A low-carb, sheet pan eggplant Parmesan
that even eggplant skeptics will enjoy!
Hi! I hope your week is going well. I am crib training our 7-month-old and feel like I’ve been in a weird, sleep-deprived fog. But my highlights this week are commitment-free evenings (my kids’ swim season is done, hooray), a really good book I finally am finishing up (The German Wife), and a ridiculously easy eggplant Parmesan recipe that I’m excited to share.
It’s eggplant season and we’ve enjoyed this dish twice this week. It’s delicious and so simple and has the potential to convert any eggplant skeptics.
I will be the first to admit that I’ve never been the biggest fan of eggplant. I tolerate it okay, and yes, there are some eggplant dishes that I really do enjoy (a couple that I’ve even shared on my blog, like this Turkish eggplant casserole) but I tend to reach for other produce.
This summer, after chatting with the sweetest Trader Joe’s employee and feeling genuinely inspired by her excitement over her favorite dish, stuffed eggplant, I’ve made it a goal of mine to get creative and try out new ways to cook it. (Do you have favorite eggplant recipes? Please share!)
I consider eggplant Parmesan to be sort of a gateway dish to eating eggplant. It’s smothered in marinara, there’s melty cheese involved, and the eggplant is commonly breaded and fried for a deliciously crisp coating. All elements for something really tasty.
My version eliminates many of the steps of “restaurant” eggplant Parm (I call it that because I’m not sure that the breading is traditional), but it doesn’t lack in flavor. It does cut down the prep time, however, which is always a plus.
Instead of eggplant rounds, sliced and breaded, you’ll cut the eggplant into cubes and roast it at a high heat, coated in a mix of fresh finely-chopped Parmesan and Italian seasonings. (The method is just like my Mediterranean Roasted Eggplant recipe, one of the most popular on my site.)
The surface area of the eggplant gets perfectly roasted and slightly caramelized, while bits of the Parm-seasoning mixture toast up until crispy, right on the sheet pan. You’ll then spoon some of your favorite marinara on top, add some burrata or fresh mozzarella, and return it to the oven for a final few minutes to let all that yumminess heat and melt.
It all cooks up in 20 minutes flat. And it’s a meatless, low-carb, gluten-free and keto-friendly meal with incredible flavor.
I realize this recipe requires you to heat your oven to 450 in the middle of July but I promise it’s worth it. 😊 I haven’t tested it, but I’m sure you could make it on a pellet grill, too.
This recipe is available to paid subscribers. It’s listed below along with a printable PDF. If you enjoy good food, healthy eating, and would love some tasty, low-carb dinner inspiration in your inbox every Thursday, consider upgrading to a paid subscription!
More from the blog
I just shared this dill pickle egg salad recipe on Stem and Spoon and it’s one of those does-this-actually-require-a-recipe recipe because it’s just so simple and effortless. But I think sometimes we all need reminders that you can eat well and make quick, nutrient-dense meals with minimal ingredients.
Egg salad is totally underrated in my opinion. Each bite tastes like a deviled egg, but with way less work involved.
Here are a few others that I think you’ll enjoy:
Air fryer rotisserie chicken (I’ve been using this seasoning blend but roasting the chicken on a pellet grill at 450°F for about 45 minutes to 1 hour)
Easy keto chicken Parmesan (in case eggplant is just not your thing)
Low-carb tomato sauce (a great homemade sauce for eggplant Parm, by the way)
Thoughts on GBM Day
Today as I write this, it’s Glioblastoma Awareness Day (GBM Day) and coincidentally, it happens to fall near (sometimes right on) Ian’s birthday every year. We’ll be celebrating his 38th birthday on Saturday with a homemade sushi feast. Good sushi is always his request on his birthday (I haven’t made sushi rolls in years so I don’t know if I can technically call it good sushi but that’s what we’re doing for Ian’s treat-yourself weekend!). Two days later, he will have a routine follow-up MRI, which always makes us a little nervous.
I am so grateful that Ian is here, healthy and doing well, more than seven years since he was diagnosed with GBM. It’s strange to think that we’ve spent all of our 30s navigating this disease and focusing on keeping him well. To our family, celebrating 38 with him is nothing short of a miracle.
He is the exception though, which is exactly why awareness days like GBM Day exist. Glioblastoma is known to be a death sentence for the majority of patients, and while we choose faith over fear when it comes to statistics, we can’t completely ignore them either. A cure is always something we hope for but it takes years— decades even— to get a drug through each phase of a clinical trial to patients who need it most. It’s even more complex for a disease like GBM which is rare and extra difficult to treat given its location. We’re grateful for conventional treatments and modern medicine, medical advances like Optune, and the ability to pursue integrative and metabolic therapies like a ketogenic diet.
