Baked halloumi with vegetable ratatouille is a simple, one-pot vegetarian dinner that’s loaded with tender veggies and topped with crisp, golden halloumi. It’s an incredibly versatile meal, perfect with crusty bread, pasta, or grains for an easy weeknight meal.
Cheese for dinner? Don't mind if I do.
I don't really need an excuse to eat cheese for dinner (I'm a grown woman; I do what I want), but if ever you need one, here it is. Simple, straightforward, and only one dish to clean up, this Baked Halloumi dish is one of those recipes you'll have on regular rotation once you've got it down.
Not only is it positively packed with vegetables (which you can mix and match with your faves), but a topper of crisp, baked halloumi makes it into a really satisfying meal. Serve it with a loaf of crusty bread, or, if you prefer to go gluten-free, go for brown rice on the side instead.
It's easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but sophisticated enough to serve alongside a glass of red wine on the weekend. Leftovers re-heat well, and the flavours are even more developed the next day.
Need I say more? Let's make this thing!
🧑🏻🍳 Looking for more nutritionist-designed one-pot / one-pan dinners? This one-pan vegetable gnocchi bake is a personal favorite, and for comfort food to the max, you've got to try my riff on the classic pasta e ceci recipe.
Let's make baked halloumi together!
Ok my friend, let me show you just how easy this is. You'll find specific quantities for ingredients and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post, but for now let's take a quick walkthrough step-by-step.
Step 1: make the vegetable ratatouille
Grab a nice, heavy pot that can go from the stovetop to the oven (I use my Dutch oven for this). Heat the oil, then sauté the diced red onion until translucent. Add the garlic, and sauté for another minute or two, until the garlic just starts to brown
Add the veggies and spices. Sauté these guys for about 5 minutes, until the veggies are just starting to soften
Add the diced tomatoes, and mix well. Let this mixture simmer on the stovetop for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
Step 2: bake the halloumi
Once your ratatouille is nice and tender, arrange the halloumi slices in a single layer over the top.
Pop the pot into the oven, and allow the halloumi to bake under the broiler for about five minutes, until golden on top.
I mean, look at this...
Step 3: serve!
Remove from the oven, and serve hot!
Baked Halloumi with Vegetable Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 medium eggplant cubed - about ½ inch dice
- 1 medium zucchini cubed - about ½ inch dice
- 1 large red bell pepper cubed
- 14 ounce diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 14 ounces halloumi sliced pencil-thick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven, on the grill setting, at 400°F / 200°C.
- Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Add the diced red onion, and sauté for about three minutes, until just translucent.1 medium red onion
- Add the crushed garlic, and sauté for about two minutes more.2 cloves garlic
- Add the diced eggplant, zucchini, and red pepper, along with the oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.1 medium eggplant, 1 medium zucchini, 1 large red bell pepper, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the diced tomatoes, and stir to combine with the vegetables.14 ounce diced tomatoes
- Allow this mixture to simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Arrange the sliced halloumi in a single layer on top of the ratatouille.14 ounces halloumi
- Place the pot into the oven, and bake the halloumi under the grill for 5 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and serve hot!
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only
- If you get all the chopping done up front, this Baked Halloumi dish comes together really quickly. Be sure to chop all of the veggies in a uniform size so that they cook at the same rate.
- Want to prep this dish in advance? You've got options! Option 1: Do all the chopping in advance, and then spend 20 minutes making dinner when you're ready. Option 2: Cook the ratatouille, and then refrigerate the whole thing until you're ready for dinner. If you go this route I recommend quickly re-heating the ratatouille on the stove top (it'll take about 5 minutes) and then adding the halloumi and proceeding as usual. Option 3: Cook the whole thing in advance and then re-heat when you're ready to serve. You can re-heat it in the oven with a lid on (you don't want to re-brown the halloumi) or heat individual servings in the microwave.
- If you can't get your hands on halloumi, you could replace it with slabs of feta, which would also be delicious. For a vegan option, replace the halloumi with slabs of seasoned tofu.
Nutrition
pamela says
I think this is one of my favourite HNL recipes! So simple and so tasty. Made some fresh crusty whole wheat bread to go with it. Even the baby loved it!
Katie Trant says
It's so good and so easy!
Marsha Gainey says
Delicious! I made this with feta b/c feta is cheaper, but I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled for any halloumi on sale & make it with halloumi instead.
Meg says
Read this, made this, loved this! I added cooked French lentils to the stew before topping with halloumi. I expect this will be on a weekly rotation here.
Katie Trant says
Oh wow, adding lentils is a great idea!
Rena says
Terrific idea. Now I know how to spice up the frozen ratatouille that I "batched cooked" in the summer when the veggies and tomatoes were in season.