
For some reason, eggplant used to intimidate me. Its floppy texture, neutral taste, and seemingly over-involved cooking methods made me think it would be something I’d never master.
I was wrong.

Origins of Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant parmesan (or parmigiana di malanzane) is an Italian casserole dish made with fried eggplant slices, tomato sauce, and cheese.
It’s exact origin, however, is hotly debated! Some claim it was invented in Sicily, while others claim it comes from Naples, Puglia, or Calabria. You can read more about its history here.
Our version is not traditional as we skip the extra step of turning it into a casserole and instead serve the crispy fried eggplant slices with a side of marinara.
Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
Since getting my hands on my first eggplant last year, it’s become one of my absolute favorite fruits (yes, fruit, even though it’s a vegetable in my book).
Two of my absolute favorite recipes utilizing eggplant have been my Cashew-less Vegan Queso and my Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Dip. It’s neutral flavor help it absorb flavors extremely well, and depending on how you cook it, its texture is extremely versatile – from super creamy to super crisp.
And in this little gem of a recipe, it’s crispy to the max.

This recipe was inspired by one of my favorite food bloggers, Izy from Top with Cinnamon. It’s straight out of her beautiful new cookbook, Top With Cinnamon.
Although it’s not a vegan cookbook, it has a lot of recipes that can be easily adapted to a vegan diet. And when I laid my eyes on her crispy aubergine pesto pasta, I knew it was the one for me.

This recipe took a few tries to get just right sans egg, but I think I’ve done it (simply)!
It requires just 10 ingredients, employs easy methods, and takes a little more than 1 hour from start to finish. It is a little bit more involved than some savory meals I’ve cooked, but it’s one that John and I both love and crave, so it’s worth the extra time and effort!

I think you guys are going to LOVE this recipe! It’s:
Comforting
Crispy
Warm
Rich
Flavorful
Saucy
Delicious
Satisfying
& Simple!
I knew this recipe was a winner when I served it to John and he literally went back for seconds before I could! I love it when happy meal discoveries like that happen.
If you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it as much as we did! As always, tag us on Instagram with #minimalistbaker or Twitter @minimalistbaker if you do. Cheers!

Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
- 1 medium eggplant (as narrow as possible)*
- 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (or other flour of choice – GF for gluten-free eaters)
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs (GF for gluten-free eaters)
- 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan (plus more for serving // or sub 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast per 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan)
- 1 tsp dried oregano (or sub 2 tsp fresh per 1 tsp dried)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or other neutral milk)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
PASTA + SAUCE
- 8 ounces pasta (such as linguini, but any kind will do, including veggie noodles or gluten-free)
- 2 cups marinara sauce
Instructions
- Slice eggplant into thin rounds slightly less than 1/2 inch thick, and sprinkle each side liberally with sea salt. Arrange in a circular pattern in a colander and place in the sink to draw out the bitter taste of the eggplant.
- Let rest for 15 minutes, then rinse and arrange on a clean absorbent kitchen towel. Top with another clean dish towel and lay a baking sheet on top. Place something heavy on top, such as a cast iron skillet, to thoroughly dry for at least 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C) and line a baking sheet with foil and spritz with nonstick spray. Also, if making pasta, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.
- Prepare your dipping stations by placing almond milk + cornstarch in one bowl; flour in another bowl; and bread crumbs + sea salt + oregano + vegan parmesan (or nutritional yeast) in another bowl.
- Once thoroughly dry, dip eggplant slices in flour, then almond milk mixture, then breadcrumbs. Arrange on the baking sheet and pop in oven to bake for a total of 20-30 minutes.
- IMPORTANT STEP: While the eggplant is in the oven, bring a large skillet to medium heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil (or sub avocado oil // amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size) and pull 3-4 eggplant rounds out of the oven at a time and sauté to give them extra crisp and texture. Cook for ~2 minutes on each side (or browned) and then return to oven to continue crisping. Do this in batches until all rounds are browned.
- While eggplant is browning in the oven, prepare marinara. I prefer adding my tomato sauce and spices to a serving bowl and microwaving to warm, but you could also heat it on the stove. Set aside.
- Once done cooking, drain pasta and cover with a towel to keep warm. Set aside.
- To serve: Plate pasta and eggplant slices and marinara in a dish as a dipping sauce. Additional vegan parmesan cheese makes an excellent topper.
- Leftovers don’t really reheat well, so it’s best when fresh. See notes for additional tips on crispy eggplant!
Notes
*EGGPLANT TIPS!
– Buy a narrow eggplant – the really big wide ones don’t get as crisp!
– Don’t skip the salt / drain step – it really helps draw out the bitterness.
– Once coated, make sure you get the eggplant in the oven as quickly as possible so it doesn’t sit there absorbing any excess moisture.
*Loosely adapted from the Crispy Aubergine Pesto Pasta from Top with Cinnamon’s new Cookbook!
– Really press down on the eggplant after rinsing to ensure you get all of the water out you can.
– Although it’s an extra step, browning the eggplant in the skillet in addition to baking yields the crispiest result!
Cashew says
Let me just say that this recipe is one I’ll be making again! I’ve never cooked with eggplant, and felt intimidated by it before trying this out, and it came out absolutely delicious. My partner, our roommate and I all had seconds! Very filling , crispy, and well seasoned. We swapped regular panko for Italian-seasoned. The frying in the skillet is an absolute must, in my opinion.
Yay, thanks for sharing!! So glad you enjoyed it!
Rachel says
As someone who lives alone, I was concerned about the notes that said the recipe doesn’t hold up for leftovers. Figured maybe the eggplant would be gooey or something but I’d give it a shot. I am here to say that days 2 and 3 have been just as good as fresh!!! I stored them in an airtight glass container and reheated in a dry pan on the stove. Maybe a little mushier on the inside but barely. And the outside was just as crispy. In case it’s helpful, I used GF all purpose flour and a rice panko and followed the recipe exactly.
Great! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Rachel!
Ashley says
This made a great weeknight dinner that we both enjoyed. I was feeling lazy about pan frying so instead baked eggplant then switched to broil at end to crisp up both sides. I’m sure it changed the flavor a little but was really delicious this way too. Added onion garlic and spinach to our red sauce. Will definitely make again.
We’re so glad it turned out well! Thanks so much for sharing, Ashley!
Valerie says
I love this recipe and have been making it for years. I recently bought an air fryer oven and “fried” the eggplant in that. The eggplant was fabulous and crispy on the outside! I am so thankful for this recipe, as I love eggplant parmigiana and it’s so nice to have a vegan version! My husband and I could literally consume all of it in one sitting. I typically double the recipe so we have leftovers. Thank you for this recipe!
We’re so glad you both enjoy it, Valerie! Thanks so much for the lovely review! xo
Kenna says
Nailed it once again! This is delicious and fun to make. Very nostalgic for me, the flavors are perfect. Also, I did not do the first two steps of this recipe because I don’t find eggplant to be bitter and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Yay! Thanks for the lovely review, Kenna! xo
Kate says
Loved the Eggplant Parmesan recipe. I did it oil free and put them in the air fryer after baking. This is one of my favorite foods so it was a joy to make one that is better then restaurant quality.
Thank you so much!
Amazing! Thanks so much for sharing, Kate! xo
Kate says
This was excellent. I’m not the best cook so mine was not as pretty but it tasted amazing! I didn’t even miss the cheese. I am new to being Vegan. This was a nice comfort dish. I definitely will try perfecting this!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Kate! Thanks so much for the lovely review! xo
Anthony says
Thank you for this Amazing recipe! So delicious :-)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the lovely review, Anthony!
Maggie says
We love this recipe at my house and have made it about 10 times… but just realize I have been pan frying the eggplant before putting in the oven … oops haha
It is still amazing even cooking it in the wrong order 😂
We’re so glad you enjoy it! Thanks for sharing, Maggie! xo
Karyn Quackenbush says
Absolutely fantastic!!! Quick question… is it necessary to line the baking sheet with tin foil? Trying to stay away from aluminum.
Thank you!!
Karyn
Nope, you can use parchment paper!
Brittany says
My husband made this last night, and it was delicious! We will be making this again for sure.
Yay! Thanks for the lovely review, Brittany! xo
Ashley says
I’ve never commented on a recipe before, but I needed to tell the world that I just made this on top of spaghetti squash and it was to die for. Don’t skip the extra step frying the eggplant in a frying pan while they bake, that takes this from a 7 to a 10.
So kind! Thanks for sharing, Ashley! Next time would you mind adding a rating to your review? It’s super helpful to us and other readers! xo
Jamillah says
Hey minimalist! I’ve been meaning to write a comment (since 2016??) to rave about this recipe! Absolutely PHENOMENAL. I’ve made this A BUNCH of times since then however, there was one batch I made where the eggplant turned out EXTREMELY salty. I wasn’t sure where I went wrong when I did each step the exact same way as the previous times. Strange. I know……..
