This insanely easy eggplant parmesan recipe features layers of crispy, breaded eggplant slices nestled in marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. I’ve tested this recipe both by frying and baking the eggplant and loved both, so I included detailed instructions for each method in the recipe card!
This Is a Show-stopping Vegetarian Main That Everyone Always Loves
After years of correctly predicting my mom’s order when eating out for Italian, she’s thrown us all for a loop by skipping over her beloved Linguine and Clams and Shrimp Scampi Pasta. She has now declared that eggplant Parmesan is her Italian dish of choice.
Because I’m the best daughter ever, I set out to make her a homemade version that rivals her favorite Olive Garden eggplant Parmesan — to which I say success is mine.
Dipping sliced globe eggplant in flour, then egg, then a mixture of Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese creates a crisp (but not heavy) coating for the eggplant rounds. You can bake or fry your eggplant (I prefer fried but share both methods below) to create luscious layers of creamy eggplant baked in my homemade marinara sauce with melty mozzarella cheese.
Easy to prep with a simple assembly line style, this eggplant Parmesan is an Italian classic you’ll want to make time and time again.
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Kosher salt’s larger crystals are best for salting the eggplant. It won’t dissolve as quickly as regular table salt, which will help draw out more of the excess moisture.
Olive oil imparts a LOT of flavor in this recipe. With that in mind, you want to choose the best extra virgin olive oil you can afford. I prefer olive oils with a clean taste that is clean, fruity, and bright.
A simple homemade sauce is a game-changer. My easy marinara sauce takes little effort and is perfumed with garlic and basil which makes this dish. However, a quality store-bought brand is fine too.
Don’t oversauce the eggplant or the dish could get soggy. Because the breading softens under the sauce, I like to keep some of the eggplant edges exposed to best enjoy the light and crispy coating.
Ingredient Notes
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Eggplant — Choose globe eggplants that are firm with smooth, shiny skin.
- Canned whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes — Use your fingers to crush the tomatoes into the purée. Or, use crushed San Marzano tomatoes if available.
- Garlic cloves — Smash the cloves before adding to the sauce so they easily release their flavorful oils.
- Fresh basil—Whole basil leaves melt into the sauce as it cooks. Save more for serving.
- Italian seasoned breadcrumbs — Choose a high-quality breadcrumb fresh from the store. Or, use panko breadcrumbs or make your own (just make sure they’re finely ground.)
- Grated Parmesan cheese — Always use freshly grated Parmesan cheese (finely ground works best here) and ditch the green canned stuff.
- Mozzarella cheese — Any soft melting white cheese works well. Try provolone or fontina instead.
- Neutral, flavorless oil for frying — I use canola oil or sunflower oil because of their high smoke point. Vegetable oil works too. Olive oil doesn’t have as high a smoke point and will impart more flavor to fried foods.
How to Make Eggplant Parmesan
- Prepare my homemade marinara sauce. Let it bubble away while you prepare the eggplant.
- Slice the eggplant into rounds. In developing this recipe I found the best way to cut eggplant for eggplant Parm is slicing into rounds that are just shy of ½-inch thick. This is important because if the eggplant is cut too thin it won’t hold up in the sauce.
Heidi’s Tip: 24 slices of eggplant will fit a 9×13-inch baking dish. You’re welcome 😉
- Salt the eggplant and place the rounds in even layers divided by paper towels on a sheet pan. This step helps release some water content so the dish isn’t soggy and removes any bitter taste. Wipe the salt from the eggplant and pat dry.
- Dredge the eggplant in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese. I use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs but you can use panko or plain breadcrumbs and season yourself.
Heidi’s Tip: Transfer the coated eggplant to a sheet pan fitted with a drying rack and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes so the breaded surface dries out. This will help the breading adhere to the eggplant as it fries and will make the eggplant Parm crispier.
- Fry the breaded eggplant. This is my preferred method, but I’ve also given instructions on how to bake the eggplant in the recipe card below. The key things to remember when frying eggplant are to work in batches so the temperature of the oil doesn’t drop (which will make the eggplant greasy) and to top up the oil in the skillet whenever it seems low.
- Layer the eggplant Parm. I learned the hard way that you must put a little marinara sauce in the bottom of the pan to prevent the eggplant from sticking. Then, layer half of the fried eggplant in the bottom of the pan, top with more sauce, sprinkle with half of the cheese, and repeat.
- Bake until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbling. You want to cover the baking dish with foil to trap some steam, which will prevent the eggplant from drying out or becoming rubbery.
