Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant

These tender slices of eggplant, are air-fried to crispy perfection! Our Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant will find a permanent spot on your dinner table!

Recipe Overview

You only need 4 ingredients to make this crispy air fryer eggplant. I just love a good recipe that doesn’t require a lot of fuss!

What You’ll Need

• Eggplant – choose a medium-sized eggplant for this recipe.
• Eggs – Eggs help the seasonings and breadcrumbs stick to your eggplant slices.
• Panko Breadcrumbs – Panko gives the most crunch when it comes to air fryer recipes. Use a gluten-free version if needed.
• Italian Seasoning – This blend of Italian herbs goes so well with eggplant dishes.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you.

How to make this crispy eggplant

1. Salt the sliced eggplant and let it sit for 15 minutes. Flip the eggplant slices and salt again. Let sit again for 15 minutes.
2. In a small bowl beat eggs, and set them 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.
3. Air fry at 380F/193C for 4 minutes.
4. Flip and cook for an additional 4 minutes.

Serving ideas

Enjoy these crispy eggplant slices on their own, dipped in your favorite marinara sauce, or turn them into Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan. It’s up to you! Or maybe some Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant.

Try serving crispy air fryer eggplant with our Air Fryer Sweet and Spicy Chicken or our Air Fryer Turkey.

It also goes really well with any Italian-style pasta dishes. This Deconstructed Lasagna would be delicious with a side of crispy eggplant.

Should I peel the eggplant?

You don’t need to peel the eggplant for this recipe. The skin of the eggplant gives the edges a nice texture that I really like.

However, if your eggplant is very large or the skin seems tough, it’s absolutely fine to remove the skin. Some people might prefer skinless eggplant, and that’s ok! Removing the skin won’t change this recipe at all.

How to pick an eggplant

Here are 3 key tips for when you’re picking an eggplant at the grocery store:

• Choose an eggplant that is medium-sized, about 8 to 10 inches long.
• Your eggplant should have shiny purple skin without many blemishes.
• A good eggplant will feel slightly heavier than it should be. If it feels very light, don’t buy it.

More air fryer veggie picks

We have a few other air fryer eggplant recipes that we love. Try Air Fryer Eggplant, which is a non-breaded, roasted-style eggplant. You may also like to try making Eggplant Parmesan in the air fryer.

Another similar recipe to this one is Air Fryer Fried Green Tomatoes. If you like to bread and then air fry veggies you should make Air Fryer Zucchini Fries as well.