Since that time, I’ve made it with no issues so I’ll just note it as being an off batch. Either way, just wanted to stop by and share my thanks for a brilliant recipe- FINALLY! And I plan on making it again for my boyfriend’s birthday this weekend! Cheers! :-)
Aw, thanks so much for sharing, Jamillah! We’re so glad you enjoy this recipe! xo
Angie says
OMG, I made this tonight for dinner; and it was slap ya mama good! I am not a cook at all; and my husband said I hit it out of the ballpark with this recipe! He is already asking that I make this once a week!
To short cut the crisping it up part, I took it from the oven after 25 mins and put it in the air fryer for 5 mins. I did have a good size batch; so, I did an extra 3 mins in the air fryer for the eggplant on the bottom of the pile for an additional 2 mins.
This recipe is da bomb!
We’re so glad you both enjoyed it, Angie! Thanks for sharing!
Sara says
This looks amazing and I’m so excited to try it! Just to clarify, does the 748 calories per serving include the pasta and the pasta sauce? Or is it 748 just for the eggplant?
Hi Sara, yes, it does include the pasta and sauce. Hope that helps!
Sunny says
Gotta cut the eggplant vertically or else the fibers absorb a lot of the oil
Eileen says
This is fab! As others, I also made subs as well as stacked eggplant with tomatoes/basil. So many possibilities. Thanks!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Eileen! Thanks so much for the lovely review! xo
Kookie Costa says
Wow! Just wow! This was the best meal I’ve made in a while!!! So much flavor and pretty easy to make. After I did the drying process of the eggplant, I put half the slices in the fridge to make them another time since it’s too much to make for one setting. I used Bertolini tomato and basil sauce and as i was heating it up on stove, I added a little sugar to it.
Absolutely terrific recipe!!
Aw, yay! We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Carol says
I made a double batch of this and eat from it all week I cut mine 1” thick and just very lightly under cook it because I just pop 2 in air fryer with a little cheese for 5 mins to reheat and top it with a warm marinara sauce it is the best ever and the easiest. Thank you for the recipe oh btw I am vegan so I substitute the eggs for Just Eggs,use plant milk and nutritional yeast and vegan mozzarella.
We’re so glad you enjoy it, Carol! Thanks so much for sharing!
Adam says
Hi! We made this and it is awesome! The salt step at the beginning really makes a difference. You mentioned that it doesn’t reheat well, but we warmed them up in the air fryer and they turned out just fine. Actually made sandwiches out of them. Enjoy!
Lovely! Thanks so much for sharing, Adam!
Paulette says
Made, loved, saved! Repeat!!!
Whoop! Thanks for sharing, Paulette!
sarah says
Omg! So delicious, definitely worth the little bit of work. Will be a go to dish 🤤
We’re so glad you enjoy it, Sarah! Thanks so much for sharing!
Kristine Mulnix says
That was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! Followed the recipe, no tweaks. Incredibly tasty and satisfying. 🤗 I want to go get another eggplant to have it again tomorrow 😄
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Kristine!
SandraM says
The best eggplant parm I have EVER made! Not kidding!!
Whoop! Thanks so much for the lovely review, Sandra!
Melissa says
Amazing, the vegans and omnis loved it….used Chinese eggplant (personal preference), and some garlic powder in the flour. Didn’t even need any marinara. Definitely making again!
Whoop! Thanks for sharing, Melissa!
Night says
This was phenomenal. We toasted bread, then broiled with marinara and extra vegan parmesan and then topped with the eggplant. Yum.
Only issue for me was how quickly the slices went from lightly-browned to very-dark-brown in the pan. This was likely due to using an iron skillet and I would use a medium-low setting for it next time.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Night! Thanks so much for sharing!
Anne says
I made this tonight, and it was delicious. This is the first time I’ve ever had luck breading anything. I’m going to try making fried zucchini and fried green tomatoes with this recipe.
I made a few modifications:
I cooked the breaded eggplant in my air fryer instead of the oven and skillet. I fried five minutes on each side at 400°, and the texture was perfect.
I didn’t have a full cup breadcrumbs, so I used a combination of 1/3 breadcrumbs, 1/3 Bob’s Red Mill quick cooking steel cut oats, and 1/3 almond flour, which worked well.
I left the salt out of the breadcrumb mix, and didn’t miss it.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Anne! We think fried zucchini and green tomatoes sound great- let us know how it goes!
Guy says
I have made this several times and its been phenomenal each time…
I do have a question…after liberally sea salting the eggplant and putting it in a colander in the sink, am I supposed to SOAK the eggplant in water? …or do I just let the salt soak in naturally, and then rinse and dry the eggplant?
Please clarify because the directions confused me slightly on this step…
We’re so glad you enjoy it, Guy! No need to soak the eggplant in water, just a quick rinse to remove excess salt.
Jennifer Wilson says
Hi! This was a really good recipe. I cut the eggplant length-wise and salted it and all the steps to pull the water out. I, also, did that and did an errand to shorten the recipe preparation time. I crisped up the eggplant in the pan after baking. I used rigatoni for the noodles and a HEB brand marinara. My daughter and I loved it.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer! Thanks so much for sharing!
Natasha F. says
Last night I made this dish with spaghetti. I followed the recipe 100% and added crushed red pepper for some added spice. I made my slices thinner than 1/2 inch which really helped speed up drying, and allowed them to be crispier. I also added Daiya mozarella cheez shreds after food was plated; drizzling my sauce over the eggplant and the pasta. This dish is so good that I’m locking it in to my rotation. I intend to prepare my eggplant this way to make eggplant lasagna, as another commenter mentioned. Thanks for sharing and thank you Minimalist Baker for providing this yumminess for all of us foodies!!!
Aw, thanks so much for your kind words and lovely review, Natasha! We’re so glad you enjoyed it! xo
Diane says
This is amazing! It has become my family’s favorite vegan meal.
Whoop! Thanks for sharing, Diane!
Erica says
Would it be the same result if I browned the eggplant before the oven?
Hi Erica, that works!
Gabby T. says
I made this last night! So ridiculously delicious. Followed the recipe to the letter for the eggplant except for using oat milk instead of almond. Eggplant turned out perfectly crisp and flavorful. Instead of pasta we paired the eggplant with spaghetti squash noodles and used Rao’s tomato basil sauce instead of making our own. It was honestly the best vegan meal I’ve had since we’ve all been locked in during quarantine! We’ve been cooking A LOT but this one was special. Great anniversary dinner for me and my boyfriend. Thanks for sharing!
Happy anniversary and thanks so much for the lovely review, Gabby. We are so glad you both enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo
Jo says
I’ve made this 3 times and it’s been delicious every time! We loved it so much (and we’re big eaters) that it wasn’t enough the first time; so now use 3 medium eggplants; which is plenty, but still no leftovers! 😳 Yes, it’s kinda labor intensive, but it’s so worth it; and I’ve learned that I can split up the steps throughout the day (I know that sounds weird, but it tricks me into thinking this is a “quick” meal.😉) I used 2 large cookie sheets with wire cooling racks, I rub the salt on both side of the slices with my finger and let them sit while I go do another chore. Come back later and rinse each with water & spin several at a time in my salad spinner, then layer & stack them between dish towels; place large cookie sheet on top with heavy stack of plates on top. I’ve let them sit like this for hours while I go do other things (sometimes moving the plates to different spot so all get pressed.) Later, I take a little time and go ahead and make my dipping bowls I’ve found that the black, round, Chinese take-out bowls with lids work great! And I double the ingredients. Then, I go do more chores,etc. When dinner time comes, I dip and put both sheets in the oven. During that 30 mins, I start the pasta water, put oil in my huge skillet & enjoy a glass of wine while I relax. I add pasta to water & jar sauce (I cheat & use store bought) in microwave when I start browning in skillet. I turn oven off and store crisped eggplant while I drain pasta, finish warming sauce & set table.
(The only “real” change I made is I used plain breadcrumbs instead of Panko.)
I’ve used veggie spaghetti noodles before as well as veggie rotini..we love both!!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe..you rock!!😃👍
(It won’t let me post pic.☹️)
Thanks so much for sharing, Jo! We are so glad you enjoy it! You can share a photo by tagging us on Instagram.
Sara says
This is so labor intensive! Excited to eat it although be very careful transferring eggplant in and out of the oven. I burned the ^%#* out of my finger!
Oh no! So sorry to hear that, Sara. We would recommend using an oven mitt and removing the baking sheet from the oven each time you add/remove eggplant to reduce the chance of burning!
steve says
great recipe.
only thing I disagree with is that the leftovers aren’t any good!
i enjoy this lunch adaptation with leftovers almost as much as the real recipe:
warm up your oven, heat up 2 or 3 eggplant rounds, as well as a roll with marinara and mozzarella.. wait for the eggplant to warm and mozz to melt, that sandwich is something else!!
Lisa says
Excellent method and outcome. Absolutely delicious. I follow it to the letter and I’m thrilled every time.
KAte says
So good this should be illegal!
The first time I made this I used large egg plants and because i had crumbing mixtures left over, huge sweet red capsicums. I omitted the flour step (because it was too high in the cupboard to reach) and dipped straight from the cornflour/milk to the crumb mix. I also did not sautee/fry the eggplant/capsicums as recommended, putting them into a very hot fan oven instead which got them nice and crisp. These Vegan parm-crumbed vegetables have become a staple in my house, often appearing in pasta or salads or, my favourite, with spiced chickpeas and vegetables in a Buddha bowl.
