Crispy Baked Eggplant Is Oven-fried So No Oily Mess
Recently, I had an eggplant hanging around and I had some leftover spaghetti sauce, so it made sense to make eggplant Parmesan. I didn’t really want to take the time to fry each piece—plus, I really hate the mess that frying makes. I wondered if baked eggplant might be as good as pan fried.
Turns out oven-fried eggplant is absolutely DELICIOUS! It made a fantastic baked eggplant Parmesan. That crispy baked eggplant was so awesome that tonight, I decided to oven-fry another eggplant and stuff it into pitas with hummus and call it dinner.
♥ Related: Spinach & Artichoke Eggplant Rollatini
What’s Oven-frying?
Ok, ok, I know you’re wondering, “What the heck is oven-frying!?!” Basically, by oven-frying, I’m referring to breading a product and then baking it in the oven at a super high heat so that it gets a nice, crispy texture that’s somewhat close to the texture you’d get when frying. I do this a lot with poultry, fish, and veggies—this is the first time I’ve tried it with eggplant.
I think it might actually be the best version of oven-frying I’ve tried. The eggplant was super crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Aside from eggplant Parmesan, and pita stuffing, this crispy oven-fried eggplant would also be great on homemade pizza, in a sandwich, or just munching on as a snack with marinara sauce on the side. Baked eggplant might just become your favorite snack.
♥ Related: Oven-fried Pork Schnitzel
This recipe takes a little time due to the important salting stage, but isn’t particularly difficult. I recommend making a really large batch and freezing the leftovers. Freeze leftover baked eggplant slices on a sheet pan in a single layer. Once frozen, store in a gallon sized freezer bag. When you’re looking for a crispy snack, bake frozen eggplant slices in a very hot oven (at least 400 degrees) until crispy and hot (about 10 minutes.)
Baked Eggplant Steps
Video: Watch Me Make This Recipe
Crispy Baked Eggplant | Oven-fried, So No Oily Mess
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant cut into ¼ inch rounds
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- kosher salt to season
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Spread the eggplant out over a cookie sheet. Sprinkle liberally with salt and wait 15-20 minutes. The salt will draw out water from the eggplant and you will see water start pooling up on top of the eggplant. After 15-20 minutes, use a paper towel to dry off the water — this will also remove some of the excess salt.
- Set up a breading station — flour, eggs, and bread crumbs. Dip the eggplant into the flour and shake off the excess. You only need a thin layer of flour. Then dip into the egg and then the bread crumbs. Evenly coat the eggplant with breadcrumbs.Place the breaded eggplant slices on a cookie sheet that you thinly coated with oil (or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.)
- Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Flip the eggplant and bake for another 10 minutes. Eggplant should be brown and crispy.
Notes
- Notice I didn’t call for extra salt to season the eggplant or breading. The salting of the eggplant to draw the extra moisture out seasons the eggplant too.
- You can make your own seasoned breadcrumbs by combining a cup of plain bread crumbs with up to 2 tablespoons of your favorite dried herbs.
Things You Might Need For This Recipe:
Cake Pans: I like these inexpensive 8-inch cake pans to set up my standard breading station. They are wide enough for most food and have high sides to help me keep my counter clean during the process. Plus they are multi-taskers because, well. Cake. I own three of these.
Sheet Pans: Most likely you have plenty of cookie sheets, but I swear by these basic aluminum sheet pans. They are inexpensive and lightweight. And I like that they have a fairly high lip so they are useful for baking cookies OR roasting juicier items (no dripping onto your oven floor!) These are very standard professional kitchen items, but also super helpful in the home kitchen.
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Crispy Eggplant Parm was a success! Followed the recipe step by step and it was perfect. I wish had topped with mozzarella cheese, but didn’t have it on hand. I let leftovers cool on a rack to keep them crisp! Thanks Kerry!
Oh. I’m so happy you tried this one and liked it! :alltheheartemojis:
THIS IS THE WORST RECIPE! WHAT THE HECK!
Sorry you didn’t like this recipe, Joseph! But everyone has different tastes. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback about this one (it’s a personal fave as well!) I hope you can find an eggplant recipe that fits your taste. There are many on the internet!
It is not good. Way to salty even though I definitely dried it not once but several times. I doesn’t come close to fried eggplant. Terrible
I somewhat agree – I didn’t like this recipe either and I don’t think it compares well to fried eggplant. Is this baking method less messy? Yes, a bit (but flour is gonna flour, right?). The “taste” is the tradeoff – so people should know it’s a different animal.
