This Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake is a quick and healthy, vegetarian dinner. Delicious crispy, salty cheese slices on top of a tasty tomato vegetable sauce, perfect for bread dunking!
On my weekly meal plan menu every week from now on: Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake.
Can we please just take a moment to appreciate the crunchy, golden, salty, gooey underneath, downright delicious gem that awaits you?
I first made this recipe months ago following an online recipe from one of the big supermarket chains. I’ve tweaked a bit, added courgettes, reduced the spices required and reduced the cooking time to make life a little easier.
Unusually for my site, this recipe is just for two people.
It’s super easy to double for four (or more), but I tend to reserve this for a late night cheese fest/bread dunking/wine drinking dinner as George is not a Halloumi fan (I KNOW – WHAT THE).
Here’s why you need this in your life:
✅ SQUEAKY CHEESE GOODNESS (I pretty much rest my case..)
✅ A veggie rich meal, for a dose of goodness and 3 of your 5 a day
✅ This reheats really well, great lunch leftovers to brighten up your day
How to make the Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake recipe:
Start by gently frying your onions and garlic.
When they’ve softened, add the other vegetables; courgette (zucchini) and aubergine (egg plant), spices (smoked paprika and ground cumin), allow to soften and become a little softer.
Add the tinned tomatoes, some water, tomato puree, honey and salt and pepper. Let everything bubble away with a lid on to soften.
Top tip! If you’re in a rush, this tomato ‘stew’ sauce part, only NEEDS 10 minutes to cook, but I try and give it a little longer if I have time, to get really thick and rich in flavour.
Pop your slices of halloumi cheese on top, brush or spray with oil and put under a hot grill to crisp on top.
Serve straight away with crusty bread and a sprinkle of herbs if you fancy. Cheese dreams right there my friends!
What to serve with the Vegetarian Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake:
- I love fresh crusty bread and butter (or olive oil) with this.
- A green salad, with lettuce and avocado also works well.
- Cooked cous cous, orzo or bulgar wheat would soak up the sauce and vegetables well.
Top tips for making the Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake:
- Cook the sauce for longer if you have time, not vital but it will be more rich.
- Add other vegetables if you prefer. You could try mushrooms, peas or broccoli.
- I like to let the grilled Halloumi cheese get really crispy and crunchy. You can cook remove it from the grill more quickly if you prefer it soft.
- This reheats surprisingly well, leftovers make a great meal prep type lunch.
Feeling cheesy? How about..
- Easy Courgette Fritters with Feta
- Puff Pastry Tart with Cheese and Tomatoes
- Butternut Squash Curry (add cubes of pan fried halloumi or paneer cheese, it’s yum)
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. I’d love to know how you got on and what you thought of it if you make this Grilled Halloumi Bake recipe. Please rate the recipe and leave me a comment below if you do.
Also, if you fancy showing me a photo by tagging me on Instagram (@tamingtwins) I LOVE to see your creations and try and share as many of them as I can.
Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake
This Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake is a quick and healthy, vegetarian dinner. Delicious crispy, salty cheese slices on top of a tasty tomato vegetable sauce, perfect for dunking!
Ingredients
- 1 tsp Olive oil Plus extra for brushing
- 1 Large Onion Peeled and chopped into chunks
- 3 Cloves Garlic Peeled and crushed
- 2 Medium Courgettes (Zucchini) Chopped into chunks
- 1 Large Aubergine (Egg plant) Chopped into chunks
- 1 tsp Ground cumin
- 1 tsp Smoked paprika
- 400 g Tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Tomato puree
- 1 tsp Honey
- Salt and pepper
- 250 g Halloumi cheese
Optional
- Fresh parsley or basil to garnish
Instructions
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Heat the oil in a large, lidded frying pan, add the onion and garlic and soften for 5 minutes.
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Add the courgettes, aubergine, cumin and smoked paprika and cook for a further 5 minutes until softened.
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Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, honey and salt and pepper. Half fill the empty tomato can with water and splosh in too. Pop the lid on the pan and let everything cook down for about 10 minutes. (See notes below.)
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Preheat the grill to very hot.
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When the sauce had thickened and softened, cut the halloumi cheese into thin slices, place on top of the vegetable sauce and brush (or spray) with oil.
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Pop under the grill for about 5 minutes until the cheese is crunchy and golden.
Recipe Notes
- 10 minutes is the minimum time to cook down the vegetable stew part of this recipe, if I have longer, I try to let it cook for up to 30 minutes. It's not necessary, but it just makes it a bit richer in flavour.
