Baked Eggplant Parmesan (Vegetarian)

Baked Eggplant Parmesan is so delicious and quite filling as well! In this post, I tried breaking down the steps, and hence, the 12 steps. It sounds like a lot, but just take it one by one and it shouldn’t be too hard 😉 And there are lots of pictures included to hopefully make it a little easier. Even though this recipe isn’t difficult, it does take some time. I would give yourself about 3 hours (including the hour to let the eggplant “sweat” any of its bitterness).

You can also change things up a bit. Like you don’t need to add the extra onion and garlic. You could cook some ground beef or ground sausage to add to the marinara sauce if you want it to be a meat dish. I have one kid who doesn’t like cheese sometimes, so I didn’t put Mozzarella on some of the eggplant piles. This child chose to not even try the Eggplant Parmesan, so I ended up eating his cheese-less eggplant and it was still very tasty 🙂

Also, check the ingredients on the Panko bread crumbs. Some have better ingredients than others. For example THESE ingredients vs. THESE ingredients. And THIS one actually looks better than both of those.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan (Vegetarian)

Ingredients (makes about 15 small servings or about 7 larger servings):

2 Italian eggplants, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
salt, as needed
2-3 eggs, lightly beaten with fork (start with 2 eggs, and add another if needed)
8 oz Italian seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
1 (26 oz) jar Tomato Basil Marinara sauce (I used the Trader Joe’s brand)
about 1-2 tsp. light olive oil
2 small yellow onions or 1 medium/large yellow onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 oz) pack of Mozzarella cheese, sliced (ideally, you might want to have the same number of cheese slices as eggplant slices)
about 1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
16 oz Angel Hair Pasta
optional: chopped fresh basil, as a garnish

Instructions:

Sprinkle both sides of each slice of eggplant with some salt. Arrange the slices in layers in a colander over a bowl or pot. Place a heavy bowl or plate on top of the slices to weigh them down. Let sit and sweat for about 1 hour.
Rinse eggplant off well to get the remaining salt off. Pat each slice dry with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. and line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Dip each slice of eggplant first in the eggs, then in the breadcrumbs. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets in a single layer.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, flipping the eggplant slices over after 10 minutes of baking. So bake 10 minutes. Flip them over. Bake 10 more minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy on each side. (Read step #6 for what to do during these 20 minutes).
Heat a pan to medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent. Remove pan from heat.
Remove the eggplant from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F.
Spread about 1 C. of the marinara sauce and a couple spoonfuls of the sauteed onion/garlic onto the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish. Stir the remaining sauteed onion/garlic into the rest of the marinara sauce in the jar. Place a layer of the crispy eggplant slices on top of the marinara sauce (I was able to fit rows of 3 by 5 comfortably, but this will depend on the size of your eggplant slices).
Cover each slice with a spoonful of remaining marinara sauce (from the jar). Top each slice with a slice of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.
Repeat with one more layer of crispy eggplant, marinara sauce, Mozzarella slice and sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. If there is any leftover marinara sauce, you can spoon it around the edges of the eggplant piles. (If there are remaining crispy eggplant slices after you’ve already done the two layers, go ahead and eat them… they’re pretty tasty!)
Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 25 minutes, or until it is hot and cheese is melted. While the Eggplant Parmesan is baking, cook up some pasta according to pasta box instructions. I loved using angel hair pasta with this recipe because it only takes a few minutes to cook and it went so well with the Baked Eggplant Parmesan.
Remove from oven and serve the Baked Eggplant Parmesan over pasta garnished with a sprinkle of chopped fresh basil, with a fresh green salad on the side.