I mention this because our journey to keto and low-carb eating all started with Ian’s diagnosis. My goal with Stem and Spoon was (and still is) to create a helpful recipe resource for people like us, searching for a different way of eating to improve their own health. There are so many reasons that may have led you here and whatever they are, I hope you find Ian’s story inspiring and the recipes here nourishing.
We can’t wait to celebrate our favorite guy on Saturday.
A 20-minute sheet pan eggplant Parmesan
There’s not a whole lot that goes into this dish and that’s the beauty of it. If you need it to be dairy free or vegan-friendly, you can make a few simple swaps, which I’m listing out in the notes for you.
A quick tip: be mindful of how much sauce you’re spooning on top of the eggplant. The first time I made this, I didn’t really measure, I just sort of eyeballed how much sauce I wanted to add. I ended up with way too much and a mushier eggplant which really defeats the whole purpose of roasting it first.
I’ve found that 1/2 cup of marinara total ends up being the ideal sauce-to-eggplant-to-cheese ratio.
Below is the recipe for my paid subscribers! Thanks again for your support and I hope you love this one as much as I do.
Have a fantastic rest of your week,
Abby
Low-Carb Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan
Yield: ~3-4 servings
Prep time: ~25-30 minutes
Ingredients
2 medium eggplant, peeled if preferred
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1-½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup marinara sauce (choose one low in carbs/sugar- I like Rao’s)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 large burrata ball or a few slices of fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil or more Parmesan (optional toppings)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.
Slice both ends off of your eggplants. You can use 1 large eggplant or 2 medium eggplants. If you’re using one large eggplant instead of two medium, I recommend peeling it as the skin tends to be tougher on large ones. Slice the eggplant into thick, 1-inch rounds, then cut those into cubes, about 1-inch all around.
Place them on the sheet pan (or in a large bowl) and drizzle them with the olive oil. Toss to coat the cubes of eggplant.
In a small dish, add the sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Finely-chop the Parmesan cheese until it’s really small, then add it to the seasoning mixture and mix well to combine.
Sprinkle all of the seasoning/Parmesan mixture on the eggplant cubes, tossing to coat. You’ll have some Parmesan mixture on the sheet pan which is fine (they’ll crisp up in the oven). Make sure that the eggplant pieces are not too close together, otherwise the pieces will steam each other.
Transfer the pan to the oven and roast the eggplant for 10 minutes. Remove the eggplant from the oven and gently toss the eggplant with a metal spatula before returning to the oven for another 7 more minutes.
Stir the red pepper flakes into your marinara sauce and set aside.
Remove the eggplant and gently push the eggplant cubes toward the center, so they’re all close together. Use your metal spatula to lift a lot of the crispy cheese bits from the pan, too.
Add spoonfuls of the marinara on top of the eggplant. Pull apart your burrata ball and add sections of it on top of the sauce (or add slices of fresh mozzarella). Return it to the oven for about 3 more minutes or until the sauce is heated and the cheese is slightly melty.
Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Serve with extra Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil, if desired.
Notes
Eggplant skin is totally edible but on larger eggplants, the skin can be a bit tougher. I’ve made this dish with peeled and unpeeled eggplant- do as you prefer!
If you don’t line your baking sheet, the eggplant will want to stick to the sheet pan and you’ll have a harder time tossing it during the roast time (same goes for the Parmesan bits that cook on the sheet pan).
Burrata is so tasty on this but so is mozzarella. You can eyeball how much you need. For burrata, one large ball ends up being the perfect amount. If using grated mozzarella instead of fresh mozz, I’d suggest starting with about ¼-⅓ cup.
Substitutions
If you need this dish to be dairy free/vegan, substitute the Parmesan cheese for vegan Parmesan and omit the mozzarella or use your favorite dairy-free substitute. You can also enjoy this without the cheese. I would recommend omitting it entirely instead of substituting it for vegan swaps that could have questionable ingredients. Without the cheeses, this dish would be similar to my Turkish eggplant casserole.
If you don’t like eggplant, try my keto chicken parmesan recipe!
The red pepper flakes add a touch of heat to this dish but it’s still fairy mild. You can leave them out, if preferred. A friend gave me a pasta alla puttanesca seasoning she bought in Italy that looks almost exactly like this and it was so tasty in the sauce.
If you’re not a fan of marinara or don’t have any on hand, you can substitute it for pizza sauce or pesto.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on 4 servings, calculated by My Fitness Pal.
Calories: 226
Total fat: 16 g
Cholesterol: 10mg
Sodium: 507mg
Total carbohydrate: 16 g
Dietary fiber: 8 g
Total sugar: 9 g
Protein: 6 g
Total net carbs: 8 g
