Aubergine in Yogurt Sauce (Melitzanes se Saltsa Giaourtiou)

Μελιτζάνες σε σάλτσα γιαουρτιού meh-leed-ZAH-nes seh SAHL-tsah yah-oor-TYOO · Melitzanes se saltsa giaourtiou

By Yiayia Kalliopi · Updated 11 September 2026 · 55m · serves 4 · beginner

This dish plays two of the region's most iconic ingredients directly against each other: fried aubergine slices, crisp at the edges and soft within, layered under a thick, cold, garlicky yogurt sauce, with a final hot drizzle of paprika-stained butter poured over just before serving. The contrast of textures and temperatures, hot fried aubergine, cold yogurt, hot butter, is really the whole point.

It reflects the same crossover between Greek and wider eastern Mediterranean and Anatolian cooking found in dishes like manti and imam bayildi, and it is genuinely quick once the aubergine is fried, needing only a good yogurt and a properly hot paprika butter to finish.

This is excellent as a light main course with bread, or as a substantial part of a meze spread, and it is a good way to use up aubergine differently from the more familiar fried slices with plain tzatziki.

Key preparation steps

Salt and fry aubergine slices until golden.
Mix thick yogurt with crushed garlic.
Layer the fried aubergine and top with the garlic yogurt.
Finish with hot paprika butter poured over just before serving.

The aubergine

Slice, salt and drain the aubergine exactly as for melitzanes tiganites, then fry in a generous depth of hot oil until deeply golden on both sides. This step can be done ahead and the aubergine reheated briefly, though it is at its best fried just before serving.

The garlic yogurt

Mix thick, strained Greek yogurt with a good amount of crushed raw garlic and a pinch of salt, and keep it properly cold until serving, since the contrast between the cold sauce and the hot fried aubergine and butter is exactly what makes this dish work.

Assembling

Arrange the warm fried aubergine on a serving plate, spoon the cold garlic yogurt generously over the top, and, right before serving, melt butter with a good amount of paprika until it turns a deep red-orange, and pour this hot over everything. The three temperatures and textures, hot crisp aubergine, cold garlicky yogurt, hot spiced butter, should all be distinct rather than blended together.

What matters in this dish

Keep the yogurt properly cold

The contrast between cold sauce and hot aubergine and butter is exactly what this dish is built around.

Add the paprika butter right at the end

Pour it over hot, right before serving, so it stays vivid and the temperature contrast is at its sharpest.

Salt and drain the aubergine properly

This is what lets the slices fry crisp rather than absorbing oil and turning soggy.

Questions people ask about Melitzanes se saltsa giaourtiou

Is this dish Greek or Turkish?

It reflects a genuine crossover found across Greek, Turkish and wider eastern Mediterranean cooking, where fried vegetables, garlic yogurt and paprika-tinted butter appear together in closely related forms across several cuisines in the region.

Can you make this dish ahead?

The aubergine can be fried and the yogurt mixed ahead, kept separately and cold, but assemble and add the hot paprika butter only right before serving, since the temperature contrast is central to the dish.

What can you serve with melitzanes se saltsa giaourtiou?

Good bread for scooping, and it works well as part of a wider meze spread alongside dips like tzatziki and tirokafteri.

Aubergine in Yogurt Sauce (Melitzanes se Saltsa Giaourtiou)