Easy Way to Cook Eggplant in the Oven
Here's how to make the BEST roasted eggplant! Baking until it's tender makes for unreal flavor. Serve it as a side dish, or toss with pasta!
Wow, is this roasted eggplant full of flavor! Roasting until it's tender makes for unreal savory flavor. Take one bite and you'll be singing it's praises too (promise!). It's simply seasoned, with salt, pepper, garlic, and basil. Serve it as a side dish, or toss it with pasta for a tasty dinner. Alex and I originally made it as a side dish, but it was so tasty, we made it into a plant based dinner recipe, too! So it also transforms into this Roasted Eggplant Pasta in a flash. This method works for diced eggplant or eggplant cut into large slices. Ready to roast?
How to make roasted eggplant (diced or sliced)
This roasted eggplant is very easy to make: the hardest part is simply waiting for it to come out of the oven! This recipe gets the eggplant perfectly tender and charred. You can roast eggplant diced, like we have here, or sliced into rounds or long lengthwise pieces (planks). The result is the same! Here's what to do:
- Chop: Cut 2 eggplants into 1-inch diced pieces, into round slices, or oblong slices. (See the section below for more details.)
- Mix with olive oil and salt: Mix with ¼ cup olive oil and ¾ teaspoon salt. Eggplant soaks up the oil in an instant, so mix it right as soon as the oil hits its flesh.
- Roast at 425 degrees: Roast for about 30 to 35 minutes until the eggplant is browned and tender. Because eggplant has so much water, it will deflate quite a bit. The roasted pieces come out much smaller!
- Flavor: Mix with grated garlic and basil, or other flavors of your choice!
How to cut eggplant in this recipe
What's the best way to dice eggplant? Don't worry: we made you a video! In this roasted eggplant recipe, you'll need to cut the veggie into 1-inch chunks. They'll seem larger than you expect, but that's okay: they shrink quite a bit while baking. Here's the basic method for how to cut eggplant (and see the video below!):
- Using a large chef's knife, slice off the top and bottom of the eggplant.
- Stand the eggplant up and cut thin slices lengthwise, 1-inch thick. (You can stop here, or go on to dice.)
- Stack the slices and cut them into strips. Turn the strips and cut them crosswise to the desired size.
Salting and draining eggplant before roasting: is it necessary?
Many eggplant recipes call for letting the eggplant drain with salt on it for 1 hour to extract some of the bitterness from the eggplant. If you're like us, you're starved for time already. Who has 1 hour to salt your eggplant? Is this extra step really necessary?
Guess what: salting and draining eggplant is not necessary! According to Epicurious, this used to be conventional practice with eggplants years ago because they were more bitter. Today's eggplants are bred to be less bitter, so there's no need to waste an hour salting the eggplant. Now we know! And we must say, we're very happy about this.
Ways to serve roasted eggplant
This roasted eggplant is so full of flavor, you'll want to make it for every meal! (We do.) The flavors are Mediterranean style, so it works especially well with meals with an Italian or Mediterranean vibe. Here are a few ways we'd serve it:
- As a side with pasta. Try it with Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo, Baked Rigatoni or Vodka Sauce Pasta.
- In pasta! Try our Roasted Eggplant Pasta with our best marinara sauce.
- On pizza. Throw roasted eggplant onto our Cheese Pizza for an even tastier pie.
- As planks with herbed quinoa. Roast it as planks and cover with quinoa, like in our Herbed Quinoa with Grilled Eggplant.
This roasted eggplant recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Description
Here's how to make the BEST roasted eggplant! Baking until it's tender makes for unreal flavor. Serve it as a side dish, or toss with pasta!
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 medium to large eggplants (about 2 pounds)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon grated garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or Italian parsley
- Freshly ground pepper
- Preheat an oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut the eggplant into 1-inch chunks, or you can cut it into long planks or round slices. In a large bowl, quickly mix with olive oil and kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (the eggplant soaks up the oil in an instant, so mix as soon as you add it!). Pour the eggplant onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread it into an even layer.
- Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, until browned and very tender, gently stirring the sheet at about the 25 minute mark. (If you're roasting eggplant planks, flip the planks at 20 minutes and cook 35 to 40 minutes total, until browned and tender.)
- Remove from the oven and gently toss with the garlic and herbs, making sure to spread out any chunks of garlic that stick together. The eggplant will be very tender so handle it gently. Serve as a side dish, or as Roasted Eggplant Pasta or in an Eggplant Sandwich.
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Roasted
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: Roasted Eggplant, How to roast eggplant
More ways to eat eggplant
Here are a few more of our favorite eggplant recipes to serve this tasty veggie:
- Easy Eggplant Pizzas Use eggplant for the crust to make eggplant pizzas! These mini pizzas are tasty and easy to make, covered in garlicky sauce and gooey cheese.
- Best-Ever Eggplant Meatballs Truly amazing! Makes a surprisingly juicy texture and a delightful Italian style dinner.
- Baked Eggplant Parmesan Truly incredible: coated in a crispy crust that's magically gluten free. You'll never make it another way!
- Eggplant Caponata An Italian appetizer that's bursting with flavor! Eggplant and veggies make a tangy, garlicky spread that's perfect over crusty bread.
- Skillet Eggplant Marinara A tasty and easy vegetarian dinner, it features eggplant rounds baked in a skillet with marinara and gooey cheese.
- Eggplant Sandwich with Tomato & Pesto This Mediterranean-style sandwich with basil pesto is seriously flavorful and easy to make!
Want more roasted vegetables? Here are the Best Vegetables to Roast.
About the authors
Sonja & Alex
Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.
Source: https://www.acouplecooks.com/perfect-roasted-eggplant/
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