Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan

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This air fryer eggplant parmesan recipe is great for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Serve with pasta or on a sourdough roll smothered in tomato sauce.

Air fryer eggplant parmesan is a great way to make a meatless meal.
Air fryer eggplant parmesan is a great way to make a meatless meal.

Ingredients

  • Eggplant: The main ingredient for this easy recipe is of course the eggplant! This meat-like vegetable is easy to find, cheap and plentiful in any grocery store. Look for a deeply-hued purple vegetable.
  • Breadcrumbs: Wondering what will give your Parm its signature crunch? Coat the eggplant in breadcrumbs and shake off the excess.
  • Egg: A lightly beaten egg will help the breadcrumbs bind to the eggplant. Use two eggs per eggplant.
  • Flour: While not entirely necessary, a little bit of all-purpose flour will help the egg and breadcrumbs stick to the eggplant. This is a trick for any type of frying that you do.

How to Make an Easy Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan

Making this dish is an easy meal to whip up on the weeknights. It’s best eaten fresh straight from the air fryer.

The first step for this recipe is to prepare the eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan is what got me into buying eggplant! It may look daunting, but it’s as easy as cutting up a carrot.

Trim off the ends of the eggplant and discard. Chop your eggplant into half-inch rounds. Add the eggplant rounds to a colander and sprinkle with salt. This will draw out the bitter juices of the eggplant

Slice off the ends of the eggplant and then slice into 1/2 inch rounds.
Slice off the ends of the eggplant and then slice into 1/2 inch rounds.
Add the rounds to a colander and add 1 tsp of salt to the eggplant. Toss to coat.
Add the rounds to a colander and add 1 tsp of salt to the eggplant. Toss to coat.
After about half an hour, take the rounds out and dab off any extra water.
After about half an hour, take the rounds out and dab off any extra water.

Once the eggplant is prepared, dip each round into flour, then into the egg, and then into the breadcrumbs.

Set out three plates with the egg, flour and breadcrumbs for easy dipping.
Set out three plates with the egg, flour and breadcrumbs for easy dipping.

Once the rounds are fully coated, add them to your air fryer basket and fry for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. After 10 minutes, flip the eggplant and add a heaping tablespoon of tomato sauce and parmesan cheese and broil the rounds for an additional 5 minutes.

After air frying, flip and add sauce and cheese. Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
After air frying, flip and add sauce and cheese. Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Once the cheese is bubbly and melted, remove from the oven and serve as desired.

How to Make Keto Eggplant Parmesan

Turning this recipe into a keto dish is quite simple and only requires one major substitution.

Instead of using panko breadcrumbs, use my recipe for keto breadcrumbs instead.

Usually all-purpose flour is used as a binder for the egg and breadcrumbs, but if you want to make a keto eggplant parmesan, just skip the flour and sub the panko for keto breadcrumbs instead. You won’t even notice the difference!

If you don’t need to go fully keto and want to add back in a little bit of binder, use a bit of all purpose flour before dipping the eggplant into the egg. This will give the egg something to grab onto before dipping the eggplant into the breadcrumbs.

Once your eggplant rounds are fully breaded, they are ready to be air fried. I still am loving my Cuisinart Toaster Oven/Air Fryer for air frying. Set your air fryer to “Air Fry” and fry for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove the rounds and serve as desired!

What to Serve with Eggplant Parm

Deciding what to serve with eggplant parm? The good news is there’s so much to choose from!

It’s a classic Italian dish and what goes better with Italian food than a plate of spaghetti? Serve with extra tomato sauce and al dente pasta.

Another way to serve your eggplant parmigana is on a sandwich. Take your bread of choice- I ususally choose a soft French roll, and lightly toast it. Then take your air fried eggplant and place the eggplant onto it and add the tomato sauce. Top with cheese and place into the broiler open-faced and broiler for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and crispy.

Add extra sauce if desired and close the sandwich. Cut in half and serve.

Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
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Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Sarah Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: Italian, AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes
Calories

100

kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 1 large eggplant (or 2 smaller eggplants)

  • 1 cup 1 Italian breadcrumbs

  • 2 2 egg, lightly beaten

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 flour

  • 1 cup 1 parmesan cheese

  • 1 cup 1 tomato sauce

  • basil, for garnish

Directions

  • Prepare the eggplant. Trim off both ends of the eggplant and then cut into about 1/3 to 1/2 inch slices and add about a tsp. of salt. Coat all pieces with salt and add to a colander. Allow the eggplant to sweat for about 15 minutes.
  • While you are letting the eggplant soak, put out three separate bowls and add the egg to one plate, add the flour to another, and the breadcrumbs to a third.
  • Rinse the excess salt off the eggplant rounds and press out the extra water with paper towels. Now you are ready to dip the rounds into the flour, then into the egg, then into the breadcrumbs.
  • Once the eggplant in fully breaded, add the rounds into the air fryer and air fry at 400 for 10 minutes.
  • Once fully cooked and crisp, remove from the air fryer and serve as desired.

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