Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan

Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan is my favorite eggplant recipe that is made by baking breaded eggplant slices on a sheet pan until perfectly golden and then topping them with robust tomato sauce and lots of melty mozzarella cheese.
Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan on a foil-lined baking sheet.
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In the spirit of full disclosure, this recipe is already on my blog.  Kind of.  Back in 2012, I posted a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan that is very similar to this one.  Over the years, I've made eggplant again and again and, over the years, I've adapted the recipe and cooking method just a bit.

The whole idea is the same.  For both recipes, I use a sheet pan to cook the eggplant as opposed to frying it.  I never feel like I am sacrificing the taste by baking instead of frying and the eggplant comes out of the oven with the breading beautifully golden and crisp, just how I like it!

So, what's different?  Well, the seasonings have changed a little.  Not much, but just tweaked a bit.  And now I like to use panko breadcrumbs instead of regular.  (Again, in full disclosure, either would work, I just prefer the panko.)

A piece of eggplant parmesan on a wooden spatula.

Then, there's the way I choose to finish off the eggplant.  You know, all that delish tomato sauce and melty cheese that makes eggplant parmesan eggplant parmesan.  I used to put the sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Read the post and you'll see how enthusiastic I was about that method.

My new method goes the old school route and piles all of the tomato sauce and cheesy goodness on top of the eggplant.  I've discovered that when I go with this 'usual' method some of the cheese falls down onto the hot pan and makes these uber tasty, crispy, irresistible cheese bits.  Those little cheese crisps are now officially my favorite part of eggplant parm.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for almost burnt cheese.

All of that taken into account, plus the fact that the photos on my old post sucked needed updating, I decided it was cool to go ahead with the new and improved eggplant parmesan recipe here on the blog.  Now, the question of the day is, how do you make your eggplant?

Here are a couple more of my favorite eggplant recipes from the archives:







A piece of eggplant parmesan on a wooden spatula.

Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 35 MINUTES
cook time: 35 MINUTES
total time: 1 HOUR, 10 MINUTES
Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan is my favorite eggplant recipe that is made by baking breaded eggplant slices on a sheet pan until perfectly golden and then topping them with robust tomato sauce and lots of melty mozzarella cheese.

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INGREDIENTS

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (25 ounce) jar marinara sauce
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
julienned fresh basil, optional



INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Spread the sliced eggplant in a single layer onto paper towels. Generously salt the eggplant and let it sit for 15 minutes. Flip the eggplant, salt the other side, and let sit for another 15 minutes.  Rince the eggplant with water and pat dry with clean paper towels. (This process will draw out the excess moisture and bitterness from the eggplant.  I have seen some skip this step entirely.)
  2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Combine the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, dried basil, dried oregano, and garlic powder in a shallow dish.  In a separate dish, lightly beat the eggs with the water.
  3. Dip the eggplant slices in the egg and then the breadcrumb mixture, pressing the breadcrumbs onto the eggplant to evenly coat both sides.
  4. Drizzle a foil-lined sheet pan with the olive oil and spread it around to cover the whole pan.  Place the breaded eggplant in a single layer on the baking sheet.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, flip the slices, then bake for an additional 10 minutes on the other side. Spoon sauce onto each slice and top with shredded cheese.  Return to the oven and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.  Top with fresh basil right before serving.


NOTES

Depending on the size of your eggplant, you may need to use more or less egg and/or breadcrumb mixture.

If I have some of my homemade sauce on hand, you know I'm using it instead of jarred!

Author: Becky Tarala

Nutrition data should not be considered a guarantee. Please see our full Nutrition Data Disclosure.


26 comments

  1. Hi - this was featured in a recent post of sheet pan recipes on foodiecrush, this one looks great and different than all of the rest there, don't think any other recipes feature eggplant and I love the serving here, will work great for appetizers in large-ish scale and simple cookware, so thank you for this!

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  2. Just finished making this as our vegetarian night dinner. Very yummy!

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  3. Just made this for dinner tonight and it is now my favorite way to make eggplant! I love eggplant parmesan, but I almost never make it myself because the frying is such an ordeal. This recipe is going into heavy rotation from here on out.

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  4. Great recipe, this sheet pan eggplant is amazing. Thank you for sharing with us and keep up the good work.

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  5. nicely different! Have been looking for appetizers, found a lot of the same stuff, see that this was posted last year and even derived, as you write, from an even earlier post, but haven't seen anything like it, thank you! Love the serving size, the flavors and the mostly healthy but not too healthy recipe!

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  6. I have been buying this every time it appears in my grocery store prepared food section. Now I can make my own! So excited!

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  7. I made this last night and it was amazing! Followed the instructions to a tee. Thanks for the great recipe!

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  8. I baked this for dinner tonight and everyone just loved it. I skip the washing part and used garlic salt instead. I also used marinara sauce in liue of tomatoe sauce. It was delish. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

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  9. This was fabulous and so easy - I loved that you didn't have to fry the eggplant first.

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  10. Can the eggplant be frozen after breading and baking ? Adding the sauce and cheese on reheating?
    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. I was wondering the same thing. I've got some extra eggplant that needs to be used up.

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    2. I have frozen eggplant after I bread and bake them on sheet pans. then I stack them up in zip top freezer bags and grab what i need for recipes. (I call them poker chips) :) enjoy!

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  11. After I received my first Misfits vegetable box with two eggplant, I looked for recipes. This was good and easy and really had very little mess. I put it together last night and we cooked it up tonight for dinner. Even my husband who has bypassed eggplant in the past had a second helping. Thrilled after our busy day.

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  12. I freeze it after the initial baking step and before the sauce/cheese. Reheats great in the oven!

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  13. You really don't need to peel/salt/wash eggplant unless you have an old eggplant. If the one you buy is nice and shiny and fresh, you can skip that first step.

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  14. Love the recipe. I made this. However I had to adjust a few things as I can’t have all the sodium. So if anyone else has a sodium limitation of 1500 a day or less, this is what you do. Skip step l. I make my own Italian bread crumbs by using Whole Foods 365 whole wheat bread crumbs and then add my own herbs to it, like garlic powder, Italian herbs, oregano, thyme, etc. I also use a no salt added marinara sauce which only has about 20mg of salt instead of 300 or more. Both Sprouts and Trader Joe’s have excellent ones. I also use Costco no salt added seasoning in place of any salt. So those were my subs and it really turned out great.

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  15. Whether I'm baking or frying, I refrigerate or freeze anything I've breaded before cooking it. Length of time depends on the amount of food involved. Doing this will insure that the breading will stay put.

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  16. 5 Stars! I prepared this with a chicken parmesan, using the same ingredients and process, and even the eggplant hater cleaned his plate!

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  17. I love this recipe. We were not eggplant lovers, but I have made this recipe many times now and all my family, bigs and littles, love it. I especially love that it tastes just as good the next day, reheated to eat on its own or in a sandwich. One suggestion: I am trying to reduce paper waste in my kitchen. It also works to salt eggplant on a cotton or linen tea towel and dry with another towel. Thanks for the delicious recipe!

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  18. Thanks for this great, easy recipe. I used vegan/flax egg substitute, gluten free bread crumbs, and vegan cheese. Very yummy and meets my diet parameters. Win, win!

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  19. Would suggest needs to bake a little longer…maybe 25 minutes on first side, then 20 on 2nd side. I did just as recipe instructs and eggplant was not tender enough. Thank you!

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  20. This is delicious! I made it WW friendly by using Pam to grease the sheet pan eliminating the oil, and used fat free mozzarella! 7 pts for 3 slices. Yum!

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