My grandmother's easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan is a delicious vegetarian dinner that only requires 15 minutes of prep! This recipe simplifies the classic Italian dish for a quick-prep, kid-friendly weeknight meal.
How to Make Baked Eggplant Parmesan | 1-Minute Video
Certain recipes just taste like home, and this simple eggplant parmesan is definitely one of those dinners. It's like a warm hug or an instant transport back to my childhood table. When my aunt recently passed along my grandmother's old recipe box (which is a vintage-looking tin!), I spent hours pouring over all of her recipes. One that instantly jumped out at me was the handwritten Baked Eggplant Parmesan on a weathered piece of yellow legal paper. As I mentioned, this is a meal that my own mom served us throughout my youth, and I suppose she received the recipe from her mom.
What is Eggplant Parmesan?
If you've never tried this dish, it's a traditional Italian meal comprised of shallow- or deep-fried slices of eggplant, layered with cheese and tomato sauce, and then baked in the oven. Called parmigiana, parmigiana di melanzane, or melanzane alla parmigiana in Italian, the dish is thought to have originated in the Southern regions of Campania and Sicily. You might be familiar with other variations that include veal or chicken (like my healthy chicken parmesan). Either way, the popular dinner has been adapted over generations, and Americanized by families like ours. This particular quick and easy eggplant parmesan is a meal that busy moms can prepare without too much fuss. Instead of frying the eggplant in a skillet, we let the oven do the work. It's baked -- not fried -- but you don't lose any of that delicious flavor!
Preparing the Eggplant for Simple Eggplant Parmesan
To peel, or not to peel? To salt, or not to salt? Before you get started, let's discuss the best way to prepare the eggplant for this dish. First, when shopping for an eggplant, look for a vegetable with smooth, shiny skin that's uniform in color and heavy for its size. To test for ripeness, lightly press a finger against the skin. If it leaves an imprint, the eggplant is ripe. Smaller eggplants tend to be sweeter, less bitter, and have thinner skin and fewer seeds.
Do you peel eggplant before cooking?
The vegetable's skin is completely edible and tends to soften as it cooks, so in many recipes it's fine to leave the skin on. That said, I recommend peeling the eggplant for eggplant parmesan. As an eggplant grows larger, the skin can become tough and bitter -- a risk that I'm not willing to take here!
How to Cut Eggplant for Eggplant Parmesan
You'll want to slice the vegetable cross-wise into ¾-inch thick rounds. The rounds will vary in diameter since the eggplant is not a uniform cylinder, but try to keep the thickness of each slice uniform so that they cook in the same amount of time.
Do you need to salt eggplant before making Eggplant Parmesan?
Nope, as I said -- we're keeping this recipe quick and easy! Salting the raw eggplant is a helpful tool to achieve smooth and creamy eggplant. If you'd like to do so here, that's totally fine -- it won't hurt. By not salting the vegetable, it retains its shape more and has a slightly firmer texture. That works for me, so I skip the step of salting.
Ingredients for Baked Eggplant Parmesan
- Melted butter: This helps the eggplant brown in the oven and gives it that fried taste -- without actually frying on the stovetop.
- Corn Flakes cereal crumbs: you can crush your own cereal at home or purchase a box of Corn Flakes crumbs. This "secret" ingredient helps to give the eggplant that crispy, flavorful fried taste and texture. While some readers have reported success substituting with panko breadcrumbs, I find that Corn Flakes have a unique sweet-and-savory flavor, as well as a super-crunchy texture, that yields the best results.
- Grated Parmesan cheese: a can of pre-grated Parmesan is a great shortcut, or feel free to grate your own from a wedge if you prefer.
- Salt and pepper: flavor!
- Eggplant: pick a small eggplant for the best flavor
- Egg: helps the breading adhere to the eggplant
- Marinara sauce: a jar of store-bought marinara (such as Rao's brand) works well, or you can make your own using this recipe.
- Mozzarella cheese: use pre-shredded mozzarella for a shortcut, but a sliced ball of fresh mozzarella would also be great!