Minimalist baker makes eating good healthy food so easy when it’s this delicious!
Ha! Thanks for sharing, Kate!
Krystal Fong says
Worth the extra work ;) loved it!!
Nicole says
I had all of the ingredients on hand including MB’s vegan parm so no subs needed. I was able to setup the dredge bowls while prepping the eggplant . Rotating the eggplant from roasting to pan-frying is seriously genius and the batch was super consistent!
The eggplant was killer— I paired with spaghetti/zoodle combo and Rao’s Fra Diavolo sauce for a kick. Topped with a little Violife Mozz shreds and fresh basil. 5* all th way!
Whoop! So glad you enjoyed it, Nicole! xo
Cynthia Erbentraut says
I made the eggplant parmesan tonight for dinner, however I made it into eggplant lasagne as my husband loves this dish. I layered sauce eggplant and tofu cheese mixture I make. It turned out fabulous, and had great flavor. My husband said it was a ten! Thanks for a great recipe. I will be making this again!
Great idea! Thanks for sharing, Cynthia!
Megan O says
I made this for the first time tonight and loved it!
It was so delicious and will definitely be in our rotation. Although I will admit it was a little bit of work, it wasn’t complicated at all which I appreciate. I would highly recommend this recipe.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Megan! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Rebecca Kandora says
I’ve made these a few times, with different modifications. Everytime it turns out delicious! This time around I skipped the frying because of gallbladder issues and it turned out good still! I broiled it for the last few minutes! For those on lowfod map you can just use nutritional yeast instead of vegan parmesan (cashews and garlic are high fodmap). All in all YUM!
Tam says
I have made this multiple times it is so easy and taste delicious
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Tam. We are so glad you enjoy this recipe! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo
Hannah says
This was great!! I had a badddd craving for some vegan eggplant parm and made this for the roommates and I last night. 2 non vegans loved it! I doubled the recipe and would use less Panko breadcrumbs in the breading/cheese mixture but that’s just me.
The extra step was totally worth it and barely took any extra time, the salt tip was great, and I just had a lot of fun making this dish. Thank you so much :)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Hannah! Thanks for sharing!
Carolyn says
Instead of frying, I baked on a cooling rack on the baking sheet and they got perfectly crispy. I was worried about skipping that step, but was so pleasantly surprised by the crunch. Would definitely make again!
Mack says
This was amazing – I am so bad at frying things and this was so easy. My friends loved it. It got so crispy that even when I melted vegan cheese and sauce on it they remained crispy.
Lovely! Thanks for sharing, Mack!
Laura says
I made this because my fave Italian restaurant was not serving eggplant parmigiana during the Covid-19 (limited menu). So I was having a real craving.
I was pleasantly surprised because this recipe was soooo delicious and much better than any I have ever had at any restaurant! I loved how crispy the eggplant was. I used a cast iron skillet for frying. I had already made the vegan parmesan so I had it on hand.
Minimalist Baker tends to be my go to for just about any recipe. Thank you so much!!!!
Whoop! Thanks so much for the lovely review, Laura! xo
Allison says
This is the best cooking method for eggplant “parm” I’ve ever come across. Life-changing; thank you!
Whoop! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Allison! xo
Mary Currier says
I had cut my eggplant thinner and it decreased the cooking time and still made them crispy. My eggplant hack is that I cut them and salt them one day ahead during food prep (usually after a meal or on Sunday when I make lunches items for the week) and layer paper towels in between the eggplant and slide the entire contraption into a ziploc bag. I’m sure that food scientists can tell me 5 ways that this is bad, but it’s worked for me!
I wasn’t looking for a vegan recipe, but my husband had used the last eggs for breakfast this week and we were out! The milk and cornstarch worked well as a binder. I cooked them in the air fryer – 380 degrees 4 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other.
We ate them alone as a snack. Next time I think that I’ll add some spice to the Panko or use marinara or Ranch as a dip. Even plain, it was a delicious food!
Cm says
Made this last night, I like to spice things up, added chili flakes to the bread crumbs. It was delicious, my family loved it
Thank you for the recipe
Alexis K says
Very delicious. I used half vegan parm (follow your heart brand), half nooch. Also just used jarred sauce with fresh basil added. Excited to see if I can resurrect my leftovers tomorrow!
Emily steil says
This was a super hard recipe to make it took hours to do but the results in my opinion are worth it
Jamie says
Amazing!! Thanks for this wonderful recipe! Our whole family loved it – including our three year old ;) Thats a true win!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Jamie!
Clay Tetrick says
Delicious! Instead of baking/pan frying, I cooked them in an air frier. 375deg for 8 minutes then flip and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Thanks so much for sharing, Clay. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo
Daisy Joyner says
I made this recipe for the first time. It was absolutely AMAZING!!! I have never eaten eggplant before nor have I made vegan foods. I did a little alteration for the sauce and added a little beyond meat to it and just a little garlic. I will be making this again. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Daisy! Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Megan says
We made this for dinner last night. I used both nutritional yeast and extra regular parm. (I can’t find a vegan parm I like.) Do not skip the extra browning step. It did take longer than I expected, but totally worth it. I served it with edamame spaghetti and jar marinara to simplify the meal. Loved it!
Ginger says
Just made this. It was wonderful! I followed directions exactly. Used Carb Nada pasta, Violife vegan Parmesan and home made marinara. The crispy texture of the eggplant was perfect and so satisfying. Takes a bit of time to prepare but worth every minute. Thanks for a super good recipe that we will make often.
We’re so glad you enjoy it, Ginger! Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Nina says
Absolutely perfect, thank you!
Jessi says
This was amazing!!! Thank you! I used violife Parmesan that you shred, I love it.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Jessi! Thanks for sharing!
Eric says
Delicious recipe. I used a pretty wide eggplant and it worked out great. Also, I found a way to reheat and have it just as crispy the second night. Keep the eggplant you don’t eat the first night away from sauce and store it in a sealed container once cooled to room temp. Night 2, put a cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 350. Place leftover eggplant in a single layer for 15 minutes, flip and give it another 10. Voila! Crispy eggplant two nights in a row!
Thanks for sharing, Eric! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
Renee C. says
I followed this recipe exactly, and it did not disappoint. There was no bitter taste to the eggplant. I doubled the recipe, and made my own marinara; start to finish was 90 minutes. And absolutely do not skip the browning the eggplant in the skillet. I will be making this again!
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Renee. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo
Betty M Wheeler says
I tried this and loved the flavors. But I do have one question. I put quite a bit of sea salt on the plant to drain the moisture and left it on for maybe an hour or two. I rinsed but it was still super super salty. What could i have done differently? I didn’t want to rinse so much that i put back all the moisture i was trying to remove.
Rinsing well will remove the salt flavor. And then pressing dry with towels will remove the moisture.
Lo says
I love this!! It’s simple and delicious. Even the non-vegans in my life love it.
Whoop! Thanks so much for sharing, Lo!
Mark says
First, let me begin by saying your recipes are always amazing. Out of the the countless recipes I l have tried, they are always amazing.
My weekly veggie tote has been coming with eggplant recently. Until tonight none of us in the house liked eggplant. This recipe is absolutely amazing. I followed it almost exactly and used nutritional yeast in place of Parmesan. The only modification I made was adding garlic powder to the bread crumb mixture. This recipe was flavorful, light and crispy. The eggplant was actually perfect!!! Thanks for another great recipe.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Mark! Thanks so much for your kind words and lovely review!
Gabrielle says
This was gooood!!! Took a little bit of time, next time I would completely have the eggplant all fried and cooked in the oven on keep warm, so then last minute when you’re ready for tea all I have to do is cook pasta and heat the sauce. Topped with basil and was spot on. Winner
Wonderful! Thanks, Gabrielle!
Laurel Rudolph says
I made this tonight. I’m not really a fan of eggplant but they were in our weekly vegetable box. But, having said that. It was delicious. I didn’t fry the eggplant, I just baked them and they were perfect.
Thanks for the recipe, I don’t need to fear the weekly box and I’ll definitely look at all your other eggplant recipes.
Wonderful! Thanks, Laurel!
Rose says
Just started eating a vegan diet a month and a half ago. So I have been learning to try my favorite dishes vegan and wow this was so delicious!
Thanks for sharing, Rose!
Kim says
Although I served my husband his sauce and pasta, mine vegan, we both loved the eggplant!!!! Will do again and again.
I used canned coconut milk, and I always air fry, but with some spritzing with olive oil ,
they were crispy, light and delicious !!!
Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Kim! We’re so glad you both enjoyed it! xo
Bern says
I will make this! Recipe is simple!
One question….I was born in the Caribbean and have been eating eggplant since I could eat solids. I’m always greatly puzzled when American food writers describe eggplant as “bitter”! My family and I and all the Caribbean and Indian folks have the greatest laugh at “bitter”! WHAT part is “bitter”???
Hmm, perhaps it’s different palettes! Sometimes large eggplant or undercooked eggplant can have a bitterness in my experience.
