If you’ve only experienced store-bought eggplants, you might be surprised by the diverse array of shapes, sizes, and colors available. Farmers markets offer numerous unique varieties worth exploring. Here are 15 of our favorite eggplants to inspire your culinary journey.
#1.Little Green Eggplants
This particular eggplant cultivar features round, plump fruits with light green skin. It cooks up creamy and has a mild taste, perfect for any dish that requires common eggplants.
#2.Globe Eggplants
Globe eggplants, also known as American eggplants, are commonly found in supermarkets. They are darker and wider than other varieties, with a meatier texture suitable for dishes like eggplant Parmesan.
#3.Italian Eggplants
Italian eggplants have glossy, deep purple skin, coming in an elongated pear or cylindrical shape. With a mild flavor and meaty texture, they can be roasted, grilled, or sautéed.
#4.Japanese Eggplants
Japanese eggplants are known for their slender, thin-skinned fruit with little seeds. The mild, delicately flavored flesh is less bitter compared to some other eggplant varieties.
#5.Ping Tung Eggplants
The Taiwanese eggplant type, Ping Tung, has thin-skinned, reddish-purple fruits that can grow up to 18 inches long and 2 inches wide. It’s perfect for roasting or blending into a sweet, soft spread.
#6. Rosa Bianca Eggplants
This stunning Italian heirloom eggplant boasts large, round fruits measuring 5–6″ long, with rosy-lavender skin and white shading. Its sturdy shape and mild, non-bitter flavor make it ideal for slicing, baking, or roasting.
#7.Graffiti Eggplants
Graffiti eggplants are small, teardrop-shaped fruits ranging from 7 to 15 cm in length. The glossy, thin, striped skin showcases violet and ivory white hues, while the cream to pale white flesh contains small, edible seeds.
#8.Santana Eggplants
Santana eggplants feature smooth, tear-shaped fruits with few or no spines on top. They perform well in both colder and warmer climates without any limitations.
#9.Tango Eggplants
Tango eggplants may resemble an egg or a pear, but their mature form turns yellow with a firm texture. While edible, note that their skin is not meant for consumption.
#10.Thai Eggplant
Thai eggplants come in various sizes, colors, and forms, from long and cylindrical to small and round like this particular variety. With glossy green and white skin, they grow around 1 to 2 inches in size following a purple star-shaped blossom.
#11.Indian Eggplant
Eggplants are typically grown as annuals, featuring an upright, bushy stem occasionally adorned with spines. Their leaves are large, ovate, and somewhat lobed, while their single-hanging violet blooms measure around 5 cm (2 inches) wide.
#12.White Eggplant
White eggplants are rectangular and slightly curved, averaging 10–17 cm in length. The smooth, dazzling white outer skin gradually tapers to a green calyx at the bulbous end. Inside, the cream-colored flesh is filled with many edible white seeds.
#13.Fairy Tale Eggplant
Fairy tales eggplants exhibit violet or purple streaks. With soft skin, few seeds, and a pleasant, non-bitter flavor, they have an excellent harvesting window.
#14.Thai White Eggplant
Thai eggplants boast a distinctive crisp texture and mildly bitter flavor, which intensifies as they mature. When raw, they are rather bland, but cooking releases an earthy aroma.
#15. Filipino Eggplant
Filipino eggplants are long, cylinder-shaped, and cylindrical, either straight or slightly curved. The smooth, violet outer surface has green tints at the flower end and stem. Their creamy white, plump interior flesh contains a few edible seeds and offers a delicate, sweet flavor when cooked.
