Delicious Baked Eggplant Parmesan with crispy coated eggplant slices smothered in cheese and marinara.
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What does eggplant parmesan taste like?
Eggplant parmesan tastes very similar to regular chicken parmesan. People often wonder what flavor the eggplant itself lends the dish. Eggplant has a very mild flavor, like spaghetti squash. Because it has such a mild flavor, it’s easily used in recipes that have bold flavors. In something like eggplant parmesan, the eggplant flavor itself isn’t even really tasted.
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How thick do you cut eggplant for eggplant parmesan?
Eggplant should be sliced about 1/4 inch thick when making eggplant parmesan. Simply cut off the end and slice into large, 1/4-inch thick circles.
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Do you have to peel eggplant before you cook it?
The peel of an eggplant is completely edible. However, as the eggplant grows bigger and matures, the peel may become tough and bitter. People often prefer to peel larger eggplants because of this, but smaller eggplants do just fine unpeeled. It ends up being a matter of personal preference.
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So far so good. I tried to follow the recipe but ended up needing twice the amount of egg, breadcrumbs and parmesan. Maybe I presed too firmly when apply breadcrumbs/panko? The eggplant was nice and crispy out of the oven and tasted good. I imagine once the whole thing is done it will be delicious. I had a whole basil plant so did slightly more basil than it said too. Since I ran out of fresh parm I used an 4 cheese Italian mix on the top like I do on lasagnas. My main critique would be to either have a light hand when preparing receipe as stated or know you’ll need a little extra breadcrumbs, parmesan and basil. Thanks for the receipe. I’ve never made eggplant parm before!
Can you make this ahead of time?
IF you make this ahead of time, you won’t have the crispy, fried texture. It will soften the exterior and won’t be as desirable. It will still taste delicious though!
Can I cook this the day before and reheat the day I am serving it.
It will lose the crispy, fried texture if it is premade. Fresh is the best with this dish!
This recipe was really delicious. My 91 y/o Mother In Law devoured it even though she told us she didn’t like Eggplant. Fabulous no-meat option that everyone loved. It was easy to put together too – baking the eggplant made it healthier, although I did add a few glugs of olive oil to the eggplant before baking. I used Rao Marinara sauce, which is always delicious. (It also has far less sugar than other leading jar sauces.) I had 2 eggplants, cut 12 1/4” slices and still had leftover eggplant. Thanks for the delicious recipe. You’ve done it again!
Yum!
Crispy. Tasty. Oven baked eggplant is delicious.
I followed the recipe as written. The step of roasting eggplant slices for 20 minutes was a game changer.
Will definitely be making and enjoying this again.
I have made this several times and each time comes out the best! The very yummy eggplant indeed is crispy and not soggy each time. The directions are excellent. I make it more pan filled rather than stacked to use up all the eggplant. So just in case you choose: use a 15×10 pan and fill the entire bottom with eggplant. Using the same amount of eggplant, I put the 3/8 ” eggplant slices between two cookie trays with paper towels and cloth towels, kosher salt and weight it down for 1-2 hours. I use about 1/3 cup more of bread crumb coating, 5 eggs*, and about 4.5 cups sauce plus more for serving. 16 oz mozzarella, 1 c parm and 1 cup of basil. makes more like 12 huge servings. Either way,
it reheats and freezes well. Thank you. I will never go back to frying the eggplant.
I used your recipe and baking sheet pans trick………..Awesome.