Love eggplant Parm? Be sure to make my crispy baked chicken Parmesan next! It’s a weeknight-friendly sheet pan dinner that’s ready in about 30 minutes.
If you’ve ran out of ideas for what to make with eggplant, this simple homemade eggplant Parmesan is a vegetarian main dish that even my meat-loving husband begs me to make!
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Easy Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
Ingredients
For the Eggplant Parmesan
- 3 globe eggplants , sliced just shy of ½" thick
- kosher salt
- 4 cups marinara sauce (recipe below) (or storebought marinara)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs , beaten
- 2 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup neutral oil , for frying
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil leaves
For the Marinara Sauce
- 28 ounces canned peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes in puree
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled and smashed
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 sprigs basil
Instructions
- Salt the eggplant. Slice the eggplant in rounds just shy of ½-inch thick. Salt the eggplant and place the rounds in even layers divided by paper towels on a sheet pan. Rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Make the marinara sauce. Pour the tomatoes and purée into a bowl and crush with your hands or the back of a spoon, then set aside. In a cold, large skillet, add the extra-virgin olive oil and garlic cloves, and bring to medium heat. As the garlic begins to sizzle, stir occasionally, and cook until fragrant and golden, about 5 minutes. Monitor the heat so the garlic doesn't cook too quickly or burn. Very carefully stir the tomato paste into the garlic and oil — take care so the oil doesn't splatter and burn you as the paste is added — and cook for 1-2 minutes. Carefully spoon the tomatoes into the pan with the oil and paste and season with salt and pepper. Add the basil sprigs and bring to a boil. Reduce to a bubbling simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add water if the sauce becomes too thick. Stir to mix the oil that rises to the top, then discard the basil sprigs and garlic.
- Bread the eggplant. Pat the eggplant with a paper towel to remove excess moisture and salt. In separate shallow bowls, add the flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese. Working one by one, dip an eggplant round in the flour (shake off the excess), then the egg, then the breadcrumb cheese mixture. Transfer the coated eggplant to a sheet pan fitted with a drying rack. Repeat the dredging with all of the eggplant and allow to sit for about 15 minutes so the breaded surface dries out.
- Cook the eggplant (2 options). I prefer frying the eggplant to make it extra crispy, but baking is a great alternative. To fry: Heat ¼-inch oil to 350°F in a large cast iron skillet or heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high. Working in batches of 5-6 slices, place the eggplant in a single layer in the skillet. Cook the eggplant for 3-4 minutes, then flip and repeat on the other side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined sheet pan and repeat with the remaining eggplant. Add more oil to the skillet as needed.To bake: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place the bread crumb-coated eggplant on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lightly brushed with oil. Spray the top side of the eggplant rounds with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms of the eggplants start to turn golden, flip, then cook for another 15 minutes.
- Layer. Spread 1 cup marinara sauce over the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Layer 12 slices of eggplant, overlapping the slices if needed. Spread 1 cup of the sauce over eggplant (I like to divide that amount between each row, going down the center of the rounds so the edges of the eggplant aren't sauced and stay crisped.) Sprinkle with half of the shredded mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Add another layer of fried eggplant, top with the rest of the sauce, and the rest of the cheese.
- Bake. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 400°F for 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
FAQs
I keep the skin on eggplant for this recipe. You can peel the eggplant exterior in strips if you prefer.
Salting the eggplant removes some water content so it doesn’t soak up as much oil, removes bitterness, and tenderizes the eggplant rounds.
If you don’t have 30 minutes to an hour for the salted eggplant to sit, you can also dry the slices out by microwaving them for 3-4 minutes. Or, submerge in salted water for 20 minutes, rinse, and pat dry.
Cookbook author Mark Bittman prefers frying uncoated eggplant in his minimalist eggplant Parmesan recipe. Doing so infuses the oil into the eggplant slices. I tried his method and agree it’s a delicious way to enjoy the dish if you don’t want to go to the trouble of breading the eggplant.
I don’t recommend baking naked eggplant for eggplant parmesan. The result is too bland and the texture was off.
What to Serve with Eggplant Parmesan
More Vegetarian Italian Main Dishes
We send good emails. Subscribe to FoodieCrush and have each post plus exclusive content only for our subscribers delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest for more FoodieCrush inspiration.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
SCOTT GREEN
What I do for eggplant Parm is very non-traditional, but works out really well, is to use tempura batter and fry the eggplant that way. Very crispy, very tasty.
That’s a cool idea Scott. Thanks for sharing!