Imagine crisp eggplant layered with marinara and plenty of melted cheese. Baked Eggplant Parmesan is a real treat and is fairly simple to make. You’ll love this vegetarian alternative to our Classic Chicken Parmesan.
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My sister-in-law gave me gorgeous eggplants from her garden and the first thing that came into my head was Baked Eggplant Parmesan. The end result provided a mouth-watering spin on a classic Italian dish that even my children love!
What is Baked Eggplant Parmesan?
Eggplant Parmesan is a traditional Italian dish. Its Italian name is melanzane alla parmigiana. The dish is made in a shallow pan layering baked eggplant with marinara sauce and cheese. This dish is baked and not fried, so it’s less calorie-rich than classic fried Eggplant Parm, but it’s just as tasty.
Baked Eggplant Parmesan:
Traditionally, this tasty dish involves fried slices of eggplant to create the crisp layers like chicken parm. In our version, the eggplant is sliced and baked with a breadcrumb and parmesan coating. The tasty coating crisps the eggplant slices as they bake giving you a similar result to frying the slices – all with fewer calories, less mess, and still with plenty of delicious flavor.
Ingredients for Baked Eggplant Parmesan:
- Eggplant: use fresh, ripe eggplant (see tips below on how to avoid bitter eggplant)
- Flour & Eggs: Dredge in flour and dip sliced eggplant in the eggs to help hold on the crisp topping
- Breadcrumbs: Using panko bread crumbs adds a nice crunchy texture, but you can also use Italian bread crumbs
- Parmesan Cheese: Adds a wonderful flavor to the eggplant
- Garlic: Italian food without garlic isn’t really Italian food!
- Marinara Sauce: we prefer Homemade Marinara, but store-bought works
- Fresh Basil: Optional, but a nice touch and adds freshness and color
- Mozzarella Cheese: melts and forms a beautiful crust
How to Avoid Bitter Eggplant:
Ripe eggplant has a slight give when you squeeze, but the skin pops back when you release the sides.
Eggplants have a short shelf life, so it is very important to use eggplant that is ripe and cooked soon after being picked or purchased. The older the eggplant, the more likely it is to become bitter. If you have more tips on avoiding bitter eggplant, please share them in a comment below!
Do I have to Salt the Eggplant?
Salting is optional here, but it can help sweat out any bitter flavor in the eggplant. Sprinkle the eggplant with 1 teaspoon of salt and let it rest on a baking sheet for 30-60 minutes. Then, pat the eggplant dry with paper towels.
How to Make Baked Eggplant Parmesan
1. Breading Eggplant: Line of 3 rimmed dishes in order – flour, salt, and pepper; then beaten eggs; and finally bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Bread eggplant slices by dipping them in each bowl in order.
2. Baking the Eggplant: Place breaded eggplant onto greased baking sheets and sprinkle the tops lightly with salt. Drizzle the tops with olive oil or spray lightly with cooking spray. Bake them until tender, be sure to flip them over halfway through cooking.
3. Prepare the Sauce: We like making our Homemade Marinara Sauce adding some fresh garlic and basil.
4. Assemble the Eggplant Parmesan for Baking: Spread marinara sauce over the bottom of a pan. Then spread half of the eggplant slices, cover with mozzarella cheese and repeat the process. Bake on 375 until the cheese is melted and slightly golden.
What to Serve with Baked Eggplant Parmesan:
This main course can be a heavy dish with lots of cheese and sauce, so I highly recommend choosing lighter side dishes to balance the entire meal. Here are some of my favorite side dishes to serve with Eggplant Parm.
- Caesar Salad: classic light dressing
- Garlic Bread: quick, easy and excellent with saucy eggplant parm
- Caprese Salad: fresh and colorful
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts: caramelized and flavorful
How to Store Eggplant Parm:
Eggplant Parmesan is a versatile dish that can be made ahead and frozen before baking or stores easily as leftovers.
- To Refrigerate: let leftovers cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
- To Freeze: wrap the assembled, but unbaked, Eggplant Parmesan in several layers of plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 months then thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directed. The baking process is similar to reheating our Lasagna Roll-Ups.
More Eggplant Recipes:
If you love eggplant recipes, you are sure to find some new favorites in this list. We have everything from eggplant casseroles to eggplant appetizers. P.S. That first spicy eggplant recipe is wildly delicious.
