An oven-fry method creates this crispy Baked Eggplant Parmesan that rivals any fried version. This is an easy, updated take on the classic Italian dish.
More wholesome recipes we love include my Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats and Italian Stuffed Peppers.
Aaahhh, cheesy Baked Eggplant Parmesan. One of my husband’s favorites. I remember making it for the first time ages ago and wondering how my kids would perceive it. I mean, there’s no meat in it! Not necessarily an easy selling point to four teenage boys.
Because it resembles lasagna they dove right in without even asking what it was… and it was love at first bite. So, there you go!
I find this oven-fry method is easier to prepare than the traditional fried version and it’s definitely a little easier on the waistline without forfeiting any of the delicious flavor or texture. Try it and you’ll see.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Eggplant – You’ll need a couple of good sized eggplant with a total weight of about 2¼ pounds.
- Salt – For sweating the eggplant.
- Eggs – Three large eggs, beaten.
- Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs – Buying pre-seasoned bread crumbs is a great way to limit the number of ingredients and steps needed.
- Marinara sauce – A 24 to 26 ounce jar of your favorite store-bought marinara sauce.
- Cheese – You could mix things up by using different varieties of Italian cheese but for this recipe I always go with sliced fresh mozzarella and a little Parmesan. Fresh mozzarella has such a luscious, creamy quality and layers nicely on the eggplant stacks.
- Basil – Garnish the Baked Eggplant Parmesan with some sliced fresh basil. If you don’t have any on hand, just sprinkle the top with a little dried basil.
Should I Peel the Eggplant?
Whether you peel eggplant is a personal preference. I love the deep purple color not to mention that there are vitamins and additional flavor in the skin so I prefer unpeeled eggplant for this recipe.
I’ve made this Baked Eggplant Parmesan recipe with both peeled and unpeeled eggplant with a good result.
Do I Need to Sweat Eggplant?
Don’t sweat the small stuff, but definitely sweat your eggplant! Sweating is the process of salting your eggplant slices and allowing them to rest for about an hour or more. The salt will pull some of the potentially bitter liquid from the eggplant.
Less moisture in the eggplant slices also helps them to crisp up nicely in the “oven-fry” method in this recipe. Once they’ve sweat, just be sure to rinse them well with cool water to remove the excess salt and blot them dry before breading them.
How to Sweat Eggplant
- Sprinkle some salt on both sides of each slice of eggplant.
- Layer the slices in a colander and place the colander in your sink. Set a heavy dish or pan over the top to weigh them down.
- Allow the eggplant to sweat for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Rinse the slices well with cold water to remove any excess salt and blot them dry with paper towels.
How to Make Baked Eggplant Parmesan
- Bread the eggplant: Lightly whisk the eggs in a shallow dish, like a pie plate. Add the bread crumbs to another shallow dish. Dip the eggplant slices in egg, then in the bread crumbs, pressing the crumbs down with fingers to cover them evenly. Place them in a single layer on the greased baking sheet and lightly spray the tops of the breaded eggplant with nonstick cooking spray.
- Oven-fry the eggplant: Bake at 425 degree F for 10 minutes then carefully flip each slice over and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Assemble and bake: – In a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, spread just enough marinara to cover the bottom of the dish. Place a layer of breaded eggplant slices over the sauce. Cover each slice with a spoon full of marinara, a slice or two of mozzarella, and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (reserve half of the cheeses for top layer). Repeat layering one more time, ending with the remaining cheese. If using dried basil, sprinkle it evenly over the top. If using fresh basil, reserve it for later. Transfer the baking dish to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil (f using) before serving.
This is one of our favorite Italian-inspired meals in this house. I’ve made it countless times and it remains at the top of the list!
More Eggplant Recipes You’ll Love
Julia Child’s Eggplant Pizzas | Kayln’s Kitchen
Eggplant Fries with Marinara Sauce | A Family Feast
Garlic and Roasted Eggplant Hummus | Melanie Makes
Stuffed Eggplant | The Little Kitchen
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Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Video
Ingredients
- 2 eggplant (about 2¼ pounds), sliced ¼-inch thick (you'll need 12 slices)
- salt, as needed
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 8 ounces Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 16 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup torn fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried basil
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Sprinkle some salt on both sides of each slice of eggplant. Layer the slices in a colander and place the colander in your sink. Place a heavy dish or pan over the top to press them down. Allow the eggplant to sweat for 30 to 45 minutes. Rinse the slices well with cold water to remove salt and blot them dry with paper towels.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with nonstick cooking spray.
- Dip the eggplant slices in egg, then in the bread crumbs, pressing the crumbs down with fingers to cover them evenly. Place them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and lightly spray the tops of the breaded eggplant with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes then carefully flip each slice over and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- In a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, spread just enough marinara to cover the bottom of the dish. Place a layer of eggplant slices over the sauce. Cover each slice with a spoon full of marinara, a slice or two of mozzarella, and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (reserve half of the cheeses for top layer). Layer the remaining eggplant slices over the top and add another spoon full of marinara on top of each. Spoon any remaining marinara around the edges of the eggplant stacks then top each stack with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. If using dried basil, sprinkle it evenly over the top. If using fresh basil, reserve it for later.
- Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh basil, if using.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Italian Recipes
Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com
This post was originally published on September 11, 2011. It has been updated with new photos and an instructional video.
