This easy no fry eggplant parmesan is the best homemade Italian dinner. Sliced eggplant is breaded and baked till crispy. Then, they are layered with marinara sauce and both mozzarella and parmesan cheeses!
This post was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for content.
One of my husband's favorite dishes is homemade eggplant parm. We started baking the eggplant in the oven instead of frying and it's our new favorite. Not only is it less messy, but breaded baked eggplant stays super crispy.
Serve this crispy no fry eggplant parmesan with tasty sides, like a bowl of spinach fettuccine, minestrone soup or braided pesto bread!
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🍆 Ingredient notes
- Eggplant - Ripe eggplants will have smooth shiny skin that leave an imprint when you lightly press your finger into it. Smaller eggplants will have sweeter flavor and thinner skin.
- Breadcrumbs - Panko breadcrumbs are a Japanese style breadcrumb that are lighter and crispier and work great for this recipe. Regular breadcrumbs can be also be used as an alternative.
- Olive oil - I like using an olive oil sprayer to lightly coat the breaded eggplant before baking. This gives the breadcrumbs a light even coating of oil to help them be extra crispy. If you don't have spray, regular olive oil can be drizzled on them instead.
- Marinara - Either homemade or your favorite store bought marinara will work!
- Cheese - I like using a combination of both mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese for this recipe. The mozzarella cheese adds a creamy taste, while the parmesan adds a nice sharpness.
📋 Substitutions and variations
- Gluten free - Use gluten free breadcrumbs instead of regular panko breadcrumbs.
- Dairy free - Replace the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses with your favorite dairy free cheese. Final cooking times may need to be adjusted depending on the type of cheese.
🔪 Step by step instructions
First, wash and slice your eggplants into ½ - 1" thick rounds. Lay them on a paper towel or cooling rack and generously salt them. Let them sit for an hour to sweat out any extra moisture and bitterness.
After they have sweated, wash them thoroughly to remove any excess salt, then pat them dry.
Get ready to bread them by scrambling the eggs with water and seasoning the breadcrumbs. Dip the eggplant into the egg mixture first, allowing the excess to drip off, then press them in the breadcrumbs so they are evenly coated.
Spray or drizzle the breaded eggplant slices with olive oil and bake at 400˚ for 25-30 minutes till browned and crispy.
Now it's time to layer! Add some of your sauce to the bottom of a baking dish and top with half of the breaded eggplant slices.
Top with more sauce and half of the cheese. Layer with the remaining eggplant, then sauce and then cheese.
Bake the layered eggplant parm uncovered in a 375˚ oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
If you ever don't recognize a tool or skill that I mention, be sure to look it up in the Glossary of Cooking Terms and Definitions for more information.
⭐ Expert tips
- Cutting the eggplants thinly will produce a more tender eggplant after cooking.
- Don't skip sweating the eggplant slices. It really helps to make the crispiest slices that have both the best flavor and texture for this dish.
- Make sure to wash off the eggplant slices after sweating them with kosher salt otherwise they will be too salty.
- Allow the excess egg to drip off of the eggplant before adding it to the breadcrumbs. This will help to make sure the breading sticks well.
- Use an olive oil sprayer to make the eggplant slices bake up super crispy!
- Sheet pans may need to be rotated on the shelves halfway through baking to ensure all of the slices brown evenly.
💭 Frequently asked questions
The peel on eggplant is completely edible and does not need to be removed before slicing and sweating.
You do not have to sweat the eggplant before breading it, however it does remove excess bitterness and moisture that the eggplant has. If you do not have time to sweat the eggplant, cut the slices thinner and pat dry as best as you can.
⏲️ Make ahead and storage instructions
- Breaded baked eggplant slices will keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Pop them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to crisp them up before layering.
- Breaded baked eggplant slices can also be frozen on a sheet pan and then transferred to a ziptop bag for up to 3 months. Pop them in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp them up before layering.
- No fry eggplant parmesan can be assembled ahead of time and then baked later. I don't like assembling it more than 12-24 hours beforehand because the longer the breaded eggplant sits in the sauce, the soggier it will become.
- To freeze no fry eggplant parmesan, simply assemble the entire dish, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw completely in the refrigerator. Cooking times might be longer, depending on how cold the dish is.
- Baked no fry eggplant parmesan with keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days when stored in an airtight container.
For a quick overview of this recipe, check out my web story for this easy baked eggplant parmesan!
🍅 More Italian recipes
If you loved this recipe for no fry eggplant parmesan, check out these other italian recipes that I know you will love too!
📖 Recipe
No Fry Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants approximately 2 pounds total
- kosher salt for sweating the eggplants
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 Tablespoon italian seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoons water
- olive oil spray or olive oil for drizzling
- 2 ½ cup italian gravy or store bought marinara
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Wash the eggplants and slice into approximately ½" - 1" inch rounds. Lay them on a cooling rack or paper towels and generously salt each side of the eggplant with kosher salt. Allow the eggplant to sit for 1 hour to sweat out any extra bitterness and moisture.
