I love eggplant and this easy eggplant parmigiana is the perfect way to use it and showcase the delicious flavors and buttery-ness of eggplant. This recipe is fairly simple to make though it does have a few steps and takes a little time. It can be made vegan if needed.
I love to use a homemade spaghetti sauce for this but any of your favorite jarred sauces will work perfectly! This recipe can also be made low carb by swapping out the flour for almond flour in the same amount.
When working with eggplant you want to salt the eggplant first and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. This will pull out the liquid in the eggplant and take away any bitterness.
Traditional eggplant parmigiana uses bread crumbs and the eggplant gets dredged in a egg, milk and bread crumbs. I like to dip in egg then press it in a flour and herb mixture and then saute it in olive oil before adding to a pan with spaghetti sauce. It isn’t nearly as coated this way but it does keep the sauce on the eggplant. However, I will add the traditional dredge method and ingredient amounts below if you would like to bread them.
What you need to make eggplant parmigiana:
Serves 4
- 1 large or 2 small eggplants – sliced into ~3/4 inch slices
- Salt – to sprinkle liberally on each side of the eggplant slices.
- olive oil – enough to coat the bottom of a frying pan.
- For lighter batter:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- 4 eggs
- For heavier and traditional breading:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- For sauce and toppings:
- 3 cups spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella
- Optional – 1/2 cup provolone
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Slice eggplant and sprinkle each slice on each side with salt and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
- Rinse salt off eggplant.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- If making with a lighter batter then do the following otherwise, if doing the traditional breading skip to step #8.
- Mix together garlic powder, salt, flour and Italian herbs.
- Mix eggs up in another bowl.
- Dip each eggplant piece in the egg mixture, then in flour mixture.
- For traditional breading; Set up four separate bowls, one with milk, one with flour and herbs, one with whisked eggs and one with bread crumbs. Dip each eggplant piece in the milk, then flour mixture then dip in whisked eggs then into the bread crumb mixture.
- Heat up oil until it is hot but not smoking.
- Add each piece of eggplant and brown lightly on each side.
- Place into a oven proof baking dish and add spaghetti sauce over the tops.
- Bake for 40 minutes covered, remove cover and sprinkle with mozzarella, provolone and Parmesan cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Let cool slightly then serve.
Eggplant Parmigiana
Ingredients
- 1 large or 2 small eggplants – sliced into ~3/4 inch slices
- Salt – to sprinkle liberally on each side of the eggplant slices.
- olive oil – enough to coat the bottom of a frying pan.
- For lighter batter:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- 4 eggs
- For heavier and traditional breading:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- For sauce and toppings:
- 3 cups spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella
- Optional – 1/2 cup provolone
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Slice eggplant and sprinkle each slice on each side with salt and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
- Rinse salt off eggplant.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- If making with a lighter batter then do the following otherwise, if doing the traditional breading skip to step #8.
- Mix together garlic powder, salt, flour and Italian herbs.
- Mix eggs up in another bowl.
- Dip each eggplant piece in the egg mixture, then in flour mixture.
- For traditional breading; Set up four separate bowls, one with milk, one with flour and herbs, one with whisked eggs and one with bread crumbs. Dip each eggplant piece in the milk, then flour and Italian herbs mixture then dip in whisked eggs then into the bread crumb mixture.
- Heat up oil until it is hot but not smoking.
- Add each piece of eggplant and brown on each side.
- Place into a oven proof baking dish and add spaghetti sauce over the tops.
- Bake for 40 minutes covered, remove cover and sprinkle with mozzarella, provolone and Parmesan cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Let cool slightly then serve.