Easy French Ratatouille (Vegan, Paleo)

Easy French ratatouille filled with fresh zucchini and tomatoes and bursting with seasonal flavor! The perfect simple side dish for kids and adults alike! Paleo, vegan, gluten free, and dairy free as well!

There’s a savory recipe on The Banana Diaries?!

I know, I know, craziness, but I just had to! You see, all summer long, I’ve been making this crazy good, crazy simple and easy French ratatouille, and I just had to share it here.

I mean, it’s just too good not to. And as always, I want to share the goodness with you!

On one of our farmer’s market trips every Thursday afternoon, we stopped by our favorite stand, and Jared asked me what I wanted to make this week.

For literally no reason at all, I spotted zucchini and blurted out, “Let’s make ratatouille!”

I kid you not, I have never in my life had ratatouille, nor had inkling of what went into it other than zucchini, but for whatever reason, the Universe dropped that notion into my head and I ran with it!

That night, I made my first ratatouille, riffing off of basic ingredients I found that a traditional ratatouille is made of, but didn’t follow any instructions.

In fact, my guide was the scene from Ratatouille. I’m absolutely serious, I remembered that scene so vividly and thought, well this is what Remi does, so this is how you make ratatouille!

I have no idea if that entices you to make this recipe or has you running as fast as you can away hahah but I promise, I know what I’m doing! This easy ratatouille is completely vegan, gluten free, Paleo, and just bursting of fresh flavor!

Ever since that early summer night, I’ve been making my “lazy” ratatouille (as Jared calls it ha!), and it has been a dream!

What is ratatouille?

Well, you know they made a Disney/Pixar movie about it, so it has to be good!

A traditional ratatouille recipe is a vegetable dish that hails from Provence, France and typically consists of zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs. Now, contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to be in those perfect spirals, as you see everywhere in magazines.

French ratatouille can be diced and sliced and put together in a mish mosh way, yet still be absolutely delicious!

The ratatouille I created actually does not have any eggplant in it- yes, this is a ratatouille without eggplant! I know that sounds crazy not to include eggplant (my Italian grandma is freaking out…she can’t believe I don’t eat eggplant Parmesan ha!), but if you’ve checked out my About page, you’ll learn that I actually really don’t like eggplant and I’m allergic!

But don’t worry, this ratatouille still tastes delicious and flavorful 😉 Let’s go over what you’ll need!

Ingredients for an easy French ratatouille

What I love most about a traditional ratatouille recipe is that it uses the simplest ingredients; just a bunch of veggies thrown in with the right spices, and viola!

For this zucchini ratatouille, you’ll need the following:

• Zucchini (naturally!)
• Beefsteak tomatoes
• Radishes: this replaces the eggplant, and trust me, you won’t miss it!
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Basil
• Marjoram
• Tomato puree: the one we use is from our local farmer’s market, but you can find tomato puree in every grocery store! Or even make it yourself 😉
• Vegan cream cheese: now this doesn’t go on traditional ratatouille recipes, but it does taste phenomenal on top of this easy French ratatouille!

That’s it! Of course, you’ll need some good sea salt and pepper for the flavor enhancers, but that’s always included 😉

Now let’s go over how to make ratatouille, because it’s just so easy yet always looks so elegant!

How to prepare ratatouille

Zucchini ratatouille takes about 10 minutes total to get into the oven, which is pretty good for a baked casserole! That’s why I love making this easy French ratatouille for meal prep- it’s a no hassle recipe that makes multiple servings!

You can serve this for a family or just yourself and have leftovers for the whole week! Scale the recipe up or down as well to fit your needs 🙂 Now, let’s get to making ratatouille!

Begin by preheating the oven to 375F and make sure that you have a casserole dish or a 9″ circular baking dish available. It should have some depth to it to account for the multiple layers.

Next, begin slicing the zucchini, tomatoes, and radishes into thin circular rounds. The thinner the slices, the easier and faster it will cook in the oven!

Now, arrange the ingredients to have the zucchini, tomatoes, and radishes all chopped and ready to go. Have the minced garlic, minced shallots, herbs, tomato puree, and sea salt nearby as well.

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Add about half of the zucchini, tomatoes, and radishes to the bottom of the dish so that it completely covers the bottom. Sprinkle in the garlic, shallots, herbs, and sea salt, then spread about half of the tomato puree over everything.

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Add the remaining vegetables, herbs, and spices on top of the tomato puree covered first layer, and then top with more tomato puree.

Finish with the optional vegan cream cheese if you desire, but if you’d like a more traditional ratatouille recipe, you can omit!

Cover and place the dish into the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes is up, remove the cover and let the zucchini ratatouille bake uncovered for the remaining 20 minutes.

When it’s done, remove the ratatouille from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving (it’ll be piping hot!).

There ya go!

No stress, right?

This easy ratatouille really does make the perfect side dish, or even a savory snack if you’re looking for something light, yet warming to nosh on in the afternoon!

Buttttt maybe I’m the a weirdo who likes snacking on veggies haha! Or maybe I’m just in love with how easy this ratatouille is that I’ll have it at any time of day!

I hope you love this French ratatouille as much as I do 🙂 If you give it a go, let me know how it went over in the comments below! And as always, I love seeing your beautiful recreations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy slicing and en mangeant! (I am not French, but I so desperately want to learn French hahaha!)

If you like this recipe, you’ll love:

Peach & Tomato Panzanella Salad

Vegan Herbed Potato Salad

Homemade Vegan Pizza

Vegan Zucchini Banana Bread

Crispy Baked Jicama Fries

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