Kyra Sedgwick’s Sheet-Pan Ratatouille

Whether you’re looking to try your hand at French cuisine or just in the market for a recipe that’s perfect for summer, ratatouille is an unmissable dish. The classic Provençal stew is fairly simple—an easy dish for folks who want to ease into the art of French cooking—and its medley of fresh, tender veggies and fragrant herbs is a great way to enjoy summer produce. 

You can make it the classic way, with the veggies cooked low and slow in a pan, or you can keep it simple by roasting all the veggies together on a sheet pan—that’s how we put together one of our favorite sheet-pan dinners. As it turns out, that’s also how actor-director Kyra Sedgwick prefers to make her favorite ratatouille recipe. 

Sedgwick, who made ratatouille on an Instagram Reel, acknowledges that her recipe isn’t for purists—after all, she can’t resist adding in delicious ingredients like a spicy jalapeño and a handful of deliciously briny olives—but it’s still pretty tasty. Just take it from her taste-tester and husband Kevin Bacon, who chimed in to say the dish “was amazing.”

Here’s what you’ll need to replicate Sedgwick’s spicy ratatouille:

• 3 medium or large zucchini
• 3 medium or large squash
• 2 medium eggplants
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño
• 4 shallots
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 20 kalamata olives, pitted
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Cumin
• Chili powder
• Coriander
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Fresh basil
• Fresh thyme

Start by chopping the zucchini, squash, eggplant, peppers and shallots and adding them to a large mixing bowl. Sedgwick opts for large pieces of veg sliced thin, so they’ll cook quickly but still offer enticing texture to sink your teeth into. Once all the veggies are prepped, drizzle them with a generous amount of olive oil—enough to coat the mixture—and add your seasonings. Of course, you can season the ratatouille to your own taste, but Sedgwick appears to opt for about a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander, plus a big pinch of salt and chili powder. 

Mix the seasoned veggies together, then toss in the cherry tomatoes and olives and stir again. Spread the veggies on a sheet pan coated with olive oil and bake at 350°F for an hour. When the veggies are done, remove the pan from the oven and top it with your fresh herbs. Dish it up into your favorite bowls and get ready for a simple, flavorful dish with a little extra heat.

If you want to add a little more protein to your ratatouille, you could always add some dollops of goat cheese to your pan, like we do in our sheet-pan recipe. You could even make some Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas to toss in with your veggies, or pair a side of the ratatouille with a classic main dish, like our Lemony-Garlic Pan-Seared Salmon. A simple side of grains, like our Basic Quinoa, would also make a great pairing with your roasted veggies.

Of course, any combination of your favorite summer veggies is bound to be pretty delicious—and there are plenty of health benefits to reap, too. The zucchini in this recipe, for example, is rich with carotenoids, which can support your bone, eye and heart health. Tomatoes, too, can benefit your heart, skin and digestive health, since they contain fiber, carotenoids and lots of antioxidants. Even the bell peppers in this recipe contain heaps of those helpful carotenoids that can help you take care of your brain, eye and digestive health.

If the health benefits of this veggie-rich dish don’t convince you to give it a try, maybe the promise of tender, fresh veggies combined with mild spice and delish herbs will sway you. This recipe is definitely making it onto our usual rotation of tasty summer veg recipes—right there with our Grilled Summer Vegetable Panzanella and Summer Vegetable Gnocchi Salad.