I love eggplant parmesan, however, it’s usually fried and very heavy. When you fry eggplant it soaks up a lot of oil and if you’re not using extra virgin olive oil, it can be quite unhealthy for you. Baking the eggplant still allows for a crispy exterior but it comes out much less oily. Deep frying is a process that can get very messy. Baked eggplant parmesan is super easy and requires only one cooking vessel, the trusty ol’ sheet pan.
This is by no means a traditional eggplant parmesan recipe. I didn’t grow up cooking traditional Italian food so I wanted to create a quick and easy version of eggplant parm that anyone can make. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs already have lots of flavor in them so you don’t need to make your own. I’m also using a jarred marinara sauce but if you want to make your own sauce that’s great. These shortcuts will help you throw this dinner together in no time.
The way to get the eggplant crispy like when it’s fried is by baking it on the sheet pan at a higher temperature at first, 425, with a little extra virgin olive oil drizzled on and under it. You bake it for 15 minutes like that and then flip them over so the other side can crisp up as well. Once you return it to the oven, however, you lower the heat to 350 so the eggplant can finish cooking in the middle and the cheese can slowly ooze all over each eggplant stack. As soon as it comes out of the oven, you sprinkle a lot of parmesan cheese onto each stack and add a fresh basil leaf. Adding the basil leaf on at the end gives a nice contrasting green color to the white and red from the cheese and sauce. You can add more than one basil leaf if you like, it definitely can’t hurt!
If you love this baked eggplant parmesan sheet pan recipe then here are some other sheet pan recipes you might want to try.
Sheet Pan Salmon with Asparagus, Lemon, and Dill
Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Peppers and Onions
Sheet Pan Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 3 medium eggplant or 5 small, cut in 1/2 inch wide circles
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- 1/2 jar marinara sauce
- 5-6 tomatoes, cut in thick slices
- 2 balls buffalo mozzarella, cut in half circles (see picture above)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 15 fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Dip the eggplant in egg, then breadcrumb and lay on sheet pan evenly. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove sheet pan and lower heat to 350 F. Flip each eggplant over but don't return to oven yet.
- Spread a little sauce on each eggplant. Put a tomato slice on top of that. Sprinkle a little salt on top of each tomato. Put a half circle of buffalo mozzarella on top of each tomato. Return to oven at 350 F for 15 minutes.
- Once 15 minutes has passed turn the oven to broil on high. Broil for 3 minutes or until cheese is melty and golden brown. Keep a close watch so the cheese doesn't burn.
- Remove sheet pan and sprinkle each eggplant with parmesan and add a basil leaf to the top. Enjoy!
Nutrition
About the Author: George Zikos
Turned out really well! I added a few things that I know are good on chicken parmesan: I salt and peppered every step of the dredging process. 1) coated the eggplant in potato starch (makes it extra crispy and low calorie), then 2) egg and then 3) bread crumbs. Once I put the marinara on the egg plant, I sprinkled a little lemon pepper and salt on top to add some extra flavor.
I also cooked it on an oven safe cooling rack so it wouldn’t get soggy from the water being released from the egg plant.
I’ll definitely make again! It’s a very easy, quick, and healthy recipe!
Amazing flavours and texture! Will make it again and again. Thanks!
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
Wanted to give 5 rating but the button didn’t work.
Delicious! We loved the flavor and I loved the ease of preparation! Well done.
Thanks for making it! Don’t worry about the rating. Thank you for commenting :)
Looks delicious and easy. Thank you!