Main Dish

Djuveč

Name: Djuveč
Prep time: 65 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Serbia & Bosnia
Ingredients: 300 g short-grain brown rice, rinsed; 3 red peppers, cut into wide strips; 1 aubergine, cut into half-moons; 2 courgettes, thickly sliced; 400 g ripe tomatoes, grated; 2 onions, sliced; 45 ml extra virgin olive oil; 700 ml vegetable stock, hot; 8 g parsley and thyme, chopped

Hearty one-pot vegetable and rice braise shared across the whole region.

65 min 6 servings 57 kcal per serving

Ingredients

300 gshort-grain brown rice, rinsed
3red peppers, cut into wide strips
1aubergine, cut into half-moons
2courgettes, thickly sliced
400 gripe tomatoes, grated
2onions, sliced
45 mlextra virgin olive oil
700 mlvegetable stock, hot
8 gparsley and thyme, chopped

Method

01
Salt the aubergine for ten minutes and pat dry so it braises rather than steams.
02
Soften the onions in olive oil in a wide roasting dish set over the hob.
03
Stir in the rice to coat, then the grated tomato, and cook two minutes until glossy.
04
Arrange the peppers, aubergine and courgette over the top and pour in the hot stock.
05
Cover and bake at 190°C / 375°F for 35 minutes, then uncover for a final 15 so the surface caramelises.
06
Rest ten minutes, scatter the herbs and serve straight from the dish.

Why this dish works

Djuveč is built for 6 servings and lands at roughly 57 kcal per plate, with 9g protein, 55g carbohydrate and 10g fat across the recipe. It comes together in about 65 minutes using 9 whole-food ingredients — led by short-grain brown rice, rinsed, red peppers, cut into wide strips, aubergine, cut into half-moons — so nothing here relies on packaged sauces, refined sugar or ultra-processed shortcuts. That balance is what keeps it a realistic weeknight option rather than a weekend project.

The main dish sits inside our Serbia & Bosnia collection and carries the Plant-Based, Gluten-Free, Anti-Inflammatory, Blood Pressure tags, so it slots straight into the Smart Recipe Finder when you filter by dietary focus or allergens. Scale the portions in the recipe drawer and the ingredient quantities and macros recalculate together; sync it to your shopping list and the pantry tracker subtracts what you already own before the list is generated.

Cooking and storing it well

Read the method through once before you start — the 6 steps are written in the order a working kitchen would run them, with prep that can overlap grouped together. Hands-free cook mode reads each step aloud and runs the timers, so your phone can stay on the counter. Season at the end rather than the beginning: salt, acid and good olive oil do more for the finished plate when they are adjusted against the cooked dish. Leftovers keep well chilled for two to three days in a sealed container; bring anything dressed or herb-heavy back to room temperature before serving so the aromatics come forward again.

Complete the meal