Megan says
This recipe is amazing! I tried a few pieces in our air fryer and it was just as good. Even better… we reheated leftovers in our air fryer and they were just as good as fresh! Thank you so much
SMART! Thanks for sharing, Megan!
Tanya says
I made this recipes which my family and I liked very much. I wanted to make a vegan alternative to eggplant parmesan. We made with saffron spaghetti and Cesar salad. It was fun and easy to make. I will definitely make this again! Thank you for posting this recipe!
Thanks for the lovely review, Tanya!
Bill Meyers says
Good recipe, I tried to follow almost exactly but with the oven at 400F the eggplant was done in 25 minutes (oven thermometer verified), maybe my slices were thinner. I found it too much work to both bake and pan fry, next time I will just use some olive oil spray and bake. Also, my eggplants are the Rosita variety, home grown in SW Florida. These have no bitterness and do not need salting. Now I need more recipes, I still have 18 more eggplants to harvest. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Bill! Wow- that’s a lot of eggplant! You can find all of our recipes with eggplant (22 of them!) here if you filter by ingredient. Enjoy!
Susan says
I made this using “greenhouse globe” eggplants, which are smallish so I didn’t need to salt and dry. It was delicious. I also used homemade breadcrumbs with grain and seed bread. My omnivore husband added grilled chicken to his, but I found it very satisfying as is. I did add sauteed mushrooms to homemade tomato sauce which substantially “beefed” it up as well. I did not fry, but lightly sprayed with EVOO the eggplant after baking them halfway and flipping.
So glad you and your husband enjoyed it, Susan! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! xo
Kym says
There have been zero eggplant fans in our house until tonight. Thanks for helping me redeem this gorgeous vegetable!
Whoop! Thanks, Kym!
Mary says
This was a big hit tonight! My 1yo, 3yo, and husband all went back for a second helping. I made the recipe as you posted it and it turned out so good. Definitely one of our top recipes around here now!
Oh yay! We love it too! Thanks for sharing, Mary!
Sharon Crockette says
Tasted great. A little time consuming so plan for that but easy and everyone liked it.
Thanks for sharing, Sharon :D
Kathrine Defina says
I am blown away by the flavor of this recipe!!!!! My Italian non-vegan husband was very impressed with this dish ? I used italian breadcrumbs instead of panko
Yay! So glad you and your husband enjoyed it, Kathrine! Thanks for sharing! xo
Shantescia Hill says
This was very good. I found white eggplant which ended up being a more creamy texture than the regular purple, however both were good. For the pasta I made a vegan tomato cream using oat milk, canned peeled tomatoes and a little tomato sauce with oregano salt and pepper. It made it a little sweet with a creamy tang. ? thanks for posting.
Ashley F says
We loved this vegan recipe for Eggplant Parm!
Sarah says
This recipe was amazing – non-vegan husband approved! The crispier eggplants were the best in my opinion so, next time, I’ll crisp them all more in the frying pan. Made it completely GF and it was perfect!
Rebekah says
This recipe was delicious…thank you for putting it out there!!! You have a follower!
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Rebekah. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
Sofia. S says
I don’t leave comments but this recipe was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed a lot. Thank you so much for sharing. I won’t change a thing, definitely a keeper
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Sofia. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
amy M crane says
All I can say is omg!!! I changed to a plant based diet a little over a month ago. I have not liked eggplant for my whole life but decided to give it a shot because I need try and learn to like more veggies and fruit. This was the best recipe I have made since the switch!! I could eat it everyday!! I cant believe I have waited until now to try eggplant parmesan!! It was so flavorful and crispy!! So much better then chicken parmesan ever was!!! I used nutritional yeast in the bread crumbs and topped the whole dish with vegan parmesan. Thank you do much for sharing the recipe!!!
Thanks so much for the sweet note and lovely review, Amy! We are so glad you enjoyed it! xo
Kelly R. says
Five stars is not enough for this tasty dish! I would like to give it 100 stars. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly and these babies turned out perfectly–crispy and delicious! Maybe a little labor intensive, but it was well worth it for the end result. I did have to use more olive oil during the frying pan portion because I felt like the eggplant sucked it up. I served them with a spicy red pepper jarred marinara which actually gave the dish some nice spice and some angel hair pasta. I even brought some for lunch today and I don’t care if it’s a little soggy. I could honestly eat this once a week.
So glad you enjoyed it, Kelly! Thanks for the lovely review!
Eryn says
Oh, man. I took a risk on this one. I’ve only had eggplant once before, and it was only okay. But my husband thought it sounded good for dinner, so I went for it. And this was MINDBLOWINGLY good. I made pasta and served it with a jar of Rao’s marinara, but I didn’t even want the pasta. I just wanted to keep eating the eggplant. Amazing recipe! Also the vegan Parmesan is so satisfying.
So glad you and your husband enjoyed it, Eryn! Thanks for the lovely review! xo
Katie Raney says
This recipe was very tasty however I did find the directions a little jumpy and hard follow. But like I said very tasty
Emily says
I used to love eggplant parm and I’m eager to try this. Do you think it would be ok to skip the frying in oil step and put them into the air fryer or would that impact the texture too much?
Thanks for all the great recipes!
I haven’t tried an air fryer but have heard good things about how they crisp things up! Let us know how it goes!
Lucy Tovar says
My family loooves this recipe! I have 5 kids and they fight over who gets the most and who gets leftovers as a snack the next day. And none of them claimed to like eggplant before this dish. My boyfriend thinks it’s delicious, too. I make the recipe as written, except that I use Follow Your Heart brand vegan parmesan instead of making my own. It turns out beautifully every time. 10 out of 10, would recommend! Thanks for all your recipes, Dana! I’m so glad I found your website when I became vegan, you made all the difference for me :)
Thanks so much for the sweet note and lovely review, Lucy. We are so glad you and your family enjoy this recipe! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
Hayley says
I was skeptical about making this without eggs but was pleasantly surprised! The eggplant turned out tender-soft yet crispy. Saving this one!
Jen says
I was pretty sure I disliked eggplant from past encounters, but I received one in a produce box and thought I’d give it one more shot with this recipe. So good!! My husband went crazy for it too. Definitely a game changer with eggplant :)
I thought browning it in the pan soaked up a lot of oil so I preferred just leaving it in the oven a couple extra minutes though to cut out the fat.
Becky says
I’m super late to actually make and comment on this, but the eggplant was great! Even the non-vegans in the family really liked it. The only change I made was to peel the eggplant (dietary restriction). Rather than serving it traditional Parmesan-style, I made it as a side dish and served it with pesto (the Bestest Oil-Free Pesto from the Isa Does It cookbook) and it was a really nice combination.
Cat says
This was delicious. I altered the recipe a little bit, adding fennel to the panko mix and not frying the pieces. Instead, I turned up the heat to 435 degrees and baked for the full 30 minutes.
Kelly says
I asked my husband (non-vegan) what his favorite thing that I make is, and he named this recipe! I follow the recipe exactly. I use vegan Parmesan when I have it, but nutritional yeast works well too when I am out of parm. Maybe I’m just lazy, but I feel like this recipe is a little bit of a labor of love compared to the other recipes I make from MB! Totally worth it though! Thank you Dana!
Will and Mim says
Hi Guys Will and Mim here
Made this recipe for dinner tonight (in bed now) really hit the spot we were:
Satisfied
Inspired
Connected
And the eggplant was:
Super crispy and Soft
Delicious
WOW
Thanks for ya amazing recipe “Minimalist Baker”
:) ‘,;-*
Madison says
So. I tried this a few different ways because I was curious & had waaay too much time on my hands.
1) I made some by following the exact recipe & it turned out AMAZING! it reheated just fine in my air fryer, and i imagine it would reheat just as well in a toaster oven!
2) I made a few by just spraying them with oil and putting them back in the oven. These reheated well also.
3) I made the last few solely in my air fryer, which is a great option for people trying not to use oil! Good reheated.
I’m a firm believer that most things taste better fried in oil, and this goes for this recipe. Every other version I tried worked just as well though & turned out even more crispy than in the oil (but i may have just used too much oil in the pan). Hopefully this helps someone!
Deynis says
I made this to the t and it is seriously delicious. Will be a new one in my rotation.
Whoop!
Tina says
Your so awesome, I absolutely love love your recipes!! Thank you!! ?
xoxo!
Paulette Adler says
This was absolutely amazing! An 11 on a scale of 1 – 10! Crunchy just as you said. Perfect consistency. I scrimped a little and used Rao’s arribiatta sauce. My husband said it was the best eggplant he has ever had! Thank you so much. I love all your recipes and belive it or not I have made Three from your site this week alone.
Thanks Paulette- so kind! We are so glad you both enjoyed it.
Poppy says
I usually avoid making eggplant Parmesan because it never taste like the restraunts. This recipe right here is superb. The only thing I did was add more oil to my frying pan other than that I followed the instructions. Again excellent recipe.
Lynn says
I made this tonight. This dish was delicious.
