An oven-fry method creates this crispy Baked Eggplant Parmesan that rivals any fried version. An easy, updated take on the classic Italian dish.
This post was originally published on September 11, 2011. It has been updated with new photos and an instructional video.
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.
How to Sweat Eggplant
Don’t sweat the small stuff…. but definitely sweat your eggplant! Eggplant can have bitterness to it and this process of “sweating” helps eliminate that. Not all of them will have that bitter element, but to me it’s not worth the risk so I always take this extra step when I make this Baked Eggplant Parmesan.
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.
Should I Peel the Eggplant?
Whether you peel them is personal preference. It isn’t necessary and I love the deep purple color not to mention that there are vitamins and additional flavor in the skin. I’ve done it both ways with this Baked Eggplant Parmesan recipe but took the easy way out here and left the skin on.
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. The fresh mozz has such a luscious, creamy quality and layers nicely on the eggplant stacks.
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 fabulous ways to use eggplant:
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
Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 3 eggplant, sliced ¼-inch thick (you'll need 12 slices)
- salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 8 ounce box Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
- 26 ounce jar marinara sauce
- 16 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped 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 to sweat for 30 to 45 minutes. Rinse well with cold water to remove salt and blot dry with paper towels.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with cooking spray. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs, pressing crumbs down with fingers if needed to cover evenly. Place in a single layer on oiled baking sheet and lightly spray tops of breaded eggplant with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes then carefully flip each slice and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- In a 9- x13-inch baking dish, spread just enough marinara to cover bottom of dish. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Cover each slice with a spoon full of marinara, a slice or two of mozzarella, and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Repeat with one more layer. Pour any leftover marinara and around edges of eggplant slices and top with any cheese that is left. Sprinkle basil on top.
- Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
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.
Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com
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 🙂