How to Make Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Since this eggplant parmesan recipe is baked in the oven, you'll just spend about 15 minutes preparing the meal and that's it! No frying pan, no flipping at the stove, and so darn easy! The outside of the eggplant still gets crispy and flavorful before the sauce and cheese is added on top (thanks to a buttered dish), but there's no extra effort on my part.
- Pour melted butter in an 11 x 7-inch dish.
- Prepare egg and Corn Flake breading mixture in separate shallow bowls.
- Peel and slice eggplant.
- Dip each slice in the egg, and then coat with the crumb mixture.
- Arrange breaded eggplant in the buttered dish.
- Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes.
- Flip the eggplant slices, then continue baking for 15 more minutes.
- Add marinara sauce on top, sprinkle with mozzarella, and bake for 3-5 more minutes (until the cheese is melted).
What to Serve with Quick and Easy Eggplant Parmesan
This Italian-inspired dish is best when served with a side of pasta and extra marinara sauce. Don't forget the garlic bread or focaccia, too!
Looking to add some more veggies to the meal? Try a simple green salad with Italian balsamic vinaigrette, sauteed spinach with garlic, Garlic and Parmesan Cauliflower Mash or 2-ingredient Italian sugar snap peas.
Storage
This dish is best when served warm, immediately from the oven. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, but the eggplant will get soggy as it sits. I love to reheat the leftover eggplant in the microwave or in a 350 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes, and then add it to a hoagie roll to make an Eggplant Parmesan sandwich. Delicious!
I do not recommend freezing baked eggplant parmesan, as the high water content in the vegetable yields a mushy, soggy dish when thawed.
Tips for the Best Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
- Look for a small eggplant, which tends to have the sweetest flavor.
- This dish serves 2-3 people as an entrée. You might be able to stretch it to serve 4 people if you're also offering a heartier side dish like pasta. If you're feeding a bigger family, I recommend using 2 eggplants, doubling all of the other ingredients, and baking the eggplant in a 9 x 13-inch dish or on a larger rimmed baking sheet.
- Corn Flakes are the best option for breaded eggplant. You can substitute with panko breadcrumbs, but they are definitely not as crispy and they're lacking the flavor that you get from the crushed cereal.
- Use the best quality, most flavorful marinara sauce. I recommend Rao's brand sauce, which does not include any added sugar. If you prefer to make your own sauce, try this easy marinara recipe.
- Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or basil if you have some on hand!
More Italian Recipes to Try
- 5-Ingredient Pasta Pomodoro Sauce
- Baked Ziti
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Spinach Stuffed Shells
- Beef Ragu
Grandma's Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- ½ cup Corn Flakes cereal crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Dash of pepper
- 1 small eggplant
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 2 ounces (½ cup) shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
- Pour melted butter into a 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Set aside.
- Place egg in a shallow dish. Set aside.
- In a separate shallow dish, combine Corn Flakes crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Peel eggplant and cut into ¾-inch thick slices. Dip each slice in egg and coat with crumb mixture. Place in a single layer in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes; flip the slices over and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Pour marinara sauce over eggplant and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 3 more minutes, or until cheese is just melted.
Video
Notes
- Look for a small eggplant, which tends to have the sweetest flavor.
- This dish serves 2-3 people as an entrée. You might be able to stretch it to serve 4 people if you're also offering a heartier side dish like pasta. If you're feeding a bigger family, I recommend using 2 eggplants, doubling all of the other ingredients, and baking the eggplant in a 9 x 13-inch dish or on a larger rimmed baking sheet.
- Corn Flakes are the best option for breaded eggplant. You can substitute with panko breadcrumbs, but they are definitely not as crispy and they're lacking the flavor that you get from the crushed cereal.
- Use the best quality, most flavorful marinara sauce. I recommend Rao's brand sauce, which does not include any added sugar. If you prefer to make your own sauce, try this easy marinara recipe.
- Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or basil if you have some on hand!
This is the best eggplant parmesan I've had and soooo easy to make. Even my picky eater asked for more. Definitely keeping this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Hooray! I love when a meal is picky-eater-approved! Thanks for your note, Jane!
Are you supposed to sweat the eggplant like in other recipes?!
Hi, Bailey! No, I have never found it necessary to do that for this dish. Hope you enjoy!