Holly says
I just found you after becoming vegan full-time, and I couldn’t be happier. I immediately bought your book, which is pure joy. I was a chef in my past life, so I know how much work goes into what you do—thank you so much!
Eggplant is one pf my favorites, and I can’t wait to make this for dinner tonight. I’ve tackled non-vegan eggplant parm and eggplant and feta pizza, and if I can master the vegan versions, I will be in in heaven.
One quick note about breaded and fried foods not reheating well. I have amazing success with my air fryer in this regard. I just pop whatever leftover in there (I no longer fear wasting my to-go box) and put it on a very low setting. On mine, it’s the ‘shrimp’ setting which is 7 or 8 minutes long. I just keep an eye on it until it’s crispy and golden!
Thanks again and I wish you continued success and a great 2019!
Kyra Coyle says
I was scared to make eggplant parm. From what I’ve heard, the process is long and dreadful. After making this recipe, I can honestly say this was easier than easy. Even taking the eggplant out of the oven to crisp up on the skillet was fun and satisfying. I will be making this at least once a week and definitely Christmas. You say that is does not reheat well, but here I am eating it the next day and its still just as delicious. Thank you for creating delicious, simple recipes. You have made me love cooking!
Jill Z says
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now. So delicious! Love the crispiness to the eggplant and overall doesn’t take too long for a great dinner!
Yay!
Meribeth says
I made this recipe tonight and it was AMAZING!! We served it over POW! lentil pasta and an organic marinara sauce. For the “crisping” portion of the eggplant I did use more than 2tbsp of EVOO; I used enough to generously cover the bottom of my cast iron skillet but drained on paper towels to get the excess oil off before putting back in the oven. It was so good!!
Thanks, Meribeth!
Amanda says
Made this tonight and I must say this is AMAZING!! A little work but definitely worth it!! Eggplant is intimidating and with your step by step method, it made it foolproof!!
Bethany says
This was amazing! When originally reading the recipe, the step of saute-ing the eggplant in the middle of baking seemed like it would be a lot of fooling, but the extra crispiness really was worth it! Made it for a mixed group of meat-eaters and vegans and everybody liked it!
Mary J. Mosley, MD says
I made this this evening with Rao Roasted Garlic sauce. Browned eggplant slices in skillet, then baked in oven, then layered slices in a baking dish with vegan mozzarella and above mentioned sauce.
Oh my goodness! So delish!!! Thank you so much for you amazing recipes. You make Vegan living manageable!!
anne davis says
Almond milk? That’s not listed in the ingredients. How much almond milk?
Yes it is! 1/2 cup should do :)
Jessica says
I am planning on making this tonight, but I would like to freeze some single layered on a cookie sheet as as soon as I am done breading the eggplant. So I hope it works… Also, has anyone used carton coconut milk with the cornstarch?? I’m more worried about the flavor being compromised.
Ericka says
My family of meateaters LOVED this recipe! Thank you! I never liked eggplant this much. Crispiness was perfect!
Woot woot!
Mitch J says
Great recipe. Got the texture and crispiness I was looking for (note: I used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer in the almond milk mixture). So gooooood. Thanks.
Gaston says
Incredible! Tried the Nutritional Yeast option and it was so tasty. Thank you for a great vegan recipe!
Angie says
Thank you for an awesome recipe. I had no cornstarch, so I subbed almond flour. Did not measure, just gradually added to thicken but not thicken too much. Like suggested in another comment, I used a cooling metal rack to lift when baking. And I had forgotten the salt part before first rest, but did it, and rested again and rinsed. I had read the warning to do to avoid bitterness. Might have browned more by airing more. I have never eaten egg plant. It turned out golden brown, but I was still a bit afraid to try. Once I took a bite, I quickly ate it all. Wonderful texture, it was very much like the flavor I remember. All about the spices. I used a garlic, basil pasta sauce which I think helped. The egg plant had no aftertaste, and really surprised me.
The only thing was it made over 10 pieces. I ate only 2 and was full. You had mentioned it does not reheat well. So after letting it completely cool off I packaged and put in the fridge. Will take out and bake each serving, maybe use four to make a mini layered pasta casserole. Hubby would not even try it, and i am stuck eating the rest. So maybe suggestion would be to look for recipies that call for eggplant that saves and do this along with another the first night. Saving the reheatable one for tomorrow’s lunch. Not sure if even possible. Definitely worth trying. No longer intimidated by cooking or eating eggplant. Thank you for sharing.?
Toube says
Eggplant parm has always been my favorite dish, pre and post-vegan days. I made this last night (followed it to the letter) for a friend who never had eggplant in any form and it was PERFECTION! The best eggplant parm I have tried, and my friend said it was the best thing she EVER had. Thank you so much! Mangiare!
Yay!
Stephanie Baker says
I made this dish with some cook liberties, overall, I think the recipe was amazing…but I would suggest updating the tip to sprinkle “generously” with sea salt, to just sprinkle. I usually do not cook with salt at all (possibly why I am a little more sensitive) I sprinkled with Sea salt and just thought even after washing it off and letting it dry it was a little salty. Other than that, thanks for sharing the tip as Eggplant is often bitter and I never knew the trick. I am thinking that I will use, slightly less than a sprinkle and I am sure it would be fine. My egglplant was devine!
Crystal says
Delicious !! This is my first time making a dish with eggplant. The vegan bake is awesome I’m lactose intolerant so I skipped on the cheese, however; the dish came out wonderfully cooked .
Maria says
I’ve made this, but I didn’t bother salting the eggplant. I’ve read several articles online that say as long as the eggplant is young and firm salting is not necessary. So I skipped that part and the eggplant turned out great!
For the eggless dip, I’m wondering if you could replace the water/cornstarch mix with an aquafaba/cornstarch mix instead? Thanks for yet another great recipe :)
Hi Maria! We haven’t tried, but give it a try! Let us know how it goes!
Eric says
I have an egg allergy and have tried many different ways to bread fried food…this recipe makes the best vegan chicken cutlets that I’ve ever had!! Thanks for the recipe! Five stars for sure! Oh yeah, the eggplant comes out good too.
Ashley says
Made this and it took longer than expected but it was worth it! Mine didn’t brown as well as I would have liked them to in the skillet. I used my cast iron skillet and the extra crumbs were burning faster than it was browning the eggplant. Before I took the eggplant out of the oven I put vegan cheese on top to melt a bit and it was great!
Yes, it is just vegetables!
Dejanee says
Extra crispy. When I was done, I ate some eggplant pieces by themselves fresh out of the oven. Yum. I’m
Andrea says
After being served more awful eggplant dishes at weddings/events than I could count, I was avoiding it completely, but decided to give it a go with this recipe. I’m so glad I did! This was amazing. So crispy and delicious!
Glad you loved it, Andrea!
D’Rae says
Absolutely delicious! It’s a bit of a process but so worth it in the end! Definitely a new favorite! Thank you for sharing !
Regina says
subs: plain cashew milk, hemp seed flour, tapioca flour for cornstarch, spaghetti squash- only because it’s what I had on hand. Normally try to cook without oil but did use olive oil. Followed your suggestion of oven frying & pan frying. Grew up only pan frying eggplant for parm. This was a game changer. Added oven crumbs to the squash. So delicious! Omni husband went back for seconds :D ! Definitely a new favorite. Thank you for sharing. 10 stars **********
Susan says
Took us probably 2.5 hours to make but was so totally worth it. Turned out amazing! We made cashew mozzarella and basil pesto to blob into the parm rounds before they went into the oven for the last few minutes. Served it with spaghetti marinara. A++
Rachel says
This recipe is AMAZING. We went vegan about a month ago, so I’m new to all of this. My husband said this is the best thing I’ve made EVER. Thank you SO much for sharing your recipes! :)
Lori Hayles says
I broiled it at the end instead of switching back and forth to the frying pan and reduced some more steps! Also I put a cooling rack over a cookie sheet and it made it crispier and I didn’t lose as much breading. Love this meal!! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your changes, Lori! Glad you loved the eggplant parm!
MDG says
I am now a fan of eggplant!! Follow the tips to make it just right!! Love! Thank you!
Tarica K. says
I must admit that I was intimidated and skeptical about this recipe, however it turned out to be very delicious. I made a mistake by mixing the flour with the panko and seasoning, yet it was still very good. The eggplant was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I will definitely make this again. Since I was making this for the first time, it took more time to make than I had planned. I am sure it will be quicker now that I know what to do.
Mary whitten says
I love this recipe! Definitely one of my favs
Natmari's Corner says
I’m just playing around with eggplant. Your recipe was a hit! I made a sweet potato tomato sauce to pair with the eggplant. I’m trying different vegetables that I would never have tried before to make. I’m going to try Brussel sprouts next.
Mary whitten says
Turned out Great! Loved it?
Kimberlee says
Absolutely loved this recipe. The combo of pan searing and baking is perfect–our eggplant was super crispy, and the coating was wonderful.
We served it with some quinoa tossed in marinara sauce, and it was a very satisfying dinner.
