Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan is one of our favorite recipes for an easy meatless dinner that is still flavorful and filling. In just 30 minutes, this easy air fryer recipe creates crispy “fried” eggplant topped with rich marinara, gooey mozzarella, and fresh basil!
Why You’ll Love This Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
This air fryer eggplant parmesan is so worthy of a spot on your meal plan! Here’s why:
- Comfort Food: Golden and crispy breaded eggplant is covered in marinara sauce, with melted mozzarella cheese and fresh basil all right on top. The best way to end your day!
- Great Texture: The breadcrumbs give the exterior of this eggplant a nice crunch, but the inside is still nice and tender. We honestly find that the eggplant parmesan comes out more crispy in the air fryer than if we had cooked it the traditional way using a frying pan and oil!
- Kid-Friendly: This easy family dinner is kid-approved – it’s actually one of the few vegetable dinner recipes that the kiddos request! Meatless Monday has never looked so good or tasted so fantastic.
Loving this veggie-forward dish? You’ll also love our caprese stuffed air fried avocados, our crockpot broccoli cheese soup, and the cheesiest ravioli lasagna. Enjoy!
What Is the Best Air Fryer to Use?
Air fryers come in a couple of different styles. The first style is a drawer/basket style that slides in the front. The second type looks like a toaster oven and opens with a door, like a mini version of a regular oven.
We have personally tried a few different styles of air fryers and these are our 3 favorites. Depending on your budget and air fryer style preference, you should find one that will work for you below:
- Large Budget Friendly Basket Style: 8 Qt Gourmia Air Fryer
- Best Large Basket Air Fryer: Power XL 10 Qt Air Fryer
- Toaster Oven Style Air Fryer: Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven
What You’ll Need
The ingredients are simple, most of them are staples in your pantry already, but the flavor is spectacular! Let’s get cooking! Scroll down to the recipe card for exact amounts.
- Eggplant: We prefer to use small to medium-sized eggplants over large eggplants, as they tend to be sweeter, less bitter, and have fewer seeds. Also, the eggplant skin should be smooth, shiny, and slightly firm.
- Eggs: To bind the flour, seasonings, and breadcrumbs to the eggplant rounds while they cook.
- All Purpose Flour: Gluten-free flour can also be used here.
- Breadcrumbs: We like to mix Italian seasoned breadcrumbs with panko breadcrumbs.
- Seasonings: Use a combination of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Marinara Sauce: Feel free to use your favorite kind of sauce. We love Raos!
- Mozzarella Cheese: We like to buy the pre-sliced fresh mozzarella, but any fresh mozzarella will do!
- Basil: While optional, some fresh basil on top takes this recipe to the next level and makes all the flavors shine.
Should I Sweat My Eggplant?
Some people like to “sweat” the eggplant to draw out any bitterness or extra water in the vegetable. To sweat your eggplant, you will need to slice it and lightly coat each slice in salt. Water will rise to the top of the eggplant which you will discard.
While testing this recipe, we tried the eggplant prepared both ways and do not taste a difference. Pre-slicing the eggplant and covering it with salt is not necessary! At least, we do not think it is!
How to Make Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
The easiest and fastest way to prepare eggplant parmesan is to make an assembly line. Start with dredging the cut eggplant through the seasoned flour, and then move it into the egg bath, and finally coat it in the seasoned breadcrumbs. It sounds like a lot, but it goes quickly! Check out the recipe card below for the full set of directions.
- Prepare the Eggplant: Rinse and pat dry the eggplant and place it on a cutting board. Slice the eggplant into quarter-inch-thick slices. Try to keep the slices consistent in size so they cook evenly.
- Assemble the Breading Stations: Create your assembly line by gathering 3 medium-sized shallow bowls. Start by placing the whisked eggs in the first bowl. Next, place flour, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and salt in the second bowl and whisk to combine. Then, in the last bowl, whisk together the 2 types of breadcrumbs (both seasoned panko style breadcrumbs and seasoned regular breadcrumbs).
- Coat the Eggplant: Start with coating the eggplant in the flour on both sides. Transfer to the eggs and completely coat. Immediately coat the eggplant with breadcrumbs and set aside. Repeat for all of your slices.
- Air Fry: Place 4-6 coated eggplant slices in the air fryer, depending on how many you can fit while making sure they are not touching. Lightly spray both sides of the eggplant with a 100% olive oil spray. This olive oil step is optional, but will help your eggplant get extra crispy! Cook it on the air fryer setting at 375°F for 8 minutes. Flip the eggplant slices and add some marinara to the top of each eggplant slice.
