This vegan eggplant parm recipe was one of the best dishes I honestly ever made. It was so good, that after I finished the first eggplant, I made a second. It is nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You won’t even know it’s vegan, plus it’s also gluten free and sugar free. This makes for the perfect dinner for just you, a couple, or the whole family! I used an air fryer, which made the process go a lot faster, so that is what I would recommend you do, but you can easily bake or cook this on the stove.
I smothered the eggplant in tomato sauce and then I topped mine with vegan parm that was based on Minimalist Kitchen’s recipe and has only 4 ingredients (cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt).
This recipe takes 45 minutes and the longest part of it is cooking your eggplant and waiting for it to drain water (you need to let it sit for 15 minutes with salt sprinkled on it), which is essential if you want your eggplant to come out crispier. Prep for this is super minimal once the eggplant is done. While you wait for your eggplant to drain water, mix your coating (milk, flax, salt, and pepper) in one bowl and in another mix together the rest of the dry ingredients. Once your eggplant has sat with salt for 15 minutes, you want to pat it dry really well with a cloth or paper towel to try to get all moisture off it . Then dip each piece in the milk mixture followed by the flour and bread mixture coating it all around. Try to use one hand to coat the eggplant in liquid and the other hand to coat the flour mixture. You want to try to avoid getting additional liquid in the flour or it can turn pretty messy!
Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
Cooking & Baking Supplies
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
Eggplant
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3/4 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
- 1 cup dairy free milk
- 1 tsp ground flax
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp pepper
- oil (to cover air fryer base)
Vegan Parmesan
- 3/4 cup cashews
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cut eggplant into ½’’ thick pieces and place on a baking tray that is lined with a paper towel. Sprinkle all the eggplant with salt and place another paper towel on top of the eggplant. We suggest placing another heavy tray on top of the eggplant so that liquid is really squeezed out. Let the eggplant sit for 15 minutes. By doing this you are draining excess water, which will help your eggplant get crispy.
- While the eggplant sits, mix together dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl (almond flour, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, breadcrumbs).
- In a smaller bowl, mix together milk, flax, salt, and pepper.
- In a food processor mix together all vegan parm ingredients until they are finely processed and set aside.
- Remove eggplant from tray and pat dry well.
- Place eggplant in milk mixture, coating both sides well. Then cover the eggplant piece with flour mixture on both sides and place directly onto a paper towel.
- Once you are done coating all eggplant pieces, spray a light oil layer on the base of the air fryer and place the eggplant. Make sure none are touching or stacked. You will probably need to do 2 rounds.
- Cook at 400 degrees for 7 minutes on each side.
- Remove from the air fryer once they are crispy and top with vegan parm, tomato sauce, and fresh basil + ENJOY!
