This easy Eggplant Bake is a comforting, flavorful dinner with Italian-inspired flavors and a satisfying texture the whole family will love!
This Eggplant Bake is a delicious way to enjoy Italian-Inspired comfort food, with tender eggplant and rich, savory flavor in every bite. If you love this dish, try Zucchini Lasagna or Baked Eggplant Parmesan for more satisfying, vegetarian friendly dinners.
Why You’ll Love This Bake?
- It’s a delicious vegetarian-friendly dinner that even meat lovers can enjoy.
- It’s a great way to add variety to your weekly dinner rotation without sacrificing comfort or flavor.
Sabrina’s Eggplant Bake Recipe
Anyone can make a baked Italian meal out of pasta, but you’re missing out if you’ve never made an Eggplant Bake. Not only is this version hearty, filling, and delicious, it’s also a vegetarian friendly version of a favorite Italian American dish that is good for you. The easy meal prep and short cook time make this a fun weeknight meal.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants , about 6 to 8 inches long
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 6 cups marinara sauce
- 8 ounces part skim ricotta
- 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley , chopped, plus more for garnish
- 2 cups light mozzarella , shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut ends of eggplants and slice thinly, about ¼ inch thick. Lay slices on a cooling rack and season with salt. Let sit for 20 minutes. Flip, season again, and let sit for another 20 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Sauté garlic for 1 minute, then add onions and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and cook until onions are translucent. Add marinara and cook until warmed through.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, egg and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a 9×13 baking dish, spread a thin layer of marinara sauce, a single layer of eggplant slices, a layer of ricotta mixture, then a layer of mozzarella; repeat layers. Top last layer of eggplant with marinara sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes, then garnish with parsley and serve.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tips
Get out a wire rack and set the eggplant slices out on it. Add salt and let them sit for about 20 minutes, then flip them over and repeat. This is an important step that keeps the eggplant from getting soggy during the baking process. Once the eggplant is has sweated out some of its liquid, dry them with paper towels and put them on a plate for later.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
If you’ve tried all sorts of pastas and noodles for dinner but really want something outside the box to serve, Eggplant Bake is a simple but tasty recipe to try. Eggplant slices are layered with mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan cheeses. Add marinara sauce that’s been seasoned with fresh garlic, onions, and oregano, then it’s all baked until it’s bubbly, gooey, and delicious. If you liked this recipe, you should try some of other unusual Italian dinners, like Italian Antipasto Skewers, Easy Calzones, or Cheesy Tex Mex Pasta.
Serving Ideas
- Side Dish: This bake makes a wonderful main dish, but you could also use it as a side dish. Slice into smaller squares and serve it alongside Baked Chicken Thighs, Crispy Breaded Chicken, or Ribeye Steak.
- Individual Servings: Instead of preparing this bake in layers you can make individual servings of Eggplant Bake by place the slices of Eggplant on a cookie sheet, and topping each one with a scoop of sauce and cheese. Bake until bubbly.
- Potluck: This dish goes beyond the dinner table at home. It will be a big hit at your next potluck. It’s a big crowd pleaser as this is vegetarian, yet a familiar comfort food that everyone wants to dive into.
How to Store
- Serve: Considering all of the cheese in this recipe, you shouldn’t leave the Eggplant Bake out for longer than 2 hours.
- Store: Leftovers will be good in the fridge for about 4 days.
- Freeze: Frozen Eggplant Bake is good for about 2 months.
Frequent Questions
If you aren’t a huge fan of eggplant or just happen to have a lot of zucchini lying around that you are trying to use up, you can slice them up thin and use them instead. The only thing you need to consider is zucchini has a lot more moisture in it and may need to be drained before eating.
Eggplant is a berry (really!), and it is part of the nightshade family. One member of the genus is incredibly lethal, to the point where eating just two berries can kill a person. Potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, and chili peppers are also members of the nightshade family which made people afraid to eat them for a long time (although tobacco is still super toxic, to be fair). The Italians called eggplants “crazy apples,” or “mala insana,” during the renaissance. “Crazy Apple Bake” sounds absolutely delicious.
Variations
- Cheese: You can use a few other varieties of cheese to get a different flavor and texture from your Eggplant Bake. Some great ones to try are gruyere cheese, fontina cheese, or pecorino cheese.
- Spicy: Add some spice to your Eggplant Bake by sprinkling in some cayenne pepper, or crushed red pepper. You can also add a dash or two of your favorite hot sauce to the marinara sauce as you’re preparing it.
- Crunchy Topping: If you like a nice crunchy topping on your baked dishes you can mix some panko breadcrumbs with the Parmesan cheese and use that as your last topping layer before you bake the Eggplant.
- Marinara Sauce: You might want to try this recipe with your favorite Marinara Sauce, however you can also play with the flavors a bit and even try some sauces you haven’t before, like a Vodka Sauce, a pink sauce, or even a meat sauce with ground beef, chicken, or pork.
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