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 it — plus, I really hate the mess that frying makes. And, while I do LOVE fried foods, I’m also trying to be more conscious of what I’m shoving into my face.
So, I decided to oven-fry my eggplant — and it came out DELICIOUS! It made for fantastic eggplant parm. And tonight, I decided to oven-fry another eggplant and stuff it into pitas with hummus and call it dinner.
Ok, ok, I know you’re wondering, “What the hell is oven-frying!?!” Basically, by oven-frying, I’m referring to breading a product and then cooking 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. It was super crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Aside from eggplant parm, and pita stuffing, I this eggplant would also be great on homemade pizza or just munching on as a snack.
Crispy, Oven-fried Eggplant
1 eggplant, cut into 1/4” rounds
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup egg beaters (or a few eggs, beaten)
1/2 – 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
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.
I didn’t know what to do with all of that eggplant in the yard. And I LOVE that you didn’t fry it. Thanks for the idea.
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Awesome!! Gotta try this!
Kiki
I need to try this too… Will buy some eggplant at the farmer’s market this week!
This recipe was really good. Next time I’m not so sure I’ll use the salt method, even though it worked, because they were a bit on the salty side. Overall though, this was really good. I’ll be using it again!
Is it as good as frying or is there a remarkable difference.
Maria, nothing is as good as frying, but this comes as close as you can get without a gallon of vegetable oil!
I am really looking forward to trying your oven-fried eggplant this evening. Fried eggplant is a favorite of mine but since I have recently been diagnosed with diabeties, fried foods are OUT! Have you tried dipping the eggplant in cornmeal rather than flour?
Awesome method ntHanks for sharing. Love the egg substitute. If you slice the eggplant thicker than normal there is a great texture and no mush. Well done.
This was a DELICIOUS recipe! I salted to bring out the water in the eggplant- another site suggests salting one side at a time, then rinsing the salt off and squeezing/straining then repeating for the other side. It worked perfectly and was crispy without being too salty! I used panko seasoned with salt/ pepper and Italian seasoning. SO YUMMY! THANKS FOR POSTING!!!
You’re welcome! This is one of the only ways that I actually enjoy eggplant (aside from actually frying it!) You reminded me I should make this again soon.
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