A slightly healthier take on a classic dish! The eggplant is air fried rather than shallow fried in oil! It helps give the dish an even more delicious and crispy texture.
Hey guys! I love eggplant! But only when it’s made Italian Style. Give me eggplant parmesan or eggplant rollatini and I’ll happily gobble it up! So of course, I needed to share an eggplant parmesan recipe! I know we have tons of those out there, but mine is a slightly different take since it’s fully made in the air fryer! I know you guys all probably have different sized air fryers so you can make as much as your air fryer can handle! Mine personally fits about 4 slices of eggplant at a time and about 2 completed stacks at a time, so the cooking time may vary accordingly. The best thing about this eggplant parm is that it is the crispiest eggplant parm you’ll ever have, which makes it even tastier than normal!
I did a double dredge on the eggplant to make sure it gets extra crisp in the air fryer, but you can just do a single dredge if you want to avoid using too many bread crumbs! I also like to use fresh mozzarella for this because it melts quickly and nicely, but if you only have shredded, that’s totally fine too! Because this eggplant parm is made entirely in an air fryer, it’s great for single portions too! So you can totally bread the eggplant beforehand and freeze it until you are ready to use!
I used Rao’s Arrabiata sauce for this dish because it’s my absolute favorite brand of sauce and I like a little spicy kick in my food. If you haven’t tried this brand of sauce yet, you need to! Trust me, you’ll never buy another brand again! It’s so flavorful and takes the yumminess of this dish to the next level! But if you don’t have it, never fear, any marinara sauce will work for this! I topped it off with some red chili flakes and fresh basil for that extra finishing flavor and it was absolutely delicious!
For those of you wondering, I have the Philips Premium Digital Airfryer.
This eggplant parmesan is super easy to make and only uses a few simple ingredients! It’s a classic dish with a different take that will give you the same satisfaction without the guilt! I hope you guys will give this a try and enjoy it! Happy eating!
Air Fried Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium eggplant sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 3-4 large eggs
- 2-3 cups breadcrumbs
- 1.5 cups marinara sauce
- 12 thin slices fresh mozzarella
- Salt
Instructions
- Slice your eggplant into slices about 1/4 inch thick. You should be able to get about 12 slices from this. Lay the slices out on a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with salt and let it sit for about 30 minutes to an hour. The salt will help remove the moisture from the eggplant and allow for a crispy finish
- After 30 minutes to an hour, lightly pat down the eggplant slices to remove the excess moisture
- Set up a station for your dredge with one bowl of the eggs, beaten, and another bowl with breadcrumbs
- Take each slice of eggplant and dip it in the egg and then the breadcrumbs until fully covered and then dip it back in the egg and breadcrumbs to create a double dredge. Repeat for each slice and lay on a tray
- Place breaded eggplant in air fryer at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, flipping at the halfway mark
- Once cooked, take a slice of eggplant, layer with sauce followed by a slice of fresh mozzarella, and repeat until you have a stack of 3 eggplant slices layered with sauce and cheese. Place back in air fryer for another 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Repeat process for each stack of eggplant parmesan
- Garnish with fresh basil and red chili flakes and serve!
Notes
- I used a mandolin to achieve thin and even slices
- You can skip the double dredge if you would like, I just wanted a very crispy texture
- I used Rao’s Arrabiata sauce for this
- You can easily double or triple this recipe as needed, just account for the extra cooking time depending on how much your air fryer can fit
- You can also replace the fresh mozzarella with shredded mozzarella as needed
