Crispy on the outside and super soft on the inside with toppings of marinara sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese. This Air Fryer eggplant parmesan will be a super hit in the family. Serve on the side of whole grain pasta for a perfect wholesome healthy meal.
I love eating eggplant parmesan in the restaurants. And, the only thing I don't like about them is the amount of oil that goes into the breaded crust of eggplants. Did you ever notice it?
I never tried making this Italian dish at home until now. But my recent investment in Air Fryer encouraged me to make a healthy version of breaded eggplants. And after trying a lot of recipes in it such as homemade french fries, crispy zucchini fritters in it to name a few, it was not a total surprise how well this eggplant parmesan came out.
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How to bread eggplant?
This is a three-step process. Start with cutting thick slices of a large eggplant.
Then, in a deep round plate, prepare the bread crumb mixture. You can season and spice it for a delicious crust. In another shallow bowl beat eggs with some flour to make a batter for coating the eggplant slices.
Thinly apply the egg batter on all sides of the eggplant slices. Then put these slices in the breadcrumb mixture and turn around a few times to completely cover them.
Find detailed ingredients list and step-by-step instructions below for making these healthy breaded eggplant parmesan.
How to make eggplant parmesan in the Air Fryer
Using Air Fryer is very simple for any recipe. Preheat the Air Fryer before placing any food. It hardly takes a few minutes. My Philips XL Air Fryer takes only 3 mins to preheat.
In the preheated Air Fryer place breaded eggplant slices. Lightly spray some olive oil to develop a nice golden brown crust. Once the crust is formed and the eggplant is almost cooked spread some marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese on the top of each slice. Cook further until the cheese melts. Or, simply serve crispy breaded eggplant as an appetizer with some marinara sauce as a dip on the side.
You need to cook eggplant in 2-3 batches depending upon the size of the Air Fryer. Our XL size Phillips Air Fryer can cook four larger slices of the eggplant at a time.
This delicious and healthy eggplant parmesan will make you feel proud about your investment in the Air Fryer!
Helpful tips!
- Buy organic eggplant if possible. It tastes much better than regular ones.
- Use whole wheat bread crumbs to make this dish even more healthy.
- To bread the eggplant use fork to hold the eggplant slices. This really makes applying the breadcrumb crust without getting your hands dirty. Insert a fork in the eggplant slice and hold it in one hand. Then using a small clean brush apply a thin layer of egg-flour batter evenly on all sides. Put the battered slice in breadcrumbs and turn it over to coat the breadcrumbs on the other side. Repeat it a few times to apply a nice and even coating.
- Use fresh mozzarella cheese on the marinara sauce for a more fresh taste. You can easily find fresh mozzarella in local grocery stores.
More Air Fryer recipes you will love to try
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📖 Recipe
Easy Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant mine was around 1.25 lb
- ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 3 tablespoon finely grated parmesan cheese
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning mix
- 3 tablespoon whole wheat flour
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water
- olive oil spray
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- ¼ cup grated mozzarella cheese
- fresh parsley or basil to garnish
Instructions
- Cut eggplant into roughly ½" slices. Rub some salt on both sides of the slices and leave it for at least 10-15 mins.
- Meanwhile in a small bowl mix egg with water and flour to prepare the batter.
- In a medium shallow plate combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning blend, and some salt. Mix thoroughly.
- Now apply the batter to each eggplant slice evenly. Dip the battered slices in the breadcrumb mix to coat it evenly on all sides. See the helpful tips section above to do this task perfectly.
- Place breaded eggplant slices on a clean and dry flat plate and spray oil on them. See notes section for details.
- Preheat the Air Fryer to 360F. Then put the eggplant slices on the wire mesh and cook for about 8 min.
- Top the air fried slices with about 1 tablespoon of marinara sauce and lightly spread fresh mozzarella cheese on it. Cook the eggplant for another 1-2 min or until the cheese melts.
- Serve warm on the side of your favorite pasta.
Notes
- Rubbing some salt to eggplant slices ahead makes it leach out the water from the inner cells. This step makes eggplant soft when cooked.
- First, spray oil on the breaded eggplant slices when stored in the plate. Then put the oiled side down on the wire mesh of the Air Fryer. Now spray oil to cover the other side. This way both sides of the eggplant will have an even brown color when cooked.