- Try to use a good quality tomato puree, it will really add to the flavour of this dish.
Soooo bloomin good!
I have made this twice now, as a quick tasty Friday dinner after work.
The first time I did it pretty similar to the recipe, but second time the supermarket had no courgette so I used 2 peppers instead – a really good variation.
Really easy and a good way to eat veg too.
You have to try this if you love halloumi, and to be honest.. who doesn’t love the squeeeeeeky cheeeeeese!?!?
Hi Hannah, thanks so much for your comment and rating. Really pleased you’re enjoying the recipe 🙂
So tasty, so easy!! Win win!!
Im not a fan ofaubergine or courgwtte but thia still sounds amazing and i could do a vqriqtion on the veg. I did want to pin it but i can’t find your pin buttons on mobile.
Oh after posting a comment, your share buttons are at the bottom for a short mkment before the ad covers it up.
This is an absolute winner! I add extra tomatoes and put in some chorizo to help it go further. It’s a big hit with friends for dinner. Thank you so much. Your recipes are fab.
Super easy and very tasty mid week meal.
My husband likes to cook so I rarely get chance to have a go at new recipes.
I love taming twins recipes so with a pack of halloumi needing using up this was a perfect choice.
I left to stew for half an hour and the sauce was rich and tasty.
Only faux par was I used hot paprika not smoked but still tasty with an added kick. Thoroughly recommend
Looks so delicious and perfect for parties!
Followed the recipe exactly the first time , really tasty and hubby actually ate aubergine ( his nemesis ) Making again tonight but adding chorizo as it needs using up , Top marks sarah 👍🏽
My hubby and me just love love love this recipe. It’s just perfect 😍
Hi Going to get son to make this for lunch – Not a halloumi cook – Could he put breadcrumds on it to get a cruchy top or would that not work – Thanks
So tasty!! I added the chilli and oregano, sliced red pepper and sundried tomatoes. Cooked it for and hour then under the grill. Such a rich sauce. So easy too!
Added gnocci into the veg sauce to make a meal for 3 and enjoyed but us all. Looking forward to trying more of your veggie recipes.
Added gnocci into the veg sauce to make a meal for 3 and enjoyed by us all. Looking forward to trying more of your veggie recipes.
Beautiful meal, as a vegetarian it’s great to have this.
One of my favourite recipes ❤️ If I have left overs i then blitz up the remainders and use it as a pasta sauce as well 😃 yum!
Love this! I make it quite regularly, very easy and yuuuuum!
Absolutely amazing. So delicious and we’ve made this so many times now. Have served with sourdough, but also works really well served with roasted sweet potato chunks. Love this recipe – it’s already become a firm favourite!
After committing to reducing our meat intake this has become one of our firm favourites! Feeds 2 adults and 1 child here. I also leave my veg simmering for at least 30min so the sauce of lovely and rich.
Added a can of chickpeas and a bit more spices (also added some ginger and curcuma), plus some harissa, and served over coucous! Would have loved Israeli couscous, but couldn’t find any… Simple, quick, healthy, delicious!
Such a lovely tasty supper. Looks beautiful presented in the pan at the table. We have a caravan so when allowed I’ll make this while we are away. Thank you
Another stunning dish. Super tasty. I added some spinach at the end. Served it with some sourdough bread. Excellent meal. Thank you!
Hi if doubling recipe for 4 how much water do you put in. Many thanks.
Double 🙂
My favourite meat free Monday dish and a great one to use up leftover veg.
Absolutely DELICIOUS! The smoked paprika makes it. I had onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and a red pepper to hand, so they all went in. The halloumi didn’t seem to brown until ai brushed on oil. I am now, officially, stuffed full!
First time doing this recipe and went down an absolute treat! 👌 I used courgette, red & yellow pepper instead of Aubergines also added veg stock and served with couscous the whole dish was packed full of flavour I managed to feed 2 adults 2 kids and had some left over for hubby to take to work for his night shift even my daughter who is the fussiest child I’ve ever known with food demolished the plate without a whinge or a cringe so for that I thank you! We are a vegetarian family and this will be a regular dish in our home from now on! 😊
Absolutely lovely!! My partner doesn’t like aubergines but he admitted it was lovely, served with a couple of crusty rolls. I didn’t have any tomato puree so just added a dollop of tomato ketchup but it was still so tasty. A winner in our house.
The first time I cooked I have not Halloumi cheese and I used Paneer. Today I use Halloumi and I think is much better Paneer.