You will want to add about ΒΌ cup of water to make up for the juice in the can of olives.
Use a flavorful base or stock. When a recipe only has a few ingredients, you want them to be the highest quality you can find. I have tested many different soup bases and the brand I always use is Minors. Unfortunately, you can't usually find them in stores, but you can order them on line. Here is the link to the Minor's Vegetable Base that I used in this recipe.
How to Roast Garlic in the Ninja Foodi
This recipe calls for roasted garlic and I really hope you use it! The flavor of roasted garlic is mild, slightly sweet, and pairs perfectly with the vegetables in the Ratatouille.
It's really easy to do in the Ninja Foodi and you can roast multiple bulbs at a time.
- Cut the top off of the bulb of garlic so the individual cloves are exposed.
- Drizzle with olive oil
- Wrap in foil packet. If making multiple bulbs they can go in the same foil packet.
- Place on the rack in the low position and set the bake/roast function to 325 for 35 minutes.
- Remove and let cool slightly before squeezing the cloves out.
I know you are going to LOVE this recipe and I can't wait to hear what types of veggies you used and how you switched it up and made it your recipe. Don't forget to use the Hashtag #thefoodiconnection when posting to social media! Also, tag me @thesaltedpepper!
Easy Ratatouille in the Ninja Foodi
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 squash yellow
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 onion
- Β½ Tbsp olive oil in a spritzer bottle
- 2 bulbs Roasted Garlic instructions for roasting in recipe notes
- 4 sprigs Thyme or Β½ tsp of dried Thyme leaves (not powder)
- 2 sprigs oregano or ΒΌ-1/2 dried oregano
- Β½ tsp basil dried leaves
- 2.25 oz black olives sliced with juice
- 1 tsp Minor's Vegetable Base
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Cut up all your vegetables into 1 Β½ - 2" chunks and place them in the basket of the Ninja Foodi. Place in the inner pot and season with 1 tsp salt and Β½ tsp black pepper. Spritz with olive oil and toss the vegetables around to coat with oil and seasonings.
- Using the TenderCrisp lid, set the broil function to 15 minutes. When the time is up, toss the vegetables around, moving the ones on the bottom up to the top for browning and spritz a few more times with olive oil. Broil another 15 minutes.
- Dump the basket of vegetables into the inner pot and add the roasted garlic, 1 tsp of Minors vegetable base or equivalent, fresh herbs, Β½ tsp dried basil leaves, 2.25 ounce can of black olives with juice and crushed red pepper flakes if using.
- Stir and put pressure lid on. Set pressure to LOW for 3 minutes. Turn the valve to seal and hit start. When the time is complete, do an immediate release.
- Best served room temp or cold. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.
Ninja Foodi Fresh & Healthy Meals
Seeing the need for easy, delicious, and high quality recipes, she is focusing all of her efforts creating recipes specifically for the Ninja Foodi. Her recipes are easy for the home cook to follow and provide step-by-step instructions.
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can.
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE COOKING UP IN YOUR NINJA FOODI! TAG ME @THESALTEDPEPPER ON YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM WHEN YOU MAKE A DISH!
#thefoodiconnection
BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE SALTED PEPPER RIGHT HERE ⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓
Tony
What and astounding recipe - so yummy and so easy. This was my inaugural recipe in my new Foodi XL - turned out beautifully even though I changed up the recipe -- after all you did point out its a great fridge clearer. 1 eggplant, 2 small zuchinni, 2 beautiful red peppers, and 1 CAN of whole tomatoes(added in 2nd broil phase along w/rough chopped cured Chicken Sausage and Bratwurst. Did 4 cloves of fresh garlic, mixed w/an equal volume of sliced ginger getting ready for the Pressure cook. Also used Haus Ginger yuzu - 4oz since I skipped the veggie base, and added 4oz or so of kimchee. It came out WONDERFULLY!
Thank you so very much for both the recipe and the videos -- they were Perfect!
Louise
That sounds amazing! I LOVE when people take the basics of a recipe and make it the way they like it!
Christine
I just purchased the 5 qt ninja foodi and it seems all the recipes I find are for the larger models. How can I convert those recipes for use in the 5 qt? I am new at this and appreciate your advice.
Louise
Many recipes can be made exactly the same way in the 5qt, but if it is a recipe with a large volume, I would cut it in half.
Michele
Not sure why I was skeptical as I ready the recipe instructions but I'm so glad I went for it anyway! This is a new staple dish for me!
So many flavors and easy to substitute. I used beef broth instead of vegetable base and it worked great. I also had some extra green beans and threw those in and they were a yummy addition!
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Ruby Mellenthin
Do you have a home made version of vegetable base?
Louise
No, but that is a great idea!
Barb
I went to the Farmerβs Market yesterday. This recipe came out great!!!! Thank you so much! I made it in my Ninja Foodi. Iβm off to make ossa Becca now...
Louise
I'm so glad to hear this! I just froze some Ratatouille, so I'll see how it reheats!