Marissa says
This was so amazing. I never thought I liked eggplant. We can’t get enough of it. I’m newly vegetarian on my way to vegan and my husband is newly vegan so your recipes have been so helpful and on point. I want to bring the eggplant to my aunt’s for christmas so we have something compliant to eat. Any thought on how it would travel. Or how to reheat. I was thinking of making it the day of just sort of keeping it warm and bringing it over and heating up the sauce. Or do you have an idea?
Thanks again for all your recipes! I tell everyone about this site.
Hi! One day should be ok, but it may not be as fresh!
Corrine says
I found this recipe on a Google search and it did not disappoint. My kids loved it and went back for seconds. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes now ?
Emma says
This was SO delicious!! That extra step of frying each piece of eggplant was definitely the kicker – they turned out so crispy and flavourful. Thanks for sharing Dana!
Harini says
Hi! I plan on making this for my family ASAP, but could I maybe crisp up the panko covered eggplant before they go into the oven? I’ve had not so fun experiences taking things out of the oven and then putting them back in
Hi Harini! The final product may not turn out as crispy, but that should work!
Kalpana says
Delicious ! Tried it and loved it.
Went to the farmers market and there got some really good eggplants . Was wondering if the I could make a nice big batch and freeze them. Do you think reheating and serving would be just as delicious ?
Martha says
I love eggplant and make it often, with different approaches. This recipe is EXCELLENT. Yes, a little more involved than I tend to do, but the results are worth it and I will definitely make this again. The crispness and flavor of the eggplant were perfect.
Veronica says
I have never made eggplant and have to say this was great! Loved it!!
Marissa says
Made this tonight for dinner and WOW!!! So delicious!! Even my “I hate everything considered Vegan” boyfriend loved it and was proven wrong! Definitely a new favorite, thank you!
Bridget says
I absolutely loved this dish! Texture and taste was SO yummy. Thank you :)
Jessica Ogle says
Just finished scarfing down this meal. It was amazing! Best vegan meal I’ve had.
Nicole Norris says
This is one of my absolute favorite recipe’s! In fact.. I use a lot of your recipes and just recently got your cook book for my birthday! yay!
But this one makes my mouth water every time I think of making it. (not a lot of vegan meals make my mouth water… but this one does!!)
Anyway… I have made this quite a few times now. My only dilemma… when I am taking the eggplant out of the oven to fry in a pan and brown… I find that it doesn’t brown up very well unless I use a LOT of oil. Because the panko mix is so dry. It just doesn’t brown with out that oil. and then it soaks the oil right up. Am I the only one who experiences this? Is there something I could be doing differently so I don’t use so much oil in the fry pan? I like to get it really good and crispy on the outside, since the inside is so soft.
Any advise you have would be much appreciated! I’ll be making this for my parents in a few days and thought Id inquire about that part.
Thanks so much!
Tania Gilleat says
I too am having the same problem
Giustina says
I made this a few days ago, I am vegan. Absolutely amazing buttt one this that was a bit over powering, and I’m not sure what I did wrong but the eggplant was very very salty from the salting step. I thoroughly raised the slices. I’m not sure what went wrong but other then that tasty! :) thanks so much❤️
Jane Newton says
I made this with my son’s girlfriend, and it was amazing!!! I only had fat eggplant, as that was the type of eggplant it was, so I cut it in very thin slices, maybe 1/8″. Cassandra doesn’t particularly like eggplant, but she really liked this! I also put some pesto on my noodles. It gave them a little color and kept them from sticking, because I served everything separately and let everyone put the ingredients together on their plate. That way, the eggplant stayed crispy until ready to eat!
Cara says
When do you add the panko on?
Hi! On The eggplant! Check out step 4 and 5!
Abby says
I made this today with lentil pasta. I broiled the eggplant for 3 minutes at the end and it is nice and crispy. Thanks for the recipe!
Megan says
I just made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I made homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs and did lentil pasta with fancy mushrooms with the eggplant. The only thing was the eggplant tasted REALLY salty because of the first step. Any suggestions?
Hi! You could leave the salt out or add less!
Shannon says
Absolutely loved this recipe, I’ve never made this before and it turned out perfectly. I followed the directions and it turned out better than I hoped.
Janis says
Dana-
This is such a delicious dish! Thank you so much for sharing! We recently went vegan for a month to try to help my migraines, and although it didn’t help, we found some great recipes, many of them here on your blog, but this by far is our very favorite, and it’s in our regular dinner rotation now. The kids wolf it down, and so do we. Although we’re back to a more flexitarian diet with occasional meat and dairy now, this recipe is still going to be made often- so happy it won us over on eggplant, which is a vegetable we’d never liked before. Thanks again for sharing it. Yummy, yummy, yummy!
Janis
Tracy says
I noticed your comment and wanted to add- be sure to watch sulfites/sulfates, nitrates, and MSG. I went vegan to help with my migraines and it wasn’t until I but the first few things that I really noticed a difference!
Maureen says
I made this last night. Instead of frying the eggplant I used olive oil instead of the nonstick spray I and it created the crunch without having to fry them. I didn’t have any cornstarch so I just used flour. They came out DELISH! Thanks for the recipe!
Angela says
I made this tonight, and wow!!! Why make any other eggplant “Parmesan” recipe?! My husband and I (plus our four little ones) are doing vegan for a month and we all loved this dinner! Perfecto!
Jessia says
I have made this twice in one week and am in love. My new favourite vegan recipe!!!! Can you use the batter bowls with asparagus or zucchini?? Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
Brandi says
Ohmygahhhhhd, this is AMAZING. I didn’t even want the pasta. I just wanted like 14 eggplant rounds.
(Also cheated and used real Parmesan)
Lindsey says
This recipe is fantastic!
Do follow the tip on salting and toweling off the eggplant. The most important tip is to “par-cook” the eggplant slices after salting and patting dry. This step cooks out more of the water from the eggplant and helps to achieve fantastic results.
I did not have enough panko so I added some ground almond meal to make up the difference of the panko measurement and added 1 TBSP of nutritional yeast to the crumb mixture.
This is the BEST preparation I have seen for eggplant, I cook professionally and am a Sous Chef at a fine dining restaurant. I will adopt this as my go-to recipe for eggplant.
Thank you for experimenting with this Dana!
Kim says
Amazing!! All my kids devoured it! Thank you!!
Peggy says
Try white eggplant, the taste is so light. It’s also easy to grow.
Laura James says
I made this tonight but I skipped the olive oil part, because I’m an oil free vegan and it turned out great, anyway! Still crispy and still tender in the middle. I was quite pleased. So pleased in fact, that I made another dinner that same night for my daughter and her boyfriend who came to visit. Wow! Thank you for this recipe.
Emily says
I’ve made this twice this week! Oh my gosh – it’s so incredibly good!
Emily says
I made this tonight (with a few tweaks to the spices since I’m not a HUGE fan of nutritional yeast so used a lesser amount) and it was delicious! Thank you so much! My kids and eggplant-suspicious husband loved it too!
Brett says
Thank you for this recipe. I made the Vegan Eggplant Parmesan this evening. It came out looking just like the pictures and tasted great. I substituted Italian seasoning (containing basil, oregano, marjoram and thyme) for the oregano, and I used brown rice flour in the first dipping bowl. After dipping all of the eggplant, I had leftovers in the dipping bowls. Rather than discard them, I combined all of the leftover dipping ingredients and squeezed them into a miniature loaf which I baked with the eggplant. This loaf turned into a tasty little biscuit.
Hannah says
Made this tonight and it was amazing. I used to be addicted to the trader joe’s frozen eggplant parmesan but too many ingredients in it for me! This is a new favorite! The browning in the pan really made it extra crispy and delicious.
Kala Ganapathy says
If you are an eggplant fiend, run to make this. If you are not, RUN to make this! The method of pressing the eggplant to further remove residual moisture worked brilliantly well. The final product was beautifully crisp and crunchy. Leftovers made a wickedly good sandwich filling, sauce and all.
Carol says
This is fabulous!!! I ‘ve made it a few times and we really enjoy it. Thank you for sharing. xoxo
Gaby says
This was amazing. We made sandwiches out of it and I added some bocconcini balls. I immediately emailed my friends and attached a link to this recipe. Thanks!
Lauren Beach says
Absolutely splendid! I don’t typically like Italian food, but couldn’t stop eating this! My husband and I ate the whole pan in 2 days. Yum! THANK YOU!
Debbie says
This recipe was AMAZING and easy. My whole family loved it, even my husband who said he doesn’t like eggplant because it is too mushy. I did the step for added crispiness and it turned out great. I will be making this many more times. Thanks!
Kim says
This recipe was the BOMB!! My son and I loved it! I doubled the recipe and used both parmesan cheese and nutritional yeast. Also used flax milk for the milk mixture. It was crispy and delicious!! Will definitely be making again!!
