Crispy Baked Eggplant

Let’s Make Baked Eggplant

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 fantastic baked eggplant Parm. And 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 hell 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. It was super crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Aside from eggplant Parmesan, and pita stuffing, this baked eggplant would also be great on homemade pizza, in a sandwich, or just munching on as a snack with marinara sauce on the side.

♥ Related: Oven-fried Pork Schnitzel

This recipe takes a little time and effort, but isn’t particularly difficult. I recommend making a really large batch and freezing the leftovers. Freeze leftover 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.)

Video: Watch Me Make This Recipe

Things you might want 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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