Airfryer eggplant parmesan is a classic vegetarian Italian dinner that you can make with less oil and less mess by using your air fryer. Crispy on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside, you’ll love this recipe.
recipe overview
Crispy panko breadcrumbs, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese top slices of eggplant to create this classic Italian dish, and the best part is, you can make eggplant parmesan air fryer friendly!
Traditionally, eggplant parmesan requires frying breaded eggplant slices in hot oil. We don’t need to fry them because we are going to use the crisping power of our air fryer to make the eggplant perfectly crispy without all that oil.
This eggplant recipe will join your rotation of dinner recipes once you see how simple and delicious this is!
For another great Air Fryer Italian dinner, try Air Fryer Spaghetti Meatballs. If you are feeling like plain eggplant you can try our Air Fryer Eggplant or Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant.
ingredients you’ll need
- Spaghetti – Serve spaghetti or your favorite pasta with the eggplant.
- Marinara Sauce – Use whatever brand or style of sauce that you like!
- Eggplant – find a medium-sized eggplant, about 1 pound in weight.
- Eggs – The eggs in this recipe help the breadcrumbs stick to the eggplant.
- Panko Breadcrumbs – Panko is perfect for air fryer recipes because these crumbs are extra crispy.
- Italian Seasoning – This is typically a blend of herbs including basil and oregano.
- Mozzarella Cheese – Perfect for melting on top of your eggplant parmesan.
- Fresh Basil – This is a garnish that adds a wonderful herb-y flavor.
how to make it
- Wash it and slice off the ends of a medium eggplant.
- Slice eggplant into ¼ inch pieces. Place eggplant on a lipped cookie sheet. Salt the eggplant and let it sit for a bit. Flip the eggplant slices over and salt them again. Then let them sit for a bit longer.
- In a small bowl beat eggs and set aside. In another small bowl mix panko and Italian seasoning. Dip each eggplant piece into the egg mixture, followed by the panko mixture to coat.
- Cook the eggplant in the air fryer as directed.
- Gently spoon sauce onto each individual piece of eggplant.
- Place cheese on eggplant pieces. Cook in the air fryer until the cheese is melted.
how to serve
Eggplant Parm is a complete meal all on it’s own. I like to serve mine with gluten free spaghetti.
Your family might like an extra veggie with this meal, and you may be wondering what vegetable goes with eggplant parmesan. I’d suggest Balsamic Air Fryer Mushrooms or Air Fryer Zucchini.
freezing and reheating
Place cooked slices in a zipper bag in the freezer. They will stay fresh for up to six months.
To reheat from frozen, place slices back into the air fryer and cook at 350F for 5 minutes, adding additional minutes if needed.
do you peel the eggplant before cooking?
It is not required that you peel eggplant to make eggplant parmesan, and actually I prefer to leave the skin on.
If you’re using a particularly tough eggplant or if the eggplant skin is damaged, you can peel some of it, but you definitely don’t need to. The skin is generally tender and the texture is lovely in most dishes.
vegan eggplant parmesan
Making this recipe vegan is pretty simple with some substitutions.
Use maple syrup instead of the egg to stick the breadcrumbs to the eggplant.
Omit the cheese altogether, or use a vegan shredded cheese like Daiya.
Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 10 oz Spaghetti Can use gluten free if needed
- 1 Eggplant medium
- 2 Eggs
- 1.5 cups Panko bread crumbs Can use gluten free if needed.
- 1 T Italian Seasoning
- 2 cups Marinara Sauce
- 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- Fresh Basil to garnish
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
- Wash your eggplant and slice off the ends.
- Slice your medium eggplant into 1/4 inch pieces. Place eggplant on a lipped cookie sheet. Salt the eggplant and let it sit for 15 minutes. Flip the eggplant slices and salt again. Let sit again for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, beat eggs, set aside. In another small bowl mix panko bread crumbs and Italian seasoning. Dip each eggplant piece into the egg mixture, followed by the panco mixture to coat. Make sure to coat both sides.
- Cook the eggplant in the air fryer at 380F/193C for 4 minutes. Then flip over each eggplant piece and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
- Gently spoon sauce onto each individual piece of eggplant.
- Place cheese on eggplant pieces. Cook in your air fryer at 380F for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Serve as is or serve over prepared pasta. Garnish with Basil.
Notes
- Dairy-free options are to omit the parmesan or you can use vegan parmesan. For a vegan option, you can use maple syrup instead of eggs!
- Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to prepare this recipe in batches.
- If your eggplant pieces are not becoming golden brown, you can spritz them with spray oil to help them crisp.
- When it comes to gluten-free pasta, I like Jovial gluten free pastas.
- When it comes to gluten-free panko, I like Ian’s brand.
Nutrition Information
I was so excited to try this recipe! I love eggplant parm and I love it even more in the air fryer. This is SO good
What could be tastier than an eggplant and cheese combination? I made it for our lunch today, and it turned out delicious! Many thanks. 🙂
Love Eggplant Parmesan, and love how fast you can make it in the air fryer!
My 20 year old daughter is our air-fryer queen. She’s always looking for delicious recipes to make and we enjoy her “experimenting”. This sounds fabulous!
This recipe is delicious! Perfect for using up my bumper crop of eggplants.
This eggplant parm looks fantastic and very happy that it’s made in the air fryer. Less oil is always good.
What a fantastic eggplant parmesan. It looks absolutely delicious!
Can’t wait to make this again! So delicious, my kids scraped their plates!