Kristie says
Just made this for dinner tonight (my first recipe with eggplant ever!) and WOW this was delicious. I used egg instead of almond milk and cornstarch, and had to add more olive oil for every fry (I couldn’t get the browning without a full layer of oil in the pan) but overall major success! Thank you for making this so easy to follow :)
rebecca says
Made this last night and it was awesome!! Even my eggplant-dubious partner loved it, and it’s now on the regular list. ;) I will admit that I skipped sweating the eggplant – I have had bad experiences with bitter eggplant in the past, so I always taste a raw slice to check before I start cooking, but I don’t often come across bitter eggplants in Brisbane. Not quite sure what the deal is with that, as I remember getting them as a kid. I also subbed in fresh rosemary for oregano (cuz I didn’t have any), but it turned out brilliantly! Thanks so much for sharing. =)
Cheryl says
Thank you so much for this recipe! Made it tonight and it was awesome. Hubby is not an eggplant fan so I fixed him a chicken breast using the same method and baked them together (we are not vegetarians). Both were great. I will be making this again!
Dawn says
Thank you for the recipe! It would have been delicious if it wasn’t so salty. I’m not sure if I didn’t rinse it well enough or what happened but I had to toss it, boo! Any suggestions are welcomed :).
Melynda says
WOW!! I used the nutritional yeast instead of the vegan parmesan and melted cheese on top towards the end… came out better than I’ve had in any restaurant before. I’m obsessed with eggplant now! I knew I wasn’t going to be able to eat it all at once so I battered all of the eggplant, cooked what I was going to eat then ad then refrigerated the rest; they still came out fresh when cooked! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Christina Nuncio says
Awesome recipe! The eggplant is perfectly crispy on the outside with just the right amount of tenderness inside. Mmmm.:)
My non-vegan grandparents had nothing but compliments.:)
JELISA says
I made this tonight and my husband,who is not an eggplant lover, was completely blown away! It’s delicious! I didn’t have corn starch on hand so I substituted it with 3tsp of flour and it worked really well. Thanks for sharing!
Samantha says
Am making this for the third time tonight because we LOVE it! Also served it at a family gathering and it was devoured. Thank you for giving us so many amazing recipes Dana! You are a blessing to a new vegan. I am having your World’s Easiest Cinnamon rolls for dessert tonight as well, leftover from a couple days ago. Thank you thank you thank you!
Mackenzie Chapman says
I loved this! It was the first meal I ever cooked completely by myself, and my family loved it. Very easy, very delicious!
Kimberly Conover says
Hello! Been a Vegan for over 2 years and LOVE it! Wanted to prepare eggplant for Christmas along with the traditional meal and saw this recipe! I followed the directions and my meal was a BIG HIT! Everyone enjoyed it, even the meat eaters! I used Vegan Parmesan and whole wheat pasta! I made a simple Marinara sauce from scratch and added Baby Portobelloes to it! VERY PLEASED with the dish! In fact I’m preparing it for New Year’s Eve! I really appreciated the eggplant prep tips.
Cheryl says
Ok, i have had eggplant parm fails before but since every one of the recipes I try from this site is a hit with all 3 kids and has made cooking fun again i thought, “heck, why not give it a try!” and now i have another new recipe in the rotation, children that don’t hate eggplant and a full husband. Life is good, thank you yet again!! This is my favourite site :)
Jamie says
Thanks for helping me veganify my traditionally just vegetarian eggplant parm in a last minute Christmas crunch! I finally made the leap to vegan this year and while I’ve been making dairy-free parm for years, just realized last night, oh shoot, the eggs! What ever will I dip my eggplants in? The almond milk/corn starch (and the baking before a quick fry tip) worked perfectly. Hope you had/are having a wonderful holiday. Looking forward to looking around your site for more yummy dishes!
Bekah says
Your vegan cashew parm has changed my life. My family uses a double batch every two weeks.
Did a double batch of the eggplant for the first time tonight. Did some as directed with flour and panko and some using crushed gf cracker crisps. (I accidentally double the cheese and loves the extra flavor.) Ran out of time trying to get everything on the table at the same time for our family of 8, so I skipped the frying. Spritzed with oil and baked until golden. Absolutely amazing and still crispy! I was shocked when the kids asked for seconds!
One extra eggplant in the fridge waiting to be turned into cheese sauce.
Have loved every MB recipe I’ve tried!!
Brittany says
This was fantastic! I even sort of burnt my first batch on the stove, but they were still delicious. And once I adjusted the heat, they turned out perfectly. Your vegan dishes are life savers for my husband and I (recent converts.) I can’t wait to get your cookbook in the mail! Thanks so much!
Lauren says
I tried these tonight and they were way too salty! Should I have rinsed them after sweating them?
Yes! Rinse after sweating. Then pat dry thoroughly.
Lisa says
Ok so I was seriously out paying complete attention when I made this and accidentally baked the naked eggplant and cooked it on the stove…didn’t get crispy, shocker! Then I went back and really read the directions…oops! Baked them again with the coating on it…ROCKSTAR! PS- the naked eggplant was amazing all on its own sans breaking too.
Deborah says
If you peel the eggplant you will lose a lot of the bitterness. I still salt and drain tho, to get rid of excess liquid. And personally I would just fry the slices, no baking too, it’s just easier! Thanks for the recipe I didnt know what to use instead of egg to bread the slices.
Lisa says
This was the most awesome dish Ive made since becoming a gluten free vegan!! It’s one that is definitely in the front of my recipe box now! Thanks so much Dana!! Please add this to your next cookbook! :)
Elizabeth says
I cooked this recipe tonight and was wary of having eggplant (tonight was my first time ever eating it). However, once I took a bite I didn’t want to stop munching on it. A++ Recipe. Thank you for posting it!!
Bruce says
Great recipe for a beginner. I have made it twice. Could use more sauce or spice. .
Carla says
This is the best eggplant parm I have ever had. Seriously.
John says
This dish is spectacular and so delicious. It’s certainly worth the effort, the best eggplant parmesan I’ve ever had! I used plain bread crumbs, otherwise I followed the recipe. I’ll absolutely be making this again and again.
Kate says
Made this tonight and it was so delicious! Even my 10 month old devoured tiny little pieces, and this was his first time trying eggplant. I would agree, it is more involved than most of the meals I prepare, but it’s definitely worth it.
Lora says
I absolutely loved this recipe! I am not an eggplant lover, but this was seriously delicious! My hubby even had 3 servings it was so good! Thank you! Have you tried freezing these to make it even easier for a weeknight dinner? Just curious as I’d love to be able to cook this even quicker during the week. Thanks again!
wanda Haza says
I was just wondering about a serving size, I am journaling with My fitness Pal and not sure what a serving size to put in. One cup or how many ounces to enter. I made the Vegan Parmesan Bake.
Thank you
Tima says
Way too salty.
I followed directions and made sure to rinse all of the salt off of the eggplant but when I tasted the fully cooked product the salt was shocking!
Very disappointing
sarah says
This is so good and I hate eggplant!
sarah (again) says
I’m back again to say that this is still really good, and I still hate eggplant. But also that I reheat this recipe all the time with no problem! I just reheat the eggplant slices in the toaster oven while reheating pasta in the microwave.
Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
Heather Mayfield says
I made the eggplant tonight and it was soooo delicious. Thank you for all your great recipes. This is the best vegan meal I have had since changing my diet two months ago. I’m going to make often!
Maikenzy says
Thank you for this recipe. I made it for my girlfriends last night. Great with a cab, we finished the bottle and extra crispies on the stove (rare for three petite lightweights to even dream of seconds.)
Sonja says
Do you put water in the sink so the colendar has something to rest in? Or do you put the eggplant in the colendar and put the colendar in an empty sink? How does that draw out the bitterness?
Hannah says
My husband and I loved this recipe! I love eggplant Parmesan. It’s one of my favorite foods. I wanted to make this because it’s lighter and vegan! My husband likes eggplant parm, but he gets kind of sick of it after one day (which sucks when there’s a whole dish of it to eat). He LOVED this recipe. He said he preferred this recipe to traditional eggplant parm. I highly recommend it!
Laura says
This is incredible! I love all your recipes, but this one warranted my first comment. SO GOOD. Thank you! You have really helped me in becoming and staying vegan since Jan 1st.
Vegetarian guy says
after reading your recipe my feeling its making is very easy, so i will try it in next Sunday.
Kelsey says
Amazing!!! I have always thought eggplant was too mushy. Not anymore! This was great. Thanks so much.
Erin Hoskinson says
My breading always falls off :( what am I doing wrong?
Hmm, it is tender, but it should stick! Not sure!
Suzanne Zadra says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! This was the best eggplant recipe I have ever used. My husband doesn’t like eggplant and he said he really liked this one and he would eat it again. My teenage daughter who never has had eggplant had three helpings because she loved it so much. No bitterness at all. Wonderful!!!
Leandra says
i was able to successfully reheat this by putting the eggplant back in the skillet with a little olive oil for two minutes on each side and then sticking them in the oven set to broil on a baking sheet with foil for two minutes on each side as well. just as delicious as last night! keep the delicious recipes coming :)
Simonne says
I decided to give eggplant one more chance with your recipe! Couldn’t believe how good it was!!Guess I’ll still be buying it although these came fom my next door neighbors garden. Thanks so much!!Oh and I didn’t have Panko so I threw whole wheat bread crusts in my blender, perfect!
Simonne says
I decided to give eggplant one more chance with your recipe! Couldn’t believe how good it was!!Guess I’ll still be buying it although these came fom my next door neighbors garden. Thanks so much!!
sylwia says
Hi there! I am making this tonight !