We did a girls night last night at my galpal Lindsey’s house. We get older, life gets crazier, and before you know it you haven’t seen some of your friends in months. Lindsey made this recipe, modified with gluten free bread crumbs (for me?). This was phenomenal??. She passed the recipe on so I could recreate it at home and I am so glad you went into such detail about salting the eggplant to remove the bitterness. Many moons ago, my first time cooking eggplant at my own place… Was a disaster. I didn’t know I had to ‘cure’ it in a sense, and was left so disappointed.
I can not WAIT to make this, and get my very picky eater husband to try!
So delicious, thank you!!
Fantastic! I’m so glad to hear that you all enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much, Anastasiya 🙂
I hardly saw anyone that had made this dish, so there really weren’t any reviews, and any time I have done anything with egg plant, it was so much work, that I quit, but I love egg plant, why not have reviews of people that have made this recipe??
Hi Doris. I’m always thrilled when people come back to leave a review after they’ve made one of my recipes but obviously, I have no control over that.
Still looking for a review of dish actually cooked myself. assembled and ready to bake..seems like I might have wanted some olive oil on pan instead of spray.. dry.. will see what it comes out like.
Bravo to you for coming up with an easier way to prepare this delicious dish! To those people who do not like this vegetable, the salting process takes out a lot of the bitterness. Also if you choose younger eggplants they will not have a lot of the seeds in them. i have added many of your recipes to my rotation. Keep on cookin girl cause your good at it.
Hi Sally. You make a good point. I’ve heard smaller eggplant have less seeds and tend to have less bitterness. The salting really does do the trick though so I throw caution to the wind and just look for the size I want.I actually seek out decent sized eggplants for this recipe so that I can get good sized discs for layering. I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipes! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
Looking forward to trying this. Yummy
Oh my, does that ever look good! I am a big eggplant fan. Thanks for the shout-out for my eggplant pizzas!
Thanks so much, Kalyn. Those pizzas look incredible!
Hi v..from EVE in ISRAEL… this is eggplant country …. called”HATZILEEM” in HEBREW + so popular her in any + every form . Love it but hates the way it soaks up oil like a sponge…My less oily way tp prepare it is to spareingly BRUSH the thin even slices w oil ( with out the pre salting ) +add seasonings and lay them closely in one layer on the toasting screen of my OLD toaster oven ( yes it makes a mess) I put on the highest heat + they get broiled from both sides takes 20 min. they loose moisture and shrink so u end up with much less than u started with.. +then u do the next batch + the next This does take longer than frying but I hate all that oil, the smell+ cleanup so it’s o k . I NEVER peel . The peel adds great taste Instead i pull a sharp fork lengthwise through the peel which looks llike stripes over the entire egplant. after that I slice.
Once u have “toasted” them like this u ca n do what ever u want but HIDE THEM so
the family wont “steal “+ eat before u get to the next step because the HATZEEL is very tasty just lIke this SHALOM from the HOLYLAND ISRAEL, EVIE
Great ! Worked fantastic thank you
Great recipe can you please post the stats for the calories , carbs, proteins etc for an average serving size.
Hi Melody. I don’t provide nutritional breakdowns but I know there are many tools available online that will do that for you. If you do a search for “recipe nutrition calculator” or something similar, you will find several choices.
Hi Valerie,
Can you make this ahead? I have a big dinner party planned and a tiny kitchen, so I would like to prepare in advance if possible. How would you do this?
Thanks J
Hi Jade. This recipe is not the best choice for a make-ahead dish. Because the eggplant is breaded, the result is best if it is cooked and served right away. A pasta dish would be a far better choice.
I have always served this for large gatherings. I learned your method of oven “frying” from a friend and I love it. I have frozen the fried eggplant between sheets of waxed paper and put them in a ziploc bag, then it is always ready to assemble whenever I want. I’m sure you lose some crispness, but just baking it in the gravy you lose it also. I started this when I grew my own and naturally you have more than you can eat all at once. This gave me my eggplant parmesan hopefully for the rest of the year and the hard part was already done.
WHOA this looks SOOOO good… definitely pinned this recipe, wow. I can’t even look at it anymore, it’s making me too hungry! Your site is great and your pictures are amazing! Very impressive, I’m glad I found you, I’ll be coming back!
Nice recipe. I’ve never heard of sweating eggplant before breading it, I’m interested to try this out to see how it affects the final product. My only word of advice would be to throw on the fresh basil after it’s come out the oven. I can’t imagine those bits of burnt leaf would taste very good! Also, if you stack four or five basil leaves, roll them up and slice them thinly, you get nice little basil ribbons that are good for garnish and easier to eat 🙂 It’s a technique with a fancy french name that’s fun to say; chiffonade!
Hello Jack. Thanks for the helpful comments. I’ve not had a problem with the basil burning but you can absolutely add it after it bakes if you prefer. And, yes, chiffonade is absolutely the most effective and efficient method of slicing basil. Enjoy!
can i add hamburger meat to it
Absolutely. I think it would be wonderful with a meat sauce.
This looks so amazing that it is on my list to try out on my family next week.
Valerie,
Looking for a good baked eggplant recipe, this one looks great! Am trying this tonight, will get back to you after, but it sounds really delicious. Will probably use homemade breadcrumbs, I have fresh tomatoes from the neighbor and an eggplant from her garden, I will probably use a little fresh oregano from my garden.
RWH
Sounds wonderful! Enjoy 🙂