- Add Mozzarella: Top the marinara with a slice of fresh mozzarella and cook it for 2 more minutes.
- Serve and Enjoy: Remove the eggplant from the air fryer and add fresh basil, if desired. Repeat as necessary until all of the eggplant slices are cooked! Serve immediately.
Tips and Tricks
That’s all there is to it! Well, almost. We still have a couple more tips to share with you on how to make the best air fryer eggplant parm!
- Don’t Crowd the Air Fryer: When you are frying the eggplant in your air fryer, make sure that you do not overlap the eggplant and that it does not touch. This will ensure that your eggplant cooks evenly and gets crispy.
- Extra Crispy Eggplant Slices: If you want your eggplant to be extra crispy, don’t skip the light mist of olive oil onto your coated eggplant before frying.
- Make this Recipe Gluten-Free: You can make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free breadcrumbs and finely ground almond flour.
- Use Good Quality Marinara and Mozzarella: Besides the eggplant, the fresh mozzarella and marinara sauce are the stars of the show. A good quality fresh melty mozzarella and a rich marinara (not too sweet – watch for the added sugar!) will make this dish irresistible!
What to Serve With Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
As you will see in the photos, we like to stack our eggplant parmesan slices on top of each other. Then, we usually serve them on top of, or on the side of, some spaghetti sauce.
However, there are a tons of ways to serve eggplant parmesan! Here are a few other options for side dishes or other ways to serve air fried eggplant:
- As an Appetizer: Skip adding the marinara and cheese and instead serve the crispy breaded eggplant as an appetizer with some marinara sauce on the side to dip it into.
- With an Italian Salad: A crisp and light salad with an Italian vinaigrette pairs perfectly with eggplant.
- As a Sandwich: Add extra cheese and marinara, and serve your eggplant sandwiched between fresh toasted Italian bread.
- With Some Roasted Vegetables: Try something like zucchini, broccoli, etc.
- With Garlic Bread: Don’t forget the warm, toasted garlic bread on the side!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Air fryer eggplant parmesan makes for pretty good leftovers because there was no oil used to fry the eggplant! Thus, it doesn’t get as soggy as traditional fried eggplant parmesan. Here’s how to store and reheat everything properly:
- Store: Keep any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Reheat: To reheat the leftover eggplant parmesan, we simply place it in the air fryer on 375°F for about 3-4 minutes with the marinara and mozzarella still on it.
- Freeze: You can freeze your air fried eggplant slices for up to 1 month in an airtight container. To avoid sogginess, though, fry them without adding the marinara and mozzarella, and then add those later when you go to reheat everything.
More Air Fryer Dinner Recipes
Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 medium sized eggplants, or 1 large eggplant
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup seasoned panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 100 % olive oil spray, optional
- 1 cup marinara
- 6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into pieces
- fresh basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Slice the eggplant into about 1/4” inch round pieces. Try and keep the slices even in width so they cook evenly.
- Gather 3 medium sized shallow bowls. Place whisked eggs in one bowl. Place flour, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt in the second bowl and whisk to combine. In the last bowl, whisk together the two types of breadcrumbs.
- Start with coating the eggplant in the flour on both sides. Transfer the eggplant to the eggs and coat both sides in egg. Immediately coat the eggplant with the breadcrumb mixture and set aside. Repeat until all of the eggplant slices are fully coated.
- Place 4-6 coated eggplant slices in the air fryer, depending on how many you can fit while making sure they are not touching. Lightly spray both sides of the eggplant with olive oil spray. This olive oil step is optional, but will help your eggplant get extra crispy!
- Cook on the air fryer setting at 375°F for 8 minutes. Flip eggplant slices and add 1 tablespoon of marinara to the top of each eggplant slice. Top marinara with a slice of fresh mozzarella and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Remove from air fryer and add fresh basil, if desired. Repeat as necessary until all eggplant slices are cooked! Serve immediately.
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Notes
- Eggplant size. We prefer to use small to medium-sized eggplants over large eggplants, as they tend to be sweeter, less bitter, and have less seeds. Eggplant skin should be smooth, shiny, and slightly firm.
- To store. Keep any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- To reheat. To reheat the leftover eggplant parmesan, we simply place it in the air fryer on 375°F for about 3-4 minutes with the marinara and mozzarella still on it.
- To freeze. You can freeze your air fried eggplant slices for up to 1 month in an airtight container. To avoid sogginess, though, fry them without adding the marinara and mozzarella, and then add those later when you go to reheat everything.
Excellent recipe! I would use a very light coating of seasoned Panko. I used a bolognese sauce— homemade.