Ratatouille with Roasted Summer Vegetables: Slow Carb Recipe

Quick Summary: A vegetable dish made with roasted eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers, finished with caramelized onions and fresh herbs. Works as a side dish or vegetarian main, and fits a slow-carb lifestyle. Prep time: 30 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Serves: 4

Jump to: RECIPE | What is Ratatouille? | Roasted vs Sauteed Veggies? | Ratatouille vs Tian vs Byaldi | What to Serve With | FAQ

Ratatouille always seemed like too much work until I actually made it. Once the vegetables are chopped, the rest is simple: roast everything on sheet pans, sauté the onions, and toss it all together with vinegar and herbs.

This version uses roasted vegetables rather than sautéed, which gives a sweeter, more caramelized flavor. You can also make it on the stovetop or in a slow cooker if you prefer. It fits well in a slow-carb or low-carb approach, though the tomatoes, eggplant, and onions do have more carbs than leafy greens.

This recipe uses roasted vegetables, which is one of the things distinguishing it from a “tian” or “byaldi”.

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What is Ratatouille?

Ratatouille originated with French peasants in an attempt to use up their summer vegetable harvest. The vegetables were prepared in a “rough cut” method and served with inexpensive rice.

The French word “rata” means chunky stew, with the “toullier” meaning “to stir up”. Although sometimes viewed as a soup or stew, ratatouille today is often considered a side dish or a vegetarian meal.

The ingredients traditionally include end-of-summer vegetables like eggplant, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Other common vegetables in a ratatouille would be onions, garlic and zucchini.

Roasted vs Sautéed Vegetables

Roasted ratatouille:

I like the rich taste of roasted caramelized vegetables so I prefer the roasted version of ratatouille.  If you don’t mind heating up your house with the oven, the roasted version is also a bit easier.

Although most of the vegetables are roasted in the oven, the onions are best if caramelized on the stovetop along with the spices at the end of the process.

Sautéed ratatouille:

Sautéed ratatouille is basically a layering approach where you sauté one veggie until done, add another layer of vegetable, and then keep adding layers until you have a wonderful, colorful, tasty mixture of late summer produce and herbs.

So, the difference is basically that the sautéed method brings out the flavor of each individual vegetable because of the slow layering approach, whereas the roasted version adds a sweeter richness to the vegetables and to the overall dish.

Can Ratatouille be made in a Slow Cooker?

Yes, easily! You simply layer one-half of each of the vegetables in the slow cooker in the following order: onion, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes. Repeat with the other one-half of the vegetables.

Sprinkle with herbs and salt, drizzle olive oil over the top and cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.

What to Serve with Ratatouille

Ratatouille can certainly be delightful on its own as a lunch or even a vegetarian dinner. Often however, it is considered a side dish to a protein, especially on a slow carb lifestyle where protein is important.

Here are a few pairing and serving suggestions, whether slow carb, vegetarian or just a food lover:

• Pork chops with a melted herbal compound butter (tres French!)
• Serve it as a stew, with crusty French bread on the side
• Add eggs to it for a great breakfast similar to this chorizo and eggs
• Use it as a small plate or appetizer spooned over toasted bread
• Rice, quinoa, or spaghetti squash as a bed for the ratatouille
• Top it off with grated Parmesan or mozzarella

Is Ratatouille Low Carb or Slow Carb or Keto?

Tomatoes, eggplant and onions do have more carbs than greens like spinach or cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. The amount of carbs in these three vegetables (and fruit) would prevent the dish from being keto friendly.

Whether it could be considered low carb or slow carb would primarily depend on the rest of the meal and your carb count for the whole day.

It also depends on whether you are in a maintenance mode or if your goal is weight loss. I consider 50-100 grams of carbs per day in the range of low carb or slow carb for me personally.

I have been in maintenance mode for quite a few years however. Back when the goal was weight loss, I would have considered this dish to be too high in carbs. Either way, it’s definitely healthy and delicious!!

Other Versions: Ratatouille vs Tian vs Byaldi

Ratatouille has shed its peasant origins and is often served in upscale restaurants these days. Here are a few other versions of this ubiquitous dish:

Vegetable Tian:

While a tian includes the same type of ingredients as a ratatouille, it is a much more “upscale” presentation. In a tian, the vegetables are thinly sliced, alternated in rows then stacked upright rather than layered horizontally.

The bottom of the pan is typically covered with either a layer of cooked onions or tomato sauce then the whole dish is covered for the first half of the cooking time to trap in moisture, making this vegetable tian more of a steamed dish with the roasting of the vegetables.

Byaldi:

Byaldi is another Provencal vegetable casserole, often considered fancy version of ratatouille. The original ratatouille fried the vegetables before baking, although modern versions of ratatouille does not fry the vegetables, but rather roasts or sautés them. Byaldi is more of a vegetable “confit” which removes the peppers and adds mushrooms.

There are countless variations of each of these dishes, but the one thing they share in common is that they are all delicious!

FAQ

Interested in the Slow Carb Diet? Check out this comprehensive E-Guide on Fat Loss through a Slow Carb Diet.