- Spicy Eggplant Recipe: Natasha’s Personal Favorite
- Eggplant Spread: A warm and creamy spread
- Eggplant Caviar: Excellent on rye toasts
- Eggplant with Red Pepper Sauce: a unique and delicious side
- Baked Eggplant Sandwiches: You’ll love the spread!
- Smadar’s Shakshuka: the authentic version with eggplant
Baked Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs eggplant, 2 large/3 medium/4 small, cut into 1/3″ thick rounds
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs, or Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more to grease the pan and drizzle over eggplant*
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 32 oz good quality marinara sauce, homemade or storebought
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped, (optional, but nice)
- 1 lb shredded mozzarella, grated on the large holes
Instructions
How to Bake Eggplant for Eggplant Parm:
- Preheat Oven to 375˚F. Generously grease 2 baking sheets with olive oil. Set up 3 rimmed dishes in this order: In the first one, stir together 3/4 cup flour, 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. In the second, beat 3 large eggs. In the third combine 1 cup bread crumbs and 1 cup grated parmesan. Dip eggplant slices in flour, then beaten eggs, then in the panko/parm mixture.
- Place breaded eggplant onto greased baking sheets and sprinkle the tops lightly with salt. Drizzle tops with olive oil or spray lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 375˚F for 30-35 min, flipping the eggplant halfway and rotating the pans if using 2 baking sheets. Once done baking, remove from the oven.
How to Elevate Storebought Marinara:
- If using homemade Marinara, you can skip this step, but here's how to make a storebought marinara even better: Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Once oil is hot, add garlic and stir 1 min until fragrant. Add marinara sauce and bring to a simmer. Add coarsely chopped basil, stir for 30 seconds and remove from heat.
To Assemble Eggplant Parmesan:
- Spread 1/4 cup marinara sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish. Add 1/2 eggplant slices, overlapping if needed to fit, then top with half of your marinara sauce and half of the mozzarella. Repeat with the remaining eggplant slices, marinara and mozzarella. Bake uncovered at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly golden.
Notes
*You can grease the pan and the tops of the eggplant with cooking spray instead of olive oil if you prefer. It’s quicker and you’ll get a more even coating on the bread crumbs.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
hi,what can i substitute for eggs. i like your baversion of eggplant perm,
Hi, I haven’t tried an egg free substitute in the dredging but I found another recipe for a vegan eggplant that is eggless with 1/2 cup almond milk mixed together with 1 tsp corn starch which sounded like a great idea.
Love your videos 🥰 — makes cooking with you fun! One of your respondents was searching for a new eggplant parmesan. I make mine with the basic recipe (frying too) but I only use Velveeta cheese. It may be one to try and put your spin on it. This was Mom’s recipe. 🌴🌺 👩🍳
P.S. Thank you to respondents for the info on using Asian eggplants – never heard about the bitterness….
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Alyce!
I will be making this recipe later this week, though will adapt it to be gluten free/dairy free. I love to cook, so thank you for sharing this! Eggplant Parmesan is one of a few recipes my mother was unable to share with me before she passed (too loopy from pain meds the last few months).
Thank you again 💕
I’m so happy to hear that! I hope you love it!
I had all the ingredients except for parmesan cheese so I left it out. When I tried one of the eggplant slices after coming out of the oven I was very worried- it tasted like cardboard! But I finished off the recipe and it was a hit! My husband had three servings and my two year old loved it.
I read that when an eggplant’s seeds have a different colour (such as brown) to the rest of the flesh it is likely to be bitter. My eggplants had the same coloured flesh and seeds so I didn’t do anything and they weren’t bitter at all.
Awesome, I’m glad to hear your entire family enjoys this recipe. Thanks for sharing your wonderful review with other readers!
I’ve never eaten Eggplant. Since everything i’ve tried from Natasha’s Kitchen has been wonderful, I gave it a try. It was awesome! I did leave it sit salted for an hour to wick the moisture out.
I’m happy to hear that you tried the recipe and love it! Thanks for sharing your excellent review Jerry!
Hi Natasha! I am your new fan) I already made several recipes from your blog and everything was delicious! Today I tried eggplant Parmesan, I’ve never made it with breadcrumbs before. Usually just an eggplant on a grill, some sauce and mozzarella on top. It came out beautiful. Thank you for your work and delicious food- so good and inspiring.
You’re welcome Natalia! Thanks for the amazing compliment. I’m so glad to hear how much you love the recipes!
