There’s no vegetable quite as delicious as eggplant, and if you don’t believe me, you have to try this vegan eggplant moussaka and this Sri Lankan eggplant curry. Vegan eggplant parmesan is yet another amazing dish I love to make with this versatile veggie. Eggplant is truly incredible in this vegan eggplant parmigiana. If you know someone who doesn’t love eggplant, this is the recipe to make them change their mind. One of the things I love about this vegan eggplant parmesan recipe is that it is eminently freezable, so it’s a great meal to make ahead and stash away for another day. My recipe doesn’t veer too far from a traditional Italian eggplant parmigiana but because I wanted to make this more nutritious, I added more veggies and some veggie meat crumbles to the marinara. You can also just make this with my easy, five-ingredient vegan marinara, cut out the veggies and meatless crumbles, and it would be even easier and differently delicious. To keep this really, really healthy, I also don’t fry the eggplant slices–instead I bake them into crispy, golden deliciousness.
How to make the best vegan eggplant parmesan
You need about 1.75 pounds of Italian eggplants for this vegan eggplant parmigiana recipe. The kind you buy will decide how much work you have to do. A bigger eggplant and bigger slices will mean less slicing and dredging, but the skin on these is usually tough and you might want to peel them first. On the other hand, smaller eggplants, which you don’t have to peel, will yield many more slices and since you have to pay individual attention to each, it will mean more time. Eggplant skin has valuable anthocyanins, compounds that have potent disease-fighting capabilities, so keep that in mind when you decide what eggplant to buy and whether to peel or not. You don’t need to fry the eggplant slices for this recipe. Instead, after dredging with flaxmeal and breadcrumbs, you bake them, oil-free, on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat sheet. This keeps the recipe really healthy. The marinara I used in this recipe is a little more dressed-up than my usual marinara, because I wanted to pack in more veggies and the meat crumbles. But like I said above, you can definitely skip the extras and just use the basic marinara. Your recipe will still be extremely healthy. I used two kinds of vegan cheeses in this recipe: one is my own cashew parm, which is really tasty and really healthy. I also used vegan mozzarella. You can skip storebought and go with a cashew sauce like I use in this vegan manicotti recipe. It’s made with beans and will make you recipe even healthier. You can freeze this dish after you assemble it and before you bake. Cover tightly with cling wrap. Bring back to room temperature and bake.
Serving suggestions for vegan eggplant parmesan
This is a complete meal by itself, but a crusty Italian or French bread drizzled with olive oil works great for a side. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
If you really want to dress it up, serve it with a fresh side salad.
Looking for more vegan Italian recipes?
Vegan Manicotti with Spinach and Bean Ricotta Vegan Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna Vegan Alfredo Sauce with Mushrooms Vegan Asparagus Risotto Classic Vegan Lasagna
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