- I cook the parmesan-crusted eggplants in two batches. Our Phillips XL Air Fryer holds 4 large slices at a time.
- If you prefer meat you will also love this Chicken Parmesan In the Air Fryer.
Linda Mercer says
Followed the recipe as written. Turned out perfect and had enough for 2 meals. Will make again. Thanks for sharing!
Carol McCollum says
Sounds yummy, & healthy!! Do you think nutritional yeast would work instead of the parmesan?
Hi Carol, I never tried nutritional yeast in this recipe. I am not sure that if it would give the same results.
Raffaella says
Great recipes! The only correction I have is that the name is Eggplant Parmigiana (meaning from the Parma region) and not Parmesan. 🙂
LAM says
My husband is on a special diet and eggplant is one of the foods that is good for him. I found this recipe and made it for lunch today. The only thing I did differently is that I used pesto instead of tomato sauce which is not allowed on his diet. The eggplant was crispy on the outside and perfectly done on the inside. It’s a great recipe and simple. Thank you!
Mbecher says
I made your recipe as written. It was excellent. Easy, crispy and skin blended with crispy. Thank you. I am now looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Bonny Costner says
I just made this recipe and it was delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Nancy says
My first air fryer experiment! It turned out perfectly! Great recipe!
Janine says
This recipe was incredible! I actually made a thick meat sauce and piled that on top of the eggplants and it was awesome 🙂
Dip says
Looks Yummy. Tried your AF-zucchini corn fritter recipe, turned out good.Everyone loved it. (got new Air fryer) If possible, you can add nutritional value and calories to food recipes. Thank you for Scrumptious recipes.
Brooke says
I just bought an air fryer and was so excited to make this. It was delicious. Absolutely delicious. Followed the recipe last night except for forgot to add the parmesan cheese. Next time tho. Reheated in in my air fryer tonight then added sauce and cheese and it was just as good as fresh. Loved it. Thanks for the share.
Rachael Rice says
I am interested in trying this recipe, but due to dietary reasons, I don't eat parmesan cheese. Would you say that the parmesan is necessary in the breading? Could I omit that or do you have a suggestion for a replacement for it?
Hi Rachael, You can skip the parmesan cheese in the breading. You can also replace it with coarsely ground almond or walnuts for some nutty taste if you want to. I hope this helps. We would love to know how it turns out without parmesan cheese if you give it a try.
Nikole Sullivan says
The best eggplant parm I have ever had! Fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing. This will be a staple in our house from now on.
Raji Joshi says
The recipe was yummmmmm.... Turned out delicious. Looking forward to more such recipes.
Dawn Sevier says
This was Wonderful! My sister surprised me with an air fryer and I’m going crazy trying recipes. But, so far this is The Bomb!
Norm says
We have an organic garden, made the marinara from scratch and the eggplant picked fresh for the meal.
This is the best recipe I've cooked for the eggplant, Great bonus that it was not cooked it in oil.
Super Awesome Tasting.
Thank you !!
Emah says
This was so delicious and easy to make!! Thanks for sharing!
Stacy says
I'm just curious, why don't you peel your eggplant? I don't know anyone who likes the peel.
Hi Stacy, I never peel eggplants and use it with skin (except roasted ones) in different recipes. That's how I grew up eating eggplants. Also, the skin contains more fibers and adds nutrition to the dish. However, you can peel the eggplant for this recipe if you prefer that way.
Marcelo says
It was delicious!!!!
Thank you so much for the recipe. Will make it many more times.
marisa says
I loved the recipe, I will eat eggplant more. Not to change your recipe but I used egg whites. I am on a low cholesterol diet. Do you have the nutritional values? I just ate them plain no sauce or mozza cheese still they were delish.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Marisa, I am really glad to know that you loved the recipe. And using egg whites is a great idea. I have updated the recipe with nutritional values. Thank you!
february says
I just tried this recipe tonight; my picky husband, loved it!
It’s a hit! I used 2 baking dishes for a larger eggplant.
This recipe was so easy and fast, unlike another recipe that took at least 90 minutes. I will repeat, thanks so much