The mess you’re missing when making a crispy, baked item is from the oil splatter (and also the smell that is left behind.) Sometimes, you just don’t want to deal with that. But, obviously, everyone has different tastes and there are so many other recipes out there to try!
Hubby (who is not the eggplant lover I am) agreed that this was the best eggplant. We can’t wait to try the buffalo sandwich today with the leftovers
Hooray! I’m so glad you both liked it.
I used an egg replacement and made it vegan. Man it was so good
Oh I’m so happy this worked well with egg replacement and that you liked the recipe! 🙂
I made eggplant parmesan using this method tonight for my husband who doesn’t like eggplant. We both gave it two thumbs up. Yeah!!!
Oh I love this! Thanks for giving it a try and I’m happy your husband liked it!
Great recipe! I didn’t have AP flour and substrates corn starch. Came out perfectly.
I’m so glad you liked this. I want to try corn starch next time!
I just made this and honestly it was the first time me making eggplant and my husband loves it. Thank you.
Oh I’m so glad! Thanks for the rating and comment; it made my day. 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly and they were amazing. We’ve been trying to eat less meat, and I made these for dinner with marinara sauce and fresh mozzarella on top. Thank you for posting it!
I’m so happy you liked this recipe and that you took the time to comment. Thank you so very much! Also a reminder to put this recipe on my own menu plan again very soon. I love them in sandwich form with hummus and veggies!
Is there any way to provide nutritional/caloric information for this? We love this and have made for years!
Hi! I’m so glad you love this recipe. I used MyFitnessPal to estimate this recipe, it’s about 225 calories for 1/4 of this recipe as written.
Adding the salt before hand to draw out excess water from the eggplant was a great experiment to try, when in actuality it made the eggplant too salty for consumption. thought it would be the perfect dinner for my husband for our Anniversary. UnFortunately, the saltiness ruined the dinner for all!!
Hi Allison, I’m so sorry this didn’t work for you, but I know that this is one of my most popular, well-loved recipes. I wonder two things: first, maybe you didn’t dry off the water enough which will also remove a bunch of the excess salt. Or, and this would be my fault, you didn’t use kosher salt. Regular table salt is finer and using a bunch of it would make things saltier than the kosher salt I use. I didn’t specify kosher salt in this recipe and I’ll change that now.
Allison: This is a great recipe! If it’s too salty for you, try not to put too much salt on the eggplant to start with. I watched Kerry’s video and she said just a pinch of salt on each slice.
Here’s how I solved the same problem: After sweating the eggplant, try giving the eggplant a quick rinse with fresh water to get rid of excess salt, then quickly dry the eggplant slices well before proceeding with the recipe. Make sure the eggplant is bone dry before proceeding! I always do this now and my eggplant is never too salty. Just be careful not to flood the eggplant with too much water. You don’t want soggy eggplant. Test this method with just a few slices in a separate pan before you commit to a change. That way you’ll also have a “before and after” comparison.
P.S. I also use Kosher salt. It makes a world of difference.
This is now my go to recipe for making Fried Eggplant. So Damn easy, delicious and wow is it a hit with the folks at social gatherings. I highly recommend and the “Stations” they are a necessary thing. Oh and the salting, you need to do the salting, it makes a world of difference in the crispy results!!!!!
Enjoy your adventures in making these, I can think of all sorts of tasty others spices once can do too, something perhaps close to a curry with a chutney, or maybe some Greek seasoning with someTzatziki…..so many things one can do to “TWIST” up a classic.
Thanks so much! I also love taking these crispy eggplant rounds in lots of directions. It’s a tasty blank canvas recipe! 🙂
Can this eggplant be frozen after?
Hi! Honestly, I’ve never had enough left over to freeze them though I have stored them in the fridge and reheated them. BUT, I think freezing would probably work pretty well. I’d freeze them on a sheet in a single layer and then transfer to a zip top bag for longer storage. The initial freezing should make it so they don’t stick together.
I guess I could use parchment or wax paper between each slice too?
Yes! That should work too! (A little late with this reply, sorry!)
This eggplant recipe was amazing!! I can’t wait to make it again. Next time I’m going to make eggplant parmesan with it. I followed your directions exactly and it was crispy, cooked perfectly and wasn’t too salty. Thank you!!
I’m so glad it worked well for you! Hope your eggplant parm comes out well next time. 🙂