Wow! By far the best eggplant parmesan I have tried, and I’ve tried a few! It was so easy to make and I like that it’s baked, so not greasy at all. Thank you Natasha!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for the awesome review 🙂
Wow. they look absolutely delicious. Am surely gonna try for friends at home this weekend and will tag you. Thanks for sharing the recipe
Thank you so much! I hope you all love the recipe 🙂
Natasha, to avoid bitter eggplant sprinkle them with salt and let them sit for 20 min to release some liquid, then wipe them dry with paper towel. It will give eggplant a great super soft taste you will love.
Maryana, thank you so much for the tip. I appreciate that you shared that with me 😁.
Natasha thank you for taking your time to put together this FREE and wonderful website. I found you through a Ukranian friend who made your cheese toasts for her daughter’s birthday. I am Italian American and am very hard to please, but your recipes are full of color and explanation and most of all molto bene (very good)!! Thankyou for taking your time to make this site. I hope to see you on Foodnetwork someday!!
God bless,
Christina, NY
Thank you so much for your wonderful review and inspirational comment. You’re so nice 🙂
Natasha–I made this eggplant parm tonight, and oh boy, it was absolutely delicious!!!! I basically followed your recipe to the “t” and loved the baked eggplant concept. It was truly one of the better meals I’ve made in a long time. My family loved it. Thanks for sharing. 😊
That’s so great. Thank you so much for sharing your review 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Do you think if I assemble the baked cooled eggplant with the sauce and everything but bake it a off tomorrow that it will work? Like cover it with foil but bake it off the next day?
That should work fine 🙂
Yum!!! Made these today and it turned out delicious! Thank you for this recipe 😄
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
This looks great. So far I have made your Napoleon cake, carrot apple salad, and cod in tomato sauce. My Ukrainian hubby loved them all, soi definitely have lot of faith in your recipes! Thank you 🙂
Angela, thank you for your sweet comment and you are very welcome :). Give this recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed :D.
I made this last night and it came out great! I LOVE the fact that it is not fried. I was concerned it wouldn’t taste the same as the classic fried eggplant parm but it was amazing! This is a keeper for sure! Thanks for such a simple and tasty recipe!
Eleonora, thank you for such a great review, I’m so happy that you love the recipe :).
Baked, not fried.
That means I can eat the whole lot, doesn’t it?!
Yes Ma’am. 😉 Great minds think alike! 🙂
I love that these eggplants are baked instead of fried. Such a light take on a normally very “heavy” meal. Thank you for sharing this with us! Can’t wait to try it out!
It really is pretty guilt free and you feel very good after eating it 🙂
Oh yum! I have a few eggplant growing in my garden, I will definitely need to try this skinny version! I love my veggies 🙂 This looks perfect Natasha!
Thank you Katy! What else do you grow besides eggplant? I’m aways looking for new ideas!
My garden is probably no match for your moms garden! I had a lot of veggies and herbs this year. Some new things I tried were okra and tomatillos, they are really interesting to try 🙂
Oh those are interesting! Have you tried making anything with them? Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever even tried okra! :-O
Hi Natasha,
Another way of getting rid of the bitterness is sprinkling the eggplant slices with salt. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes (I’ve even let it sit overnight and it came out delicious), then blot the salt and the moisture out with a dry paper towel. The salt soaks the bitter moisture out and leaves the eggplant soft and tender and ready to cook. Hope this helps!
Enjoy 🙂
Hi Dana! Thank you so much for sharing that. I’ve never let it sit overnight – do you refrigerate if leaving it overnight, or is it just at room temp?
I did refrigerate the overnight ones, but I typically let them sit on the kitchen counter at room temp for 1-2 hours before I use them. It just depends on how big they are. I noticed that the bigger they are, the more bitter they taste. That’s why I prefer Japanese eggplant. But my husband likes the Chinese ones better, the same kind you used in this recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Dana!
Did you know that if you use the asian eggplants (skinny long ones) they do not have the bitterness?
By the way, this eggplant parmesan looks incredible!
That’s great to know!! I wish they always had them in stores for when they aren’t growing 🙂
Oh yum, yum. Are eggplant the only thing you can use with this? Or will squash or zucchini work ok too? (We grow those, but not the eggplant). This looks totally like something that will be on my menu soon. Also, do you use panko breadcrumbs because they are more crunchier, or can regular breadcrumbs be used instead?
Hi Oksana! I haven’t tried with anything but chicken and eggplant but I have seen recipes online that use zucchini so I assume you can use zucchini.