This mouthwatering vegan eggplant parmesan recipe is probably the best way of eating eggplants! It’s incredibly flavorful and the extra-cheesy texture makes it the perfect, comfort meal. Give it a try!
Eggplant Parm is one of the most popular Italian recipes that has gained worldwide fame, and for a really good reason! It’s incredibly delicious!
The recipe is vegetarian as it is, but I wanted to make it vegan, with no eggs and dairy, so I used flax eggs and vegan cheese instead. The result was just as good as the traditional eggplant parmesan recipe.
The authentic Melanzzane alla Parmigiana recipe is a simple baked dish made with layered eggplant slices, lots of cheese (Parmesan and sometimes mozzarella too) and tomato sauce. The recipe has Sicilian origins and has many variations with both meat and other vegetables.
Veganizing this recipe was easy. The trick is finding a good brand of vegan cheese that melts. Valsoya or Dayia are ok. For the crispy eggplant slices, flax seeds + water did the trick in successfully replacing eggs.
This easy vegan eggplant parmesan recipe is by far one of my favorite ways of eating eggplant. I am a huge eggplant fan and used it so far in roasted eggplant spreads, eggplant casseroles, stuffed eggplant recipes, and more. I can never have enough of it. But from all the dozens of recipes I’ve tried with this amazing vegetable, this is the BEST.
Hope you’ll love it as much as I did, and if you want to adopt a healthy diet, check out my meal planner. I can help you eat awesome, healthy recipes, every day!
Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant sliced
- ¾ cup flour
- 1 flax egg 1 Tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 4 Tbsp water, rest 10 min; or one whole gg, beaten, for vegetarian version
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp dry Italian seasoning basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup marinara sauce homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup cheese vegan or normal, shredded; use parmesan for vegetarian version;
- 1 tsp oregano
- green onion for topping
Instructions
- Sprinkle the tops and bottoms of each eggplant slice with salt and them cover them on both sides with paper towels.
- Press down the paper towels to remove the excess moisture. Replace the paper towels with new, dry ones and leave the eggplant slices like this for at least 30 minutes, to remove all the moisture and bitterness.
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Prepare three bowls. In one bowl add the flour, in another the breadcrumbs + Italian seasoning and in the third one, the flax egg (or whole egg, beaten)
- Coat the eggplant slices with flour, on both sides.
- Drop each floured eggplant slice into the flax egg bowl (or whole egg) and coat it evenly.
- Now move the eggplant slice into the breadcrumbs and seasoning bowl and cover it evenly.
- Grease a large oven tray with some olive oil.
- Place the eggplant slices on the tray, on a single layer, and bake them for 20 minutes, until golden and crispy.
- In a separate baking pan, like the one in the photos, spread 1/3 of the marinara sauce.
- Add the crispy eggplant slices in a single layer.
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the grated vegan cheese on top and oregano. Add 1/3 of the marinara sauce and spread it evenly.
- Add another layer of eggplant slices,1/3 of the vegan cheese and marinara sauce. Top with the remaining vegan cheese.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake it for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Top with fresh greens and serve.
Nutrition
If you make this, please leave a review and rating if you liked this recipe! ★★★★★
Emily
Friday 11th of May 2018
I love eggplants too! Made this but the dairy version, with some mozzarella on top. It was delicious! Thanks!
Ruxandra
Friday 11th of May 2018
Glad you liked it! :D