This Eggplant Parmesan is loaded with layers of crispy eggplant, sauce, and of course, lots of cheese. Each bite is complete comfort! Made completely vegetarian, I promise you won’t be missing the meat when you bite into that tender eggplant.
The Best Eggplant Parmesan
I’m sure you’re all familiar with chicken parmesan! Is there anything better over a bed of tender spaghetti? If eggplant parmesan is not yet in your repertoire, get ready to have your mind blown. Hailing from Southern Italy, this classic recipe has origins dating all the way back to the 14th century.
While its poultry counterpart is usually enjoyed over pasta, eggplant parmesan, made with 2 or 3 layers each of sauce, eggplant, and cheeses, is best enjoyed all on its own. You can think of it almost like a lasagna; made with crispy breadcrumb dredged eggplant rather than noodles.
Ingredient Notes
- Eggplants – 2 large eggplants, 3 medium, or 4 small.
- Salt – You’ll need a generous amount of salt to pull the excess moisture from your eggplant.
- Flour – All-purpose. You can use gluten-free if needed.
- Eggs – I used large eggs.
- Breadcrumbs – While I used Italian breadcrumbs, you can also use Panko.
- Italian seasoning – If you don’t have this, you can make your own using my recipe here.
- Parmesan cheese – Grana Padano can be used instead.
- Olive oil – Make sure its regular olive oil, not extra virgin. You can also use avocado, sunflower, safflower, canola, or vegetable oils.
- Marinara sauce – Use you favorite type from the store or homemade.
- Mozzarella cheese – Shredded or sliced from a fresh ball.
- Basil – To chop your basil chiffonade, stack the leaves and roll them tightly lengthwise. Then, cut 1/4″ sliced widthwise.
How To Make Eggplant Parmesan
- Prep: Generously salt the eggplant rounds on both sides. Let them sit on sheets of paper towel for 1-2 hours to draw out the moisture. Press the rounds dry with paper towel. Preheat the oven to 425F. Brush two sheet pans with 1 tbsp olive oil in each one.
- Assemble the dredge: Grab 3 shallow bowls or plates. Add the flour to one, eggs to the second, then breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese to the third. Season each bowl with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Dredge the eggplant: Take an eggplant round and dredge it in flour, then toss in the beaten egg, and finally coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the round on one of the prepared baking sheets, and repeat with the remaining rounds. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the rounds.
- Bake the eggplant: Bake the rounds for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Reduce the heat in the oven to 375F after taking the eggplant rounds out.
- Assemble: Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce over the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish. Lay half of the baked eggplant rounds in a single layer over the sauce, then top with 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce followed by 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan. Layer the remaining eggplant rounds, marinara sauce, and cheeses in the baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
- Serve: Garnish with fresh basil and serve.
FAQs
Absolutely! I prefer baking for the obvious reasons, it’s a lot healthier, quicker and less mess, but you can totally fry them. And if I were to be honest, the fried ones do taste better, but I mean isn’t that always the case?To fry the eggplant follow the steps to prep them and dredge them then heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet and fry a few at a time on both sides until golden brown (see pictures above). Once fried, transfer the eggplant rounds to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining eggplant rounds. To assemble the casserole follow the rest of the instructions.
When you’re making eggplant parmesan, it’s very important to take your time with the first step and really draw out the excess moisture hiding inside. By salting it generously and giving it a few hours to pull out the water, you will have a much better end result. Without this step, you’ll end up with a very watery eggplant parmesan with soggy breading. Don’t worry about having salty eggplant pieces, either! When you pat and dry the eggplant with paper towel, you’ll end up soaking up most of the salt, leaving behind just a small amount.
Some Tips
- Make ahead: This dish is perfect for making ahead. You can prep the eggplant by salting it ahead of time, breading it and baking it. When you’re ready to serve this just assemble the casserole and bake. You can also prep everything up to and including step 6, cover it well with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
- While I cut my eggplant in rounds, you can also slice it lengthwise for bigger pieces. This means less dredging, saving you time.
- If you’re using Panko breadcrumbs, make sure to run them through a food processor for a finer powder.
- Patience: When you remove the casserole from the oven, let it rest for about 20 minutes allowing the eggplant parm to firm up a bit.
