Easy Eggplant Parmesan (30 minutes)

This easy Eggplant Parmesan recipe has no breading, no frying and no pre-salting. It’s unfussy, healthy and simply delicious. Good shortcuts cut the time down to 30 minutes. Make it on the grill or in the oven.

Even though it’s much lower calorie than the typical Italian-American version, it still tastes like rich comfort food with its blend of melty cheese, basil pesto mixed into tomatoes and soft creamy eggplant.

Authentic Italian Eggplant Parmesan actually doesn’t use breading so, like our version, it’s gluten free. It does, however, fry the eggplant in oil.

This recipe, instead, uses a grill to avoid frying and to cut down on cooking time. Grilling the eggplant takes about 6 minutes instead of 20 minutes in the oven. And using the grill instead of the oven to ‘bake’ the eggplant Parmesan also reduces cooking time. I did provide oven instructions in the recipe, though, for those who don’t have a grill.

All in all, in about 30 minutes you can create a yummy vegetarian lunch, dinner or buffet dish. Serve it with some warm crusty bread, over pasta or with a simple salad.

Tips for Easy Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant tips

• Bigger is not better. Choose 2 medium-small or 1 medium-large eggplant for this recipe. Large mature eggplants tend to be more bitter and have more seeds. Look for an eggplant with a green stem that is firm, smooth and not bruised.
• I know some cooks feel they have to pre-salt the eggplant to reduce bitterness, but I find if you buy smaller eggplants, especially in season, bitterness is not a problem.

Tomato Tips

• Choose tomatoes that are firm, glossy and heavy for their size – not too soft and no bruises.
• If you can’t get good tomatoes or they are out of season, buy canned whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano. Canned tomatoes are picked at the height of the season and make a great substitute. For this recipe use one 28-ounce can which will give you about 2 cups drained tomatoes.
• Never refrigerate tomatoes.
• I add a pinch of sugar when sautéing the tomatoes to enhance their flavor.
• And check out what do do with tomatoes for many other recipe ideas.

Calorie Tips

• No breading and frying reduces the calories substantially, but if you want to go even further, just reduce the amount of cheese or use low fat Mozzarella.
• I also spray instead of brushing the eggplant slices with oil. I don’t suggest drizzling oil as the eggplant will soak it up and you’ll end up using much more.

Pesto Tips

• Fresh homemade Pesto is amazing and only takes a few minutes to make. Try our Classic Basil Pesto. Don’t be afraid to use a store-bought pesto though as I often do for this recipe.

Tailor To Your Taste

• When sautéing the tomatoes, try adding olives, capers and/or red chili flakes for heat.
• I like a more rustic version that leaves some chunkiness in the tomatoes. You can puree them or even use a marinara sauce instead (another shortcut!).
• Add extra fresh chopped basil to the tomato layer or additional pesto when assembling the dish for a stronger basil flavor.

How to make easy eggplant parmesan (no breading, no frying)

Shortcuts

• This recipe uses a number of shortcuts – that don’t compromise taste – to cut down on time and effort.
• All shortcut options are noted in the recipe.

Make Ahead

• Make and assemble the Eggplant Parmesan up to a day ahead. Refrigerate it covered.  Grill (or bake) just before serving.

More eggplant recipes

• sweet and tangy grilled eggplant
• not your classic eggplant dip

And check out our 25 Meatless Monday dinner ideas.