I bought an eggplant and wanted to learn how to integrate it in a dish.
You said to add the eggplant to the oven; but then to heat a skillet and fry eggplant in batches.
How long did you have the eggplant in the oven before frying a batch?
Thank you & Namaste.
Alissa says
This was very delicious! Made for dinner tonight. Thank you for the recipe.
Alan Hurt says
Is it possible to brown all the eggplant discs just before putting them in the oven to bake? I’m not sure at what point during the baking process to do this step. Thanks.
Tom Petruno says
This was super good! Thank you for the recipe. I made 2 small amendments. First, I ran out of bread crumbs so used corn tortilla crumbs to make up the difference, maybe about 1/4 cup. Second I added garlic, because I love garlic. Pretty minor changes from what I see others do.
Other than that I followed the recipe exactly and it is fantastic. Eggplant cooked up perfect, crispy outside with a soft melty inside.
We will be making this again for sure.
Sarah H says
THESE WERE DELICIOUS! Thank you for the recipe! After briefly frying, I added the marinara sauce on top with added vegan cheese, then left back into the oven to melt! They turned out great.
Katie Gates says
We used this recipe to make eggplant parmesan sandwiches with kite hill vegan ricotta and marinara, and it was SO GOOD. This eggplant breading technique came out so well. We are going to see if we can simplify it without compromising the results though, because it was a little time consuming and we are lazy. The flour before the almond milk seems important.
Tamlyn says
Just finished making this, it was perfect. So crispy without hiding that unique eggplant flavor. It was hardly any work but tasted amazing. I was worried that it would taste funny because I only had sweetened almond milk, but you couldn’t tell at all.
Page says
Hi Dana!
Thank you so much for this recipe! Even being vegetarian, I love your vegan adaptations and use them when I’m low on ingredients ( which is all the time) or need a lacto/ovo break. This was delicious; I had to use coconut milk instead of almond, and flax seed flour but it turned out fine. My five year old, carnivore bf and I all loved it. You saved dinner!
Thanks so much,
Page
Darcey says
Dana,
I have used many of your fabulous recipes, and have never been disappointed. I recently went to the Olive Garden and ordered this dish (sans cheese), and decided to make it at home.
My girls (11 & 7) didn’t like OG version, but went back for seconds of yours!
Definitely a hit in our household.
Please keep posting. You are an inspiration to all vegan cooks out there.
Thank you so much,
Darcey
Lisa Lewis says
This was a terrific recipe. I make a few substitutions to make the recipe gluten free as well as vegan. I replaced the flour with ground almonds, the bread crumbs with ground flax seed and the noodles with spaghetti squash. It turned out beautifully. I am always looking for good vegan and gluten free recipes and was great. I will definitely do it again.
Larry Hill says
I loved it
Steve MCourt says
I can’t even say how I came across your site,Dana, but whadda blessing! Oh yeah, I had an eggplant, but not a clue as to what to do with it, so I googled & there you were, to the rescue… All I did was follow your instructions and WOW, your Eggplant Parmesan is fantastic !!! I even smiled as I cleaned up after us… I have subscribed & my next step is to download your beautiful cookbook… As I enter my 8th decade, my newest hobby is cooking and I have elected you, Dana, as my guide… BTW, your fantastic photography is worth the cost of the your cookbook….
saniel says
I just ran out of milk, I do have some aquafaba (brine from canned chickpeas ) can i use as a egg substitute? I’ve used it in other recipes. Thanks
Give it a try! Let me know how it goes!
Debora Curtis says
I’ve heard that chia seeds and water makes a good egg substitute for baking, I don’t know about as a batter. Haven’t tried it yet
Cecilie - A Story of Freedom says
This was so good, I have to make it again soon. Perfect texture and flavors and I skipped the whole frying thing and just baked the eggplants in the oven. Thank you for all of your versatile recipes! 5 stars!
Vicky @ Avocdo Pesto says
House sitting in Costa Rica so not having a traditional Thanksgiving this year and instead made oven roasted chicken and served it with this eggplant parmesan! YUM!
Vimilimitex says
I was very excited about trying this recipe, so I’m sorry to give a less-than-glowing review. The eggplant meat came out soggy and greasy—maybe because it wasn’t clear when in the process to fry it—and the skin was tough to cut and impossible to chew. :( Maybe the eggplant? Maybe the cook? Second eggplant recipe that’s been a disappointment this week, so I think I’ll give up on it at this point!
Jennifer Farnsworth says
Absolutely LOVE this recipe. Made it last night for the first time…and I made a double batch. Good thing, as I ate more than one of the eggplants myself. Brought the rest to lunch today and popped them on my George Foreman grill. They “toasted” up very nicely and were perfect as leftovers.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Eggplant Parmesan is one of my all time favorites and where I “fail” as vegan as I’ll order it at a restaurant without the cheese (I know they probably use egg) because I love the taste so much. Now I can successfully make it at home (and maybe faster the 2nd time around) and satisfy my craving. Thanks again!
Yay! SO glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer! thanks for sharing!!
Charissa Gray says
I made this last night and for my first vegan meal preparing myself it turned out FANTASTIC!!, this recipe was very very delicious even my non vegan friends loved it. I made way too much pasta though so today im going to make a vegan alfredo sauce and cook the rest of the leftover eggplant I have. Although I was very nervous cooking with eggplant for the first time it came out perfect. I will definitely be making this again, thank you so much for the recipe!
Alasea says
This was really good! My carnivore brother in law loved it too! Yum!! Making this again!
Sarah says
I made this for lunch today and now I cannot stop thinking about it! I have tried eggplant Parmesan in the past, but didn’t do the salt or pushing the moisture out. Don’t forgot those steps because it helps make the eggplant nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. This recipe is dangerous! I might be making this many time a week!
P.S. the vegan parmesan recipe is amazing! That is the one thing I miss the most after going vegan and that vegan parmesan is sooo good it tastes better than the real thing!
Ah yay! Thanks so much for sharing! So glad you enjoyed it, Sarah. xo
Ashley says
I have made this two times already and I LOVE it!! I think I might start eating it every week! I was so scared to use eggplant and I never had it before but now it’s my favorite!
Tami says
I made this tonight and it was delish! I served it over creamy polenta instead and my family loved it. I have four (vegan) kids and they all liked it. My four year old had seconds. It really turned out well and was a nice way to get the kids to eat and enjoy eggplant. Thanks for the wonderful recipe! I will be making it again for sure.
Shayna says
I was skeptical about anything with eggplant, but this is AMAZING! Super crispy, nice chewy inside, and bonus points for being vegan. Thanks for this!
Natasha says
I made this and loved it! My man had two portions. I did make a few tweaks to make it work with my supplies though. Arrowroot instead of cornstarch, no oil or frying, and I used oats for everything. Made oat milk, blended them for oat flour, and processed them into crumbles. It turned out delish and I think a major part was the coating. I liked it really spiced up; I added fresh basil and other dry Italian spices as well as more nooch! Yum. Thanks for the great recipe!
Sarah says
This was really good! I was looking for an eggplant parmesan recipe without eggs since we were out, and found yours. I had to cook longer at a little lower temp. at my elevation (5,100′) and I cheated and used real parmesan. It was a great way to use an eggplant from our garden. Thanks a bunch!
Sarah says
I am definitely going to try this! I saw the note about getting the coated eggplant in the oven right away so they don’t absorb too much liquid. Why not just coat enough eggplant rounds to fit in the fry pan, then put them in the oven after? This way you won’t have lots of coated eggplants sitting around absorbing all that liquid. If you coat the eggplant in stages then you won’t have to put them in the oven right away and keep taking a few out for frying. I guess this way, you would probably have to wash your hands in-between stages.
Janet says
This recipe is the Bomb! I made it with Japanese eggplant which worked great. Also the vegan Parmesan is awesome!! I have been a vegetarian for many years and a vegan for almost 2 years and stopped using the store bought vegan Parmesan, I don’t typically care for any of the vegan cheeses I just don’t use them. But this recipe will change that I love it , THANK YOU !
Every recipe I have tried of yours is really yummy :)
Angela says
THIS… WAS… SO… GOOD!
Monica says
what about using flax egg to make the coating for the breadcrumb to stick? Instead of the cornstarch/almond milk mixture?
I tried that and it made them soggy :(
Raeyanna says
Thank you so much for this recipe. Until now I have found myself averting my eyes in the produce section every time I pass the taunting eggplants. I could never seem to tame the texture and bitterness in the previous recipes I’ve tried and felt like I was the only vegetarian on the planet that despised eggplant. Enter you amazing eggplant parmesan. Delicious & crispy doesn’t even cover it! I loved loved loved this meal! It was filling without being too heavy and pleased even my four year old picky eater. This recipe will officially be in rotation around here :) Thanks again :)
Kim says
Thank you for this recipe! It was fantastic!!! I used spaghetti squash instead of pasta to lighten it up a bit and it was wonderful. :) Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Great idea! I’ve been meaning to try it that way, too!
Jamie says