Leftovers
Store leftover eggplant parmesan for 3-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge or in the casserole dish wrapped tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Make sure the eggplant parmesan has fully cooled down to room temperature before storing.
To reheat, you can microwave your leftovers or use the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F and place the eggplant parmesan in a baking dish, then cover the dish with foil. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Freezing Eggplant Parmesan
If you want to make this dish ahead and freeze it for a busy weeknight, I suggest freezing it unbaked. Let the breaded eggplant cool completely before assembling the casserole. Once assembled, cover the baking dish well with both plastic wrap and foil. It will keep up to 3 months frozen.
To bake, let the casserole thaw overnight in the fridge. Then you can bake per the recipe instructions.
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Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants sliced into 1/2" rounds
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 ¼ cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cups marinara sauce
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons° parsley chopped, or basil
Instructions
- Prep the eggplants: Generously salt the eggplant rounds on both sides. Let them sit on sheets of paper towel for 1-2 hours to draw out the moisture. Press the rounds dry with paper towel.
- Ready the oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Brush two sheet pans with 1 tbsp olive oil in each one.
- Assemble the dredge: Grab 3 shallow bowls or plates. Add the flour to one, eggs to the second, then breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese to the third. Season each bowl with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Dredge the eggplant: Take an eggplant round and dredge it in flour, then toss in the beaten egg, and finally coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the round on one of the prepared baking sheets, and repeat with the remaining rounds. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the rounds.
- Bake the eggplant rounds: Bake the rounds for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Reduce the heat in the oven to 375°F after taking the eggplant rounds out.
- Assemble: Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce over the bottom of a 9×13" baking dish. Lay half of the baked eggplant rounds in a single layer over the sauce, then top with 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce followed by 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan. Layer the remaining eggplant rounds, marinara sauce, and cheeses in the baking dish.
- Bake: Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish with fresh basil. Allow the casserole to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Make ahead: This dish is perfect for making ahead. You can prep the eggplant by salting it ahead of time, breading it and baking it. When you’re ready to serve this just assemble the casserole and bake. You can also prep everything up to and including step 6, cover it well with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
- While I cut my eggplant in rounds, you can also slice it lengthwise for bigger pieces. This means less dredging, saving you time.
- If you’re using Panko breadcrumbs, make sure to run them through a food processor for a finer powder.
- Patience: When you remove the casserole from the oven, let it rest for about 20 minutes allowing the eggplant parm to firm up a bit.
- Store leftover eggplant parmesan for 3-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge or in the casserole dish wrapped tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Make sure the eggplant parmesan has fully cooled down to room temperature before storing.
- To reheat, you can microwave your leftovers or use the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F and place the eggplant parmesan in a baking dish, then cover the dish with foil. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.
This was outstanding. I didn’t have Marinara sauce so improvised with tomato paste, white wine and seasonings. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly.
I will never use another eggplant parmesan recipe again. Perfect and delicious!
So glad to hear you like it!
Eggplant Parmesan is one of my favorite dishes, but I have yet to make it myself. I usually buy the pan for 2 made at Whole Foods Market, but would like to try it myself. I know the biggest complaint about EP is that the eggplant gets soggy. How do you keep it from getting soggy once you add all the sauce? Is the fried version less likely to get soggy than baked?
That’s what step 1 is all about, drawing out the moisture. If you follow the recipe you will not end up with soggy eggplant at all.
What a great recipe! After leaving the salted rounds set for two hours I put them into a colander and rinsed off all the salt and bitter liquid, and then patted them dry. I followed your recipe exactly, otherwise, and made about half the ‘regular’ version and half a gluten free version (substituting flour and bread crumbs). Both were outstanding! This was just as good as the deep fried recipe I’ve been using, but a lot healthier. Thank you for yet another great recipe!
My pleasure, so glad you liked it!
Are the temps correct. 325 and 375 ???
I see 425 and 375! Yes, they’re correct.
Do you reduce the heat to 375 degrees? Or do you increase to 375? Or is the eggplant cooked at 400 & then reduced to 375? Thanks.
The rounds are baked at 425,then the heat is reduced to 375 to bake the assembled casserole.