Air Fried Eggplant Parmesan
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.
Servings: 4
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