- Once eggplants have had time to sweat, rinse them thoroughly with water to remove any excess salt and then pat them completely dry.
- Preheat the oven to 400° and line two sheet pans with parchment paper or foil.
- Crack both eggs into a shallow dish or bowl with the water and scramble them together with a fork or whisk.
- In a separate shallow dish or bowl, mix together the panko breadcrumbs, italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Working with 1-2 slices at a time, dip the eggplant into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure to allow the excess egg mixture to drip off of the eggplant before transferring to the breadcrumbs. Press breadcrumbs into all sides of the eggplant to make sure they stick properly to form the crust around the entire eggplant slice.
- Place breaded eggplant slices on the prepared sheet pans and spray or drizzle them lightly with olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Sheet pans may need to be rotated on the shelves halfway through baking to ensure all of the slices brown evenly.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, spread approximately ½ cup of the italian gravy over the bottom of the pan. Layer half of the eggplant slices over the top of the sauce. Then spread 1 cup of the sauce over the eggplant and top with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup of the parmesan cheese. Repeat the second layer with the remaining eggplant slices, sauce, and cheeses.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375° and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes
- Sheet pans may need to be rotated on the shelves halfway through baking to ensure all of the slices brown evenly.
- Make sure to wash off the eggplant slices after sweating them with kosher salt otherwise they will be too salty.
- Allow the excess egg to drip off of the eggplant before adding it to the breadcrumbs. This will help to make sure the breading sticks well.
- Use an olive oil sprayer to make the eggplant slices bake up super crispy!
- Sheet pans may need to be rotated on the shelves halfway through baking to ensure all of the slices brown evenly.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten free - Use gluten free breadcrumbs instead of regular panko breadcrumbs.
- Dairy free - Replace the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses with your favorite dairy free cheese. Final cooking times may need to be adjusted depending on the type of cheese.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
- Breaded baked eggplant slices will keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Pop them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to crisp them up before layering.
- Breaded baked eggplant slices can also be frozen on a sheet pan and then transferred to a ziptop bag for up to 3 months. Pop them in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp them up before layering.
- Eggplant parmesan can be assembled up to 24 hours ahead of time and then baked later.
- To freeze eggplant parmesan, simply assemble the entire dish, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw completely in the refrigerator. Cooking times might be longer, depending on how cold the dish is.
- Cooked eggplant parmesan will keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days when stored in an airtight container.
Holly D
Came out great! Cutting in nice thick slices is they way to go!
I added a bit of olive oil to the bread crumbs (like you would when making buttered breadcrumbs) instead of spraying or drizzling after coated. Worked like a charm to crisp up eggplant. I also flipped them half way through as bottoms crisped up nicely on the bottoms first.
I made little stacks of two pieces with just a spoonful of sauce on layers to keep a nice bit of exposed eggplant to keep it nice and crunchy. Wish I could post a picture! Definitely will be my new method for eggplant parm! So much better than a mushy casserole!!
Amanda
Woohoo! That sounds awesome holly - thanks for trying the recipe 🙂
Lory
EXCELLENT and I didn’t even sweat the eggplant as I ran out of time. Plus I thought I had panko bread crumbs but had Italian regular but it was still delicious! I will do the correct recipe next time but even with my mistakes was a 5 star recipe!
Amanda
I'm so glad you enjoyed it and that it worked out for you! Thanks for trying the recipe Lory!
billie
the eggplant was too salty as a result of using salt to decrease the water content. It is totally unnecessary and now I have to make the whole thing again for company tomorrow.
Amanda
Hi Billie! I'm so sorry you thought it was too salty. I haven't ever had that issue making this before. You do need to make sure you thoroughly wash the eggplant off after letting it sweat with the salt to make sure it doesn't get too salty. You can certainly do it without salting it, I just have found it makes it a bit less bitter and a bit less watery.
Sabrina
Such a hit tonight. I’ll definitely do this one again!
Amanda
Thank you Sabrina, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Jamie
I love my eggplant this way! So delicious!
Amanda
Me too! Thanks Jamie!
Swathi
This no fry eggplant parmesan looks yummy. Eggplant is my favorite.
Amanda
Thank you so much!
Brianna
This eggplant turned out so light and crispy! One of my favorite Italian dishes.
Amanda
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Luca
This looks so delicious that I can't wait to make it tomorrow!
Amanda
Thank you, let me know how it turns out for you!
Jeri
This eggplant parmesan was easy to make, and my whole family loved it! I will definitely be making it again!
Amanda
Thank you Jeri, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Tyanne
Baked and made of eggplant? This is a dream come true!
Amanda
Thank you!
Seanna Borrows
Such a great recipe. I will be making this again and again! So good!
Amanda
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, thank you for trying the recipe!
Emily
I hate frying so this was the recipe for me. So delicious!
Amanda
It sometimes can be a pain, thank you!
Oscar
This eggplant parm recipe was delicious. I made it for a friend's birthday dinner party and it was gone in seconds. Great recipe.
Amanda
Awesome! So happy to hear that, thank you!