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This Mediterranean Tomato and Halloumi Bake has a rich, gooey sauce topped with the salty cheese. It’s a quick and healthy vegetarian family meal that’s sure to become a go-to favourite when you need a speedy one-pot heartwarmer.
Please let’s just take a moment to appreciate what this veggie recipe brings us – the crunchy, salty, golden halloumi cheese on top of a good-for-the-soul Mediterranean-style tomato vegetable sauce.
We love halloumi and eat it lots in vegetarian dishes. The best thing is, this recipe is all chucked in one pot before being stuck under the grill for 5 minutes to get that crispy texture, making it an easy peasy midweek winner.
Why you’ll love this Baked Halloumi recipe
⭐️ It’s packed full of goodness (3 of your 5 a day)
⭐️ It’s delicious, comforting, inexpensive and easy
⭐️ Reheats well for a leftovers lunchtime treat!
How we came up with this recipe
You know I love a simple one pot recipe AND you know I love recipes with halloumi cheese.
I wanted to create a Med-inspired dish that has all the light and fresh flavours that we need while still managing to be utterly hearty and rich.
It’s packed with colourful vegetables and what I love about this is that you can enjoy this as a low carb dinner, a hot lunch or you can pair it with a side dish of choice.
Unlike most of my recipes, this Halloumi Bake is for 2 people, so don’t forget to adjust the servings tab if you’re feeding more. (A few more veggies, another tin of tomatoes and an extra pack of halloumi should do the trick.)
Serving suggestions for this dish…
Comfort Food
No Knead Bread {Easiest Ever Overnight Recipe}
Side Dishes
How to Cook Couscous
Side Dishes
Quick Cucumber Salad {with Yoghurt Dressing}
Halloumi Bake Ingredients Notes
- Olive oil – This will be for frying the veggie and you’ll need some for brushing on the halloumi to get that nice brown finish
- Veggies – I use courgettes, aubergine, garlic and onion in mine but feel free to add more
- Spices – Cumin and smoked paprika will you that rich, delicious flavour
- Tomatoey sauce – This is made up of tinned tomatoes and tomato puree. Try buying good quality here as it’ll make all the difference to the depth of flavour in the sauce
- Halloumi – Use a block and slice it up for the top
- Honey – This offsets the saltiness of the dish and gives a nice slight sweet edge
How to make Halloumi Bake
1. Fry the onions and garlic in hot oil and add the vegetables and spices for another 5 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, puree, honey and season well, plus water. Simmer for about 10 minutes with the lid on.
2. Slice the halloumi cheese, then place on top of the sauce and brush with oil. Pop it under a preheated grill for about 5 minutes until the cheese is crunchy and golden.
Substitutions
- Vegetables – This rich sauce lends itself well to the courgettes and aubergine I put in, and it really does have that Mediterranean taste, but feel free to add anything you prefer. Mushrooms, peppers, peas or broccoli are tasty alternatives
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. This reheats surprisingly well and the leftovers make a great lunch.
In the freezer You could freeze this but it won’t be at its best when defrosted and reheated (it will be a little mushy).
That said, it’s worth freezing instead of going to waste. Reheat thoroughly once defrosted.
Top tipS
Cooking time
Ten minutes is the minimum time to cook down the vegetable stew part of this recipe, but 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.
Halloumi consistency
I like to let the grilled halloumi cheese get really crispy and crunchy. You can grill it for less time if you prefer it soft though.
More recipes with halloumi cheese…
Under 15 minutes
Halloumi Burger {15 Minute Recipe}
Under 15 minutes
Halloumi Fajitas {15 Minute Meal}
Under 30 minutes
Peanut Butter Noodles with Halloumi {Satay-Style Stir Fry}
Vegetarian
Halloumi Curry {30 Minute Meal}
FAQs
No, halloumi is made from sheep’s milk, but you can buy vegan halloumi cheese as an alternative.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Mediterranean Tomato and Halloumi Bake
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 (2.5 cups) Tin of chopped tomatoes, See notes
- 1 tbsp Tomato puree, See notes
- 1 tsp Honey
- Salt and pepper
- 250 g (1 cups) Halloumi cheese
Optional:
- Fresh parsley or basil to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and soften for 5 minutes.
- Add the courgettes, aubergine, cumin and smoked paprika and cook for a further 5 minutes until softened.
- 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.)
- Preheat the grill to very hot.
- 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.
- Pop under the grill for about 5 minutes until the cheese is crunchy and golden.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like others apparently, I used this recipe as a guide to use up some of the items I had on hand. I followed the basic recipe but….. just used what I had available which was; 4 large tomatoes, onion, courgette, garlic, a few mushrooms, into a clay pot.. set the oven temp to 350 … then added half a tin of garbanzo beans I had in the fridge, some shelf stable gnocchi, and some olive oil. I used the cumin and smoked paprika but also added some of my own herbs and spices……. baked it for about 40 minutes, then topped it with the sliced haloumi and broiled for a few minutes. OMG… this was soooo good! It’s a great recipe that allows you find your own twists. Thank you!
Thank you for the recipe 🙂 Can I make it in oven instead – unfortunately we don’t have a grill.
This is my go to recipe when I want/need something quick and easy. Super simple and super tasty. It usually has courgette, onion but then it’s a free for all. I use a tablespoon each of paprika and cumin. Leaver to wallow for as long as possible .
Please do try TTs other recipes.
A great dish to use up vegetables. We scattered parmesan cheese and then the halloumi to grill. Delicious thank you.