This Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan has a superior crunch exterior, with a soft and tender interior - all without frying. It is exceptionally flavorful, super fast, healthy, and comes together in 30 minutes, from start to finish - Absolutely delicious!
If you love crispy air fryer vegetables, you’ll want to try my air fryer asparagus fries or air fryer green beans recipe next!
I wanted an air fryer eggplant parmesan, where the crispy, crunchy breading soaks up the sweet tomato sauce and is draped under gooey cheese. It's like extra-crispy, bite-sized meatless pizza—like an air fryer naan pizza, but with eggplant!
I tried replacing the chicken in my air fryer chicken parmesan recipe with eggplant slices and it was life changing! The texture and taste was unbelievably good without the hassle of deep frying.
When done right, eggplant can be meaty and substantial, has an amazing ability to compliment and absorb other flavors like in eggplant stir fry.
What's eggplant parmesan? Traditional Sicilian style involves unbreaded slices deep fried in olive oil, and then layered with tomatoes and mozzarella. Unlike this parmigiana di Melanzane, American versions include meaty slabs of thick cut slices, breaded, fried and then layered with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
Like I explain in air fryer dinner recipes, the air fryer is perfect for cooking breaded eggplant slices, because cooking eggplant can be tricky as it absorbs oil quickly or turns mushy if overcooked. Eggplant's spongy texture traps air, but a coating of panko and parmesan acts as an insulator. This prevents overcooking, seals in moisture, and enhances crunch by increasing the surface area.
It is one of those amazing vegetarian dinner recipes that’s so good and comforting for everyone. It oozes with melted mozzarella on top with bright tomato sauce with layers of soft cooked vegetable.
When choosing an eggplant, look for a firm, unblemished, smooth skinned, and with a hefty weight. It should be shiny, not soft, and have a uniform dark purple. I like to stay away from excessively large ones, because they become less flavorful and less dense.
Salt the eggplant? Many eggplant parm recipes suggest sprinkling salt on raw slices to draw out moisture, which tenderizes the flesh and removes bitterness.
However, today’s eggplants are typically bred to have minimal bitterness. Additionally, this method can sometimes result in an overly salty dish. So, I choose skip the salting process in this air fryer eggplant parmesan recipe.
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Why you'll love it?
- Ready in 30 minutes
- No frying
- Crispy exterior with a soft, creamy interior
- Healthy eggplant parm
- Easy vegetarian dinner idea
Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Eggplant - Use a globe eggplant which has a mild flavor, tender texture and contains very few seeds. It's excellent for dishes like this air fryer eggplant parmesan, where substantial wide slices are desired.
- Eggs - They are necessary to make the crumbs stay put.
- Flour - It helps to form a thin layer of sticky coating, which lets the panko latch on to.
- Seasoning - Italian seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt.
- Panko breadcrumbs - Japanese style panko breadcrumbs are wide craggy flakes, provides more surface area than regular breadcrumbs, adding major crunch, like in air fryer breaded shrimp.
- Cheese - Shredded mozzarella and finely grated parmesan cheese for the classic flavors. Find more ways to use parmesan in parmesan cheese recipes.
- Sauce - I opted to use my favorite Prego, tomato, basil and garlic for this dish. It's rich , thick and deep flavor works nicely on the crunchy slices.
How to make eggplant parmesan in air fryer?
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
👉 Tip: Make sure that the slices are of even thickness, so they all can cook evenly.
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How to serve?
This healthy crispy air fryer eggplant parmesan is great as a meal all on it’s own as a vegetarian main course for meatless Monday recipe with a crusty bread and side salad. It is also delicious with any plain pasta dishes or made into a sandwich.
How to store leftovers?
- In Refrigerator - Keep them in a covered container for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat - Reheat at 380 degrees for 2 to 3 minutes or until warmed through.
Freezing instructions
Air fryer eggplant parmesan is a great make ahead dish that can prepped and ready to go in your freezer. The air fryer is amazing in crisping up all things breaded without making them soggy like a microwave.
Freeze without sauce/cheese - Freeze cooked panko breaded eggplant slices without sauce or cheese in a ziplock bag for up to a month. To reheat, air fry from frozen at 360°F until hot and crispy. Then, top with sauce and cheese and bake until the cheese is melted.
Freeze with sauce/cheese - Freeze slices between pieces of parchment paper in a covered container for up to 1 month. Cook frozen slices in a pre heated 350 degree fryer for 3 to 5 minutes or until hot.
Recipe tips
- Cheese - Use shredded or sliced fresh mozzarella.
- Parmesan - Use finely shredded cheese. If using pre shredded parmesan, then grind ⅓ cup in a mini food processor until finely ground.
- Make ½-inch thick slices - Make sure that the slices are of even thickness and not any thicker, which might not cook tender.
- Make it gluten free - Use gluten free panko and gluten free flour.
Recipe FAQs
Not necessary! The skin cooks tender, enhances the flavor, is totally edible, and high in antioxidants. Most importantly, it saves you an additional step.
Not necessary! I find the additional step of salting is unnecessary for the air fryer eggplant parmesan, because the crisp breaded coating seals in the excess air and moisture, and also there's no layering here, thus resulting in a supremely tender and succulent meaty texture.
Soaking eggplant slices in water is typically done to prevent them from absorbing too much oil when pan-frying. However, for this breaded air fryer eggplant Parmesan recipe, soaking is unnecessary.
To prevent soggy eggplant in the air fryer, we take a few key steps. First, we use crispy panko breadcrumbs instead of regular breadcrumbs because panko creates a lighter, crispier coating. Second, flipping the slices halfway through cooking ensures even crispness on both sides. Finally, we let the crumb coating brown and crisp up before adding the tomato sauce, which helps maintain that perfect texture.
More air fryer vegetables
Crispy Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large Eggplant
Batter
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Breadcrumb
- 1 ½ cups panko breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup finely grated parmesan cheese refer notes
Additional Ingredients
- 1 cup marinara sauce plus more for serving
- 1 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Wash eggplant and dry thoroughly. Slice into ½-inch rounds.Tip: Make sure that the slices are of even thickness, so they all can cook evenly.
- Add all batter ingredients into a shallow bowl, whisk until smooth and well combined.
- Mix panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in another bowl.
- Working with one slice at a time, place each slice in the wet batter, turning over couple of times to make sure that it is coated thoroughly. Lift, allowing excess batter to drip off and then place over the bread crumbs.
- Pack bread crumbs on both sides of the slice, pressing with fingers to adhere.
- Place on a plate and repeat process with remaining eggplant slices.
- Pre heat air fryer to 380°F. When ready, place prepared slices in a single layer (cook in batches), spray the top with non stick cooking spray.
- Cook for 5 minutes, open air fryer basket, flip the slices over, spray the tops again with non stick cooking spray and cook for remaining 7 minutes.
- Open basket, spread marinara sauce on top followed by shredded mozzarella, Cook for additional 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese melts.
- Garnish with fresh basil more marinara sauce if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
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Sandra Marion
Five stars - this recipe was really excellent. The eggplant was hot and crispy, not soft like a baked recipe. I did find the prep time was longer than 15 minutes (dipping all those slices takes a while!) but otherwise I made the recipe pretty much as outlined. My eggplant slices took more panko and I used the refrigerated semi-dehydrated basil for its intense flavor. My husband, who is a major meat-eater, raved about this eggplant. "You can make this any time you want." I found the left-over slices refrigerated well and re-heated nicely in the air fryer.
Maria Doss
Glad you loved it hun - Maria
Marguerite
I love eggplant parmesan; this was my first time making it in the air-fryer, and it was excellent. I used homemade marinara (no sugar added), so it wasn't too sweet; I also had a bit of cooked italian sausage left over from a pizza oven night, which I added to my carnivore-husband's half, and it was great!
Maria Doss
Happy to